While the future of the Fort Barton School remains undecided, Tiverton school officials recently sent layoff notices to 11 employees not connected with the school in an attempt to make a dent in a $2.8 million budget deficit projected for the coming fiscal year.

State law requires notification of layoffs to school employees by June 1. The current layoffs are effective at the end of this school year and impact primarily staff who give specialized support to students in areas such as reading, math, English Language Arts, and the Bridge Program.

Superintendent Peter Sanchioni said last week that another round of layoffs may be needed if no other fiscal solution is found, since even with these recent cuts, the district will still be in the red. Apart from those cuts, another option on the table is the closure of Fort Barton.

“We have trimmed expenses to the greatest extent possible. We don’t want to hold our staff hostage,” he said. “We want to give them every opportunity to seek employment during this prime hiring season, and we felt this was the right thing to do.”

Two tough choices

In March, school officials announced that they were considering two options — the implementation of significant staffing reductions district-wide, or the closure of Fort Barton Elementary School, to resolve the current budget dilemma. 

Though some might interpret the recent layoff notices as an indication of official support for district-wide layoffs, school committee members emphasized repeatedly that a final decision has yet to be made.

“This is a work in process,” committee member Deb Pallasch said. “It’s a hard decision and we are still looking at everything.”

At last week’s meeting, school officials heard from educators, students, and community members, many of whom said the specialist and other non-classroom positions are indispensable. 

Social worker Alina Grimshaw, who is part of the counseling team at the middle school, said the layoff option would force the elimination of multiple counselor positions, with those who remain being forced to split their time between schools.

“By numbers, this means about half the students will lose counseling access. A student in crisis will have a 50-50 chance that their counselor is there to help them. This will affect every school at every level and will put our students’ mental, social and emotional needs at greatest risk.”

School psychologist Liz Barron said the Tiverton community will face significant negative impacts if specialist positions are cut.

“Across the country, our youth are facing a mental health crisis and a disheartening lack of access to community-based treatment ... For younger students, we continue to see the effects of isolation from the pandemic play out in the classroom.”

Pocasset Elementary School principal Suzette Wordell also spoke of the pandemic and related learning loss, noting that reading and math specialists play a crucial role in addressing that challenge. She also pointed to the positive benefits of having an elementary behavioral support program and a team of specialists on-site. 

Others, such as long-time educator Tracey McGee-Moreira, said neither option is acceptable, and suggested that administrators should go back to the drawing board. She and others asked school officials to consider the impact on enrollment of new housing developments currently being proposed in town.

“If new housing development leads to an influx of students, the remaining schools may require additional resources to accommodate them.” 

Jordan Reilly, a parent and outspoken opponent of the Fort Barton closure option, said afterwards that she was unimpressed by the discussion at last week’s meeting.

“It was clearly an orchestrated parade of people he [Sanchioni] put on to push his agenda and sort of silence anyone in opposition to the closure.”

What’s next

The school district’s proposed budget for FY 2024-25 is currently $35.5 million — slightly lower than this year’s $35.6 million.

The deficit exists, said Sanchioni, “without adding one single program or one single position…It’s not a problem with the budget. We don’t have the revenue to meet the expenses of the school system. It’s that easy.”

The town council is expected to meet at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 4, for a review of remaining outstanding budget items, including the school department’s recommendation. The timeline requires council adoption of a preliminary unified budget by May 13, at which time a public hearing will be scheduled. A final unified budget must be adopted by the council no later than June 30.