What will it cost to keep Brookline Public Schools among the best in Massachusetts?
To put a number on it, $7.665 million. On May 5, Brookline voters will decide whether to approve an operating budget override, which will allow the town to increase property taxes by 4.2 percent, thus providing the school system with desperately needed funding.
Studies indicate the 38 percent enrollment growth in Brookline elementary schools since 2005 will not stop. Without an override, school funding will not increase at a rate remotely comparable to that of enrollment growth.
Although overcrowding to day is primarily at the elementary schools, the high school is starting to feel the pressure as well, epitomized by the course scheduling process and Arena Day chaos.
Without an override to hire more teachers, more students will be pushed into fewer classes, class sizes will increase and schedules will become rigid. With a current kindergarten class of 703, these problems could only get worse.
More students simply cost more to educate, and without a budget override, that is money
that Brookline does not have. The budget has been tight for years; there are few reasonable ways left to cut costs.
In the no-override scenario, the school system will experience at least a $1.3 million budget shortfall in the next fiscal year. Unlike the federal government, the school system cannot run a deficit, forcing it to make cuts on highly valued programs that make Brookline schools an object of pride.
As stated in the superintendent’s budget report, in a no-override scenario there will be no increase in student services, such as nurses and guidance counselors, and elementary school classrooms will be consolidated, making classes as large as 29 students.
At the high school, five positions would be eliminated, and the repercussions would be felt in increased class sizes and the reduction of electives and programs such as Tutorial. Two of the four METCO liaisons in the elementary schools would be removed, as will the Enrichment and Challenge Support program.
The elementary school world language program would be cut the following year, and the town might be forced to consider reductions to prized programs such as the School Within a School, which personally has been the most enriching part of my 12 years in Brookline schools.
A successful override would protect Brookline schools from these cuts as well as refresh the school system.
An override will allow our technology to be updated and the district to hire enough teachers, nurses, guidance counselors, secretaries and math and reading specialists to meet the increased demand.
Steps to Success and the African American and Latino Scholars Program would be made available to more students, perhaps even in the elementary schools.
The list of important changes goes on for pages.
I am proud of and grateful for the education we receive in Brookline. To discontinue a tradition of excellence in education to save the average homeowner between $135 and $450 annually (admittedly not an insignificant amount of money for some families) seems like a mistake.
The damage to the schools from a failed override would be huge; the cost of funding an override is not.
Student voices are important. Please, encourage our community to vote yes on the override.
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