Portsmouth School Committee OKs budget calling for 2.2% hike

Two members object to reduction of special education aides

By Jim McGaw
Posted 3/20/18

PORTSMOUTH — In a 5-2 vote Monday night, the School Committee approved a $38.92 million budget for next year that’s 2.2 percent higher than the current spending plan.

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Portsmouth School Committee OKs budget calling for 2.2% hike

Two members object to reduction of special education aides

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — In a 5-2 vote Monday night, the School Committee approved a $38.92 million budget for next year that’s 2.2 percent higher than the current spending plan and asks for a 2.9 percent hike in taxpayers’ share.

Superintendent Ana Riley told the committee that contracted increases in salaries and benefits is what “really drives the bulk of the budget.” The district is also projecting a decrease in state aid of nearly $300,000.

The budget now goes to the Town Council for its review.

Two committee members, Allen Shers and Andrew Kelly, voted against the budget, saying they objected to the administration’s proposal to eliminate six special education teaching assistants, the equivalent of four full-time positions (FTEs). There are currently 38 special ed aides in the district’s four schools.

After a motion was made to approve the proposed budget as presented, Mr. Shers requested an amendment to add an additional $186,789 to the bottom line to retain all of the assistant teaching positions.

His amendment also called for another $175,000 to provide a tablet computer device — such as a Chromebook — for every student in the district. The district is already working toward that goal, but Mr. Shers’ proposal would have accelerated the process by adding another 600 tablets in the district next year.

Mr. Shers said he wanted to request additional funds, but wished to keep the bottom line within the state-mandated 4 percent cap on property tax increases. 

When Chris DiIuro, director of finance and administration, informed him that his amendment would actually exceed the cap by a small amount, Mr. Shers asked him to reduce the requested figure for the computer tablets until the tax increase was set at 4 percent.

Mr. Shers was the only member to vote for his amendment, so it failed. 

Mr. Kelly then made a motion for another amendment — to increase the town’s appropriation from 2.9 percent to 3.7 percent, which he said would retain the six teaching assistant positions. “Eliminating the six positions is not a good place to make reductions,” said Mr. Kelly, who argued that keeping those jobs “is money well spent.”

That amendment also failed, with Mr. Kelly and Mr. Shers voting in the affirmative. They also both voted against the motion to pass the budget as presented.

“This is a sad day for the Portsmouth school system,” said Mr. Shers, noting that teachers have told him of the need for the support staff. “I will not vote for this budget that does not adequately support our school system.”

Reason for the cuts

Administration, however, argued the decision to reduce the number of special ed paraprofessionals was not based on saving money but on student need and student achievement. They also noted that the proposed budget includes 3.5 additional certified special ed teachers.

The reorganization, said Lisa Colwell, director of pupil services, “will offer increased opportunities for co-teaching across the district.”

She pointed out that the number of students with individualized education programs (IEPs) in Portsmouth is on the decrease — from 395 in 2015, to 377 in 2016 and to 325 this year — which she attributed mainly to declining enrollment and “more targeted decisions” made around students with IEP.

Pointing to recent standardized testing results, students with IEPs have also not made significant gains in closing the achievement gap between themselves and their peers, she said.

Strong turnout

As was the case at the Feb. 27 committee meeting, many special ed teaching assistants and their supporters were in the audience Monday night. One of them was Georgianna Murphy, president of the local union that represents school employees impacted by the proposed cuts.

Ms. Murphy said she was pleased to learn that administration was now proposing to eliminate the equivalent of four full-time teaching assistants, since even more positions were targeted for cuts in earlier budget drafts. However, the district is projecting an increase of 11 students with individualized education programs (IEPs) at the middle school next year, while the budget calls for two fewer teaching assistants at that school, she said.

“That doesn’t make sense to me. It’s a bad move,” said Ms. Murphy. She said those children are “the most vulnerable we have in the district” and will need extra help with the transition to a new school. 

To illustrate the need for keeping the teaching assistants, she noted that two long-term substitutes have been serving as special ed aides, one of them for more than 50 days.

“If there’s not enough for them to do, then there shouldn’t be two subs that have been there for a long period of time,” Ms. Murphy said. “At the end of the day, it’s not about the money; it’s about the kids. They need support. They need help. We’re talking about $100,000 in salaries. It’s not a lot.”

Most committee members said they had to follow the budget recommendations made by Ms. Riley and other administrators.

“In my view, we have no choice but to accept the superintendent’s recommendation on what the appropriate staffing level is,” said committee member Frederick Faerber III.

Next meeting

Monday’s meeting was originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 13, but was postponed due to a snowstorm. The School Committee’s next meeting will be on Tuesday, April 10.

Portsmouth School Committee, Portsmouth School Department, special education

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