SAUGUS — Superintendent of Schools Erin McMahon said she would like deans to be on site at the Veterans Early Learning Center, Belmonte STEAM Academy, and Saugus Middle-High School.
McMahon said these individuals would support and promote positive student behavior in each of the schools, and it would only cost the school district $225,000 in the fiscal year 2023 budget.
At the Middle-High School, McMahon said administrators try to be everywhere all the time while supervising a massive building, but bringing on a dean is an attempt to take a large building and make it feel more like a community.
As for the Veterans Early Learning Center, McMahon said the dean would help the district’s youngest students safely get around the building. The school’s principal, Michael Mondello, is currently the only administrator on the premises.
McMahon has proposed a $31.33 million school budget for FY23; this represents an increase of $1.45 million over the $29.87 million FY22 budget.
In her budget presentation to the School Committee at its last meeting, McMahon said the district is faced with $1.35 million in fixed-cost increases for FY23; these include restoring out-of-district tuition costs paid with FY21 funds, an increase in out-of-district tuition costs, and personnel contractual obligations.
McMahon said the significant increase in out-of-district placements for special education is a major budget driver. Such placements for special-needs students rose to more than $4 million this year, which amounts to an increase of $805,874 for the School Department, in terms of providing out-of-district placements.
McMahon said there were turnover savings of $27,116 from a teacher retiring and a reduction of 12 full-time teaching positions — amounting to $672,000 — due to decreased enrollment in the Saugus Public Schools.
“Our goal is to ensure that we have appropriate staffing to meet the educational and emotional needs of our students, while pursuing the School Committee’s ambitious goal: To catapult Saugus Public Schools from the bottom 10 percent of Massachusetts districts to the top 10 in five years,” McMahon wrote in her budget summary.
“Similar to our surrounding communities, the pandemic has resulted in a loss of local revenue and created uncertainty in the level of state aid for FY23. With all of this in mind, Saugus Public Schools must deliver on its promise to provide a high-quality education for all students.”
