A Haverhill School Committee exercise to better align next year’s spending with educational priorities will get another review later this month after members debated details such as staffing and soliciting student opinions.
The Haverhill School Committee last Thursday took a preliminary look at budget priorities for the year beginning July 1 when reviewing a proposal drafted by member Thomas Grannemann. Grannemann, as WHAV previously reported, pored over previous years’ budgets to see how the city compares to other districts.
Included on the preliminary list which Superintendent Margaret Marotta would use to guide her budget request later this year include efforts to reduce absenteeism, support new reading and writing curriculum rollouts and provide for college and career exploration in and out of the classroom.
However, some committee members didn’t support the working document, with Vice Chairman Paul A. Magliocchetti citing concerns over references to additional resources for freshmen orientation, action planning and partnerships with community organizations.
“There are some things in here that, in order to accomplish we’re going to be adding some positions and I think based on what we discussed at the Finance Subcommittee meeting and what we’re up against, I don’t know if it’s worth expending resources to look into these additional things,” he said.
Grannemann responded items included on the list do not necessarily mean they will be funded in the next school year.
“They’re already in the superintendent’s plan and the purpose of the budget is to reconcile how much money we have with all of the priorities we want to address,” he said. “There can be things on here that we will not have money to fully address as much as we would like to.”
Grannemann clarified future budget workshops will provide opportunities to “make some of those hard decisions” on where to focus on spending.
Member Jill Story argued the proposal should place greater emphasis on students, including a focus on class sizes and course offerings to accomplish the district’s goals of academic excellence and improving the student learning experience.
“What is really evident to me, jumping out missing, is the students,” she said. “This is the least student-centered document I’ve seen. I don’t see anything about rigor. We talk about academic excelling. It’s all about the staff which are important, but where are the students?”
She added, “Readiness for careers and citizenship. Where is the list of the opportunities, literacy, where are the students, engagement, where are the students? So, I think the first four things, I see no students in there. For me, this needs a lot of work and revision to be student-centered.”
Member Yonnie Collins argued that including student perspectives would make the document “more comprehensive.”
“I would like to see students’ input on this, and a great way to start is the student government at the high school. They had very clear agenda, a few clear items that they asked those of us who were running how we would accomplish those things,” she said.
With a motion by Magliocchetti and a second by Mikaela Lalumiere, members voted unanimously to table the item until the Jan. 23 meeting.