On June 14, Interim Superintendent Ben Lummis sent out a letter to Brookline student families informing them that over 300 of the pink slips sent out to many staff members two weeks ago were rescinded. Lummis cited the approval of an additional two million dollars to the school district, as well as other Brookline School Committee (BSC) decisions as reasons for the slips being rescinded. Additionally, Lummis wrote that the BSC plans to rescind more layoff notices, and aims to have all decisions finalized by June 21.

“Through the difficult decisions by Town and school leaders, the advocacy of many, and the work of PSB staff, the budget was finalized with additional revenue, greater clarity was created for BEEP, and we’ve been able to move quickly to recall our staff and provide much stability,” Lummis wrote. “I am grateful for the hard work of so many that has allowed us to support our staff and provide answers as quickly as possible.”

In the June 5 budget update from the BSC, Chair Julie Schreiner-Oldham outlined the cuts made in various areas of Brookline government.

“At this point, the remaining budget gap to be closed is roughly $500,000, plus additional COVID-related expenses and possible deficits in BEEP and food services (see below for more detail),” Schreiner-Oldham wrote. “The School Committee directed that all additional areas of cuts be identified in non-personnel line items to the extent possible.”

Below is a list of departments that have been restaffed:
Updating List

– The English department has been fully restaffed, according to Curriculum Coordinator John Andrews
– All K-12 Librarians have been rehired, according to Director of Educational Technology and Library Scott Moore
– The Visual Arts department has been fully restaffed, according to Department Chair Alicia Mitchell
– All English Language Learners (ELL) teachers have been rehired, according to Curriculum Coordinator Mindy Paulo

Contributed Reporting by Zoe Tseng