Worcester Public Schools facing another budget loss of $860,000 after previous cut of $15.5 million
By Melissa Hanson | mhanson@masslive.com
Following Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's $45.5 billion budget proposal this week, Worcester Public Schools officials on Thursday night said the district is facing another budget loss after already cutting $15.5 million over the summer.
This comes as the district is preparing to start a hybrid learning model next month, which could mean Worcester has to hire more teachers as children will be learning in cohorts both online and in-person.
Brian Allen, the district's chief financial officer, told the school committee Thursday night that the governor's updated budget will reduce Worcester schools by another $860,000, primarily because the district is $1 million underfunded in terms of school reimbursement.
"We are expecting that we're going to have to hire more staff members in order to do the hybrid effectively," Superintendent Maureen Binienda said Thursday.
Though, the number of possible hires is not yet clear, as thousands of families in the district have not yet signaled to the district if the plan to send children back to school buildings or keep them remote for the year.
Some students will be in-person one day a week while other students, particularly those with higher needs, will be in-person four days per week. Teachers will be instructing in the classroom while other students are still online. Because the district is not set up to live-stream classes, more planning is needed to determine how educators will instruct both in-person and online students.
"We'll have to find another $860,000 in the budget," Allen said, reiterating that the district may need add more staff as the district moves toward the hybrid model.
Binienda also noted during Thursday night's school committee meeting that Student Opportunity Act funding has been delayed.
"It was interesting to watch the press conference. The governor actually dodged that question," School Committee member Tracy O'Connell Novick said. "He wouldn't even say that it was necessarily going to be implemented next year. It's a loss."
Baker delayed the implementation of the SOA, proposing a $108 million increase in Chapter 70 funding rather than a $300 million increase. Baker, asked about the impact on the law's implementation, said school districts received more money when factoring COVID-19 funding than what they would have gotten if the state had simply implemented the SOA.
Novick asked the committee if it could send something to its delegation reminding that this year was supposed to be the implementation year for the SOA.
Mayor Joseph Petty, the chair of the school committee, said they could send a letter to the local delegation and federal delegation to support federal funding.
In August, the school committee approved cuts to address a $15.5 million reduction in the district's budget. Cuts included the elimination and reallocation of some instructional assistant positions because of the remote learning model and eliminated extended learning time, among other items.
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