A number of the things we put in there were quite honestly to provide an ability to expand revenue. You've got to find a way to find governmental and non-governmental moneys that are out there.”

Westport Community Schools superintendent Thomas Aubin

The head of Westport Community Schools said this week that while the district can live without some of the items he and the school committee proposed under a $4.4 million override budget, the district is reaching "critical mass" with respect to its ability to educate the town's students, and greater financial support for the school system is needed.

Superintendent Thomas Aubin's comments come after the finance committee last week recommended that voters "pass over" the override question at next month's Town Meeting. Chairwoman Karen Raus said the total override — $6.876 million, with $1.84 million going to town and $4.4 million to the schools — is too much to ask of voters and, if passed, would necessitate $855 in additional taxes each year for most homeowners. She said that while the town undoubtedly needs an override, she hopes to work with the select board to come up with a more palatable number, and present it to voters at a special town meeting at some point in the future.

Aubin said he understands, but believes the time has come to bite the bullet and adjust the town's long term strategy toward spending, and its schools.
"My biggest problem right now is that each year we come and have the same conversations," he said. "We keep doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. Because our needs are growing exponentially and the finances are continuing to dry up year after year, we continue to make cuts."

Though he said "we can live without" some of the items in the proposed override list for now, others should be supported immediately, as they will benefit taxpayers, not just students, parents and teachers.

"A number of the things we put in there were quite honestly to provide an ability to expand revenue," he said, including the hiring of an $85,000 grant writer to help the district find new funding sources.

"They typically pay for themselves," he said. "You've got to find a way to find governmental and non-governmental moneys that are out there."

Other line items would benefit the district in less direct, but no less crucial ways, he said. Funding for programs that he believes will attract students to Westport, retain those students who are already here, and a robust school to work program that would prepare non-college bound students for the work world, are also heavily counted in the list. Fewer kids are heading to college, he said, and if the district isn't able to provide the type of education those students need, it will continue to lose them and the dollars that follow them.

"There are ways to do this (school to work) training that doesn't require starting a $5 million program," he said. "But it does require a couple hundred thousand dollars for software. There are many programs that we really need to start here to save the district money. We're spending a great deal of money sending students out of district because we don't have the programs here."

Other items would have helped teachers supply student needs in a world shaped by Covid.

"This is not going to be the last pandemic," he said. "It's sad but it's true. The pandemic changed everything; I call it 'the great accelerator'" — students are facing more emotional and social support issues than ever, and teachers have been forced to learn new ways to do their job

"These trends were already taking place" before the pandemic. "Mental health issues were already pretty bad. Now they're off the charts. What we're looking at now between mental health issues, the increases in services that students are needing, and these cuts, it's pretty dramatic."

The request for "owls" is a good example, he said. The district proposed spending $203,500 to purchase and train teachers in the use of owls, which aren't birds but high tech video cameras that follow teachers around as they hold their lessons. The cameras would make it easier to provide the same lesson to students who might not be in school as their peers in the classroom.

"I'm painfully aware of the fact that when you lose track of students, every day that they're not here is a chance that they're going to disappear."

As for the school budget as presented, Aubin said district officials are still trying to determine how to offset what will be a $663,000 deficit should it pass town meeting as presented.

"Everything is on the table," he said. "We are doing an exhaustive review of every school, every class, class sizes, and we're also taking a look at the administration" staffing, he said.

"We're going to look at some consolidations — our ultimate goal is to hang on to every body we can."

WHAT'S THE SCHOOL OVERRIDE FOR?

The following items were included in the Westport Community Schools' budget override proposal, which was reviewed by the Westport Finance Committee at its meeting last Thursday, March 31.

* Commercial Lease for Admin space: $50,000

* Eliminate All USER Fees Athletics-Trans($50K)-Activities, etc: $100,000

* School to Career Night Administrator - Network with business partners - Marketing - Recruitment: $110,000

* School to Career Program - Ancillary costs to support students: $100,000

* Enrichment K-12 Administrator for after school and intramural programming: $85,000

* Enrichment Program Ancillary Costs, supervisors, coaches, equipment: $75,000

* After-school programming Nurse: $45,000

* Director of Arts & Theater for community outreach and engagement: $100,000

* Band & Music Programming: $85,000

* Band/Music/Drama - Equipment, supplies and uniforms: $55,000

* Workforce readiness eg. interviewing skills, electronic portfolios, microcerts, and co op opportunities, networking: $75,000

* K-12 Financial/Digital Literacy Program (2 Teachers) with College Pathway Instruction: $122,000

* Social Media/Marketing/Website design Instructor: $90,000

* Transportation - before and after school programs: $225,000

* Owls in Classrooms $1,500 x 129 (MAC-17, WES-42, MS-35, HS-35): $193,500

* Owl Training: $10,000

* Grant Writer: $85,000

* Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA): $65,000

* Adjust Administration Salaries for employees of 10 or more years in District to provide equity with comparable districts: $237,600

* Adjust Master's degree salaries for long term employees: $229,500

* Stipends for School Committee Members: $21,000

* Director of Food Service for during and after-school programming - Farm to Table: $80,000

* Farm to School - Implementation cost and professional development: $38,000

* (Two) 26' U-haul vans - Music/Arts/Band Program: $130,000

* Tech Programs - Wind Energy (2) instructors, equipment and tech: $150,000

* Soft tech for electric vehicles (2) teachers and equipment: $240,000

* Soft Tech for 5 g networking: $100,000

* School Resource Officers (3): 255,000

* Bus Monitors (5) - Pilot: $75,000

* Social Emotional Classrooms (3 and 6 TA's): $323,000

* School Adjustment Counselor - for Social Emotional Rooms above (1): $65,000

* Extended Day Program & (2) lead teachers($90,000) and (4) pt. assts.($60,000): $160,000