MARBLEHEAD — The Marblehead School Committee has determined that a level-funded budget for the coming fiscal year will require significant staffing reductions and operational efficiencies, while limiting the district’s ability to improve academic programs or meet growing student needs.
“To maintain education. That’s what we’re doing,” Superintendent John Robidoux said during the budget presentation. “We’re talking about level under budget. We’re not talking about enhancement, we’re not talking about increasing rigor. It’s…an impossibility when you work with the same…dollar loans.”
Robidoux said administrators developed the budget by identifying “resources and services required to provide high-quality education to students” while ensuring “appropriate staffing levels and programs are in place to support students’ social, emotional, and behavioral health…in conjunction with rigorous academics.”
He said the district also examined “staffing efficiencies,” reductions in some areas, and revenue outside the local operating budget, including “federal, state grants…user fees,” and emphasized continued collaboration “with town officials, the finance committee, Select Board,” and community partners.
Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Michael Pfifferling described the budget as one driven largely by personnel costs.
“About 80%, just shy of 80% of our budget is with salaries,” Pfifferling said.
District leaders said they first looked for efficiencies and offsets before turning to staffing reductions. Pfifferling characterized the latter cuts bluntly.
“These are the ones that hurt,” he said. “These are the ones that everybody should be paying attention to.”
Administrators said the proposal includes a total of 14.75 full-time equivalent positions through a combination of layoffs, vacant positions not being filled, and stipend reductions. The reductions span elementary, middle, and high school positions, as well as support and facilities staff.
“We are being somewhat vague in our descriptions of these, because these are real people,” Pfifferling said. “These are real positions.”
One reduction officials highlighted as particularly concerning was the loss of a maintenance staff member.
“I think this one’s going to hurt our district from a building…facilities standpoint,” Pfifferling said, adding that over time it could “take an impact on the educational environment for our students.”
Robidoux addressed questions about declining enrollment and the difficulty of discussing numbers that fluctuate throughout the year. “This is a moment in time,” he said of enrollment figures. “It ebbs and flows.”
He said that as of Monday, Feb. 2, enrollment stood at 2,435 students, noting that weekly reports to the School Committee include additional categories such as students being evaluated for special education or homeschooled students, which can make public discussions “a little convoluted.”
Committee members asked why enrollment and staffing trend data were not more clearly presented in the budget materials. Robidoux acknowledged the concern.
“In retrospect, probably should have a little bit more in there about that,” he said, adding that the district would provide additional information ahead of the public hearing.
Committee members raised concerns that staffing reductions do not reflect the increasing complexity of student needs, particularly in special education.
Robidoux said classroom headcounts alone can be misleading. “You might look at a classroom…that has, say, 17 students in it,” he said, explaining that smaller class sizes often reflect higher levels of need and additional required staffing.
“Generally speaking…students’ needs…have increased…over the years,” Robidoux said, describing a statewide shift that moved more high-needs students into public school settings.
Committee members cited DESE data during the discussion showing growth in the district’s high-needs population and increases in students with autism and neurological or health-related disabilities.
“These two things are going to come to a tipping point,” member Melissa Clucas said, referring to declining staffing and increasing needs.
Administrators cautioned that the district is relying on one-time or limited funding sources to balance the budget.
Pfifferling said some moves — including tapping revolving accounts — may only be sustainable for a year. “That is probably a one-year move,” he said, warning that it could not be repeated without additional revenue.
Officials also discussed risks tied to utilities, transportation, special education tuition, and federal grants. “There’s one part of the ESSA grant that scares me,” Pfifferling said. “That’s the teacher quality grant.”
The district plans to hold a public hearing on the proposed budget Feb. 26, followed by a School Committee vote in March and subsequent review by the Finance Committee and Town Meeting. “We have to continue to be aware of where we are and what’s going to happen moving forward if we don’t do something as a town,” Robidoux said.
“We need folks to come out and bang the gong,” he added. “We can’t do the same old, same old Marblehead. It’s not going to work.”
