Mendon Upton School Committee votes to re-certify budget at same level

The Mendon Upton School Committee unanimously voted to re-certify the FY16  school budget at the same level originally proposed despite Mendon’s override failure.

District Superintendent Dr. Joseph Maruszczak said during his time with the district Mendon has driven the budget, “Mendon has said we can give you a percentage of the 2 1/2 levy plus 1/2 of new receipts…Then what happens is Upton matches Mendon.”

Maruszczak said,”In my opinion the way we have been going, letting one community dictate funding, is not sustainable.”

Without approval of a Mendon override the district will need to make 1.5 million dollars in cuts, said Maruszczak. High School Principal John Clements would be required to file a substantial change report with the NEASC (school accreditation agency) he said.

Members of the community and town officials called on the committee to re-certify the FY16 budget at the same level.

Selectman Rich Schofield of Mendon said to the committee, “I would encourage you to re-certify the exact same number.”

“I would encourage to do the same,” said Upton Town Manager Blythe Robinson. “It’s a watershed moment for the two towns.” Robinson added, “Upton would not pit our town against our school. We are a whole community..If we have to go to a larger meeting, I would like to see that happen.”

Paul Flaherty of Upton FinCom added, “We have gone through this process in the past and the school committee has bailed out. This committee needs to stick to the number.”

Mendon Resident Kathleen Nicholson said, “In Mendon we weren’t able to pass it and when I hear about the cuts, it kills me. We have gone through this in 2010 and 2011. When I add the votes of both town this would have passed.”

All six members of the school committee spoke in favor of re-certifying the exact budget.

Mendon committee member Diane Duncan said the cycle of devastating and rebuilding to only devastate the schools again needs to stop. “Four years ago it was ugly. It’s important that we don’t take a big step back. My job is to make sure we are moving the district forward. We are not the Ritz Carlton of schools.” Diane noted the districts per pupil spending is at the bottom 28 percent of the state.

The committee unanimously voted to re-certify the FY16  school budget at $31,838,981.

The re-certified budget gets sent back to Mendon for another shot at funding.

For those interested in what happens next there is a Mendon Selectman meeting scheduled for next Tuesday and a multiboard meeting schedule for next Wednesday. Upton will hold their continued annual town meeting on June 4 to act on all financial articles.

What positions will be eliminatedt?

Reductions at the Elementary Schools

• 7 full time classroom teachers
• 1 full time special education teacher
• 1 full time technology teacher

Reductions at Middle School

• 3 full time classroom teachers
• 2 full time special education teachers
• 1 full time PE/health teacher

Reductions at the High School

• 1 full time english teacher
• 1 full time social studies teacher
• .6 science teacher
• 1 full time business teacher
• 1 full time technology integration teacher
• .2 music teacher
• sports fee increase $50-$75 per sport (average sport cost currently is $375)

Student teacher ratios will rise to the levels of those in 2009 and 2010, looking at 29 to 30 students per teacher. There will be loss of electives at the high school, particularly in business, technology, and history. “Unfortunately there will be less choices,” said Maruszczak

..