The School Committee will vote on a proposed school budget for the 2022-23 school year of just under $119 million at its next meeting on Thursday, March 14. Thanks in part to the state School Opportunity Act, which distributes more state aid to school districts in need, the proposed budget is about $9.7 million over the current school year’s budget. The budget proposes 49 new positions in the general fund, many in the ELL and special education programs, in the district’s elementary schools.
These positions are in addition to the 68 positions the district has added as a result of federal Covid relief funding that runs through 2024. The theme of last year’s budget was to reopen, restore, and rebuild, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Almi Abeyta. “We are now in the phase of restoring and rebuilding,” said Abeyta. The final budget numbers and proposals are based on the available funding, school needs, enrollment, and meeting with staff and administrators to consider school needs, according to Monica Lamboy, the district’s finance director. “Every budget year, we talk about enrollment, which is critically important because our funding is on a per-pupil basis, even though we are in a growth period through the Student Opportunity Act,” Lamboy said.
“Right now, our per pupil allocation is going up, but if we have a downturn in our enrollment, that could actually erode some of our gains. Currently, there are 6,074 students enrolled in the Chelsea public schools, which is up from last year, when Lamboy said enrollment was impacted nationwide by the pandemic. She said the district is expecting the largest enrollment in nearly two decades at the high school next year, with over 1,500 students, while a modest decline in enrollment is anticipated in the elementary grades.
When it comes to paying for the nearly $119 million budget, Lamboy said the city will be paying about $29 million in educational costs, which also includes funding for the vocational school, while the rest will be funded through Chapter 70 state funds. Overall, Abeyta said the budget priorities for the 2022-23 school year include building upon the efforts that were made for the current year, strengthening and expanding equity for the special education, ELL supports, social emotional supports, and equity supports, accelerating literacy and math learning, reducing the student to teacher ratio, and improving teacher recruitment and retention. Of the approximately $9.7 million proposed budget increase, Lamboy said $5,560,000 of that is needed just to maintain current services and costs.
Proposed staff additions at the Early Learning Center include one new special education inclusion teacher and six special education paraprofessionals. Two new school counselors are proposed for the four elementary schools, with each new position split between two schools. At the Berkowitz Elementary a new ELL teacher and a math specialist are in the budget, while at the Hooks Elementary, there is a new reading specialist. At the Kelly Elementary, the budget calls for three new ELL teachers, and at the Sokolowski Elementary, there is a new reading specialist. New positions proposed for the Browne Middle School include a world language teacher, two ELL teachers, and one reading specialist teacher.
At the Clarke Avenue Middle School, proposed additions include an ELL teacher and a reading specialist, and at the Wright Academy Middle School the new positions include a special education inclusion teacher, a math specialist, and a paraprofessional at the library. During a public hearing on the budget last week, several Wright School teachers said they would like to see more ELL positions earmarked for their school. Middle school ELL teacher Isabel Meigs was among those who advocated for adding an additional ELL teacher at every school in the district. Several teachers, including Airisenne Engel from the Brown School, said the district should focus on adding restorative justice directors or coaches into the budget.
“Restorative justice is not a means of behavior or class management, it’s the practice of developing a community that supports one another,” said Engel. No new positions are being proposed at the high school, but Lamboy noted that 16 positions were added in last year’s budget. Darien Rodriguez, a freshman at Chelsea High School, was among several students who spoke in favor of adding more teachers at the high school. Three new positions are proposed at the district level, including a director of a culturally responsive curriculum, a coordinator for college and career readiness, and an ELL teacher and coach for the elementary level.