NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Committee will be presented next week with a $20 million spending plan for fiscal 2025 that includes closing Greylock School and a reduction of 26 full-time positions. 

 

The Finance and Facilities committee is recommending the budget of $20,357,096, up $302,744 or 1.51 percent over this year. This is funded by $16,418,826 in state Chapter 70 education funds, local funding of $3,938,270 (up $100,000 over this year) and a drawdown of school funds of $575,237. 

 

The budget is up overall because of rising contractural costs, inflation and a hike in the cost of out-of-district tuition. 

 

Superintendent Barbara Malkas told the committee on Monday that assignment letters were being sent out the next day to personnel per agreement with the union of a May 1 deadline.

 

Twenty of the reductions represent members teacher's bargaining unit including a dean of students, an art teacher, music teacher, physical education teacher, school adjustment counselor and a librarian at Drury High School (who will move to teaching and be replaced by a library paraprofessional); also affected are two clerical paraprofessionals, two custodians, one maintenance, and a school nurse. The principal is being shifted to Drury's Grades 7 and 8 "on assignment" to complete her contract. 

 

"Losing 26 positions from the budget, we still have to have some funds from our school choice revolving account in order to close the budget for FY 25," said Malkas. 

 

A couple of these positions are already vacant and it is not clear how many, if any, retirements would affect the number of job losses. Malkas said there have been "rumors" of retirements but staff have been reluctant to discuss firm plans with administration.

 

"I believe most staff will wait to see what their assignment letters indicate before making

any announcements," she said. 

 

Committee member Richard Alcombright asked if School Department was providing some assistance to help those being let go in finding new work. 

 

"Is it possible that there'll be some positions open and available through other districts, potentially. I've already met with my colleagues and indicated that this was happening and that if they received an application from anyone from our district, please contact me and I'd be happy to make a recommendation," she said, but noted that Pittsfield was reducing its workforce by more than 100. "There's also going to be a recall l list as well. So if we get started to see some retirements, things like that, then there's an opportunity for them to re-engage with us."

 

Malkas said she has been "actively" writing letters of recommendation.

 

"We're not removing any existing instructional areas?" asked committee member Tara Jacobs. "I understand we're shrinking classrooms so we don't need the staff ...  but the work that was happening in the classroom won't be affected?"

 

Malkas said that was correct. Art and music for example will continue, she said. "It's just the closure of the school leading to that contraction."

 

The School Department will host a community forum on the grade configuration changes on Wednesday, May 15, at 6 p.m. in the Brayton School Welcome Center and via Zoom here. 

 

The budget is being affected by rising costs and inflation that the state's Chapter 70 funding can't keep up with, and Malkas said this will become more of an issue as time goes on. 

 

"It's because of a flaw in the way the inflation adjustments are calculated in Chapter 70," she said. "The inflation rate, in actuality far exceeds the Chapter 70 cap."

 

The cap is 4.5 percent but inflation in 2023 was 7 percent. The law had initially called for an incremental adjustment when inflation exceeded the cap, but said Malkas, "this language seems to have exited."

 

"The way the Chapter 70 formula originally worked, this wouldn't be a long-term problem because the lost inflation would automatically be added to the foundation budget in the following year," she said. "But a technical change made almost a decade after the law was passed, inadvertently changed that."

 

In response to questions about Pittsfield's getting an extra $2.4 million in Chapter 70, Director of School Finance and Operations Nancy Rauscher said it had to do with Pittsfield's level in terms of the number of low-income students. That city had found enough students to bump it into a higher level; North Adams did find one more student that raised its funding about $7,500 but it would need a far more to move into another level. 

 

Rauscher said she would continue to review enrollment. 

 

"I just wanted to manage everyone's expectations. I'm not expecting to find a couple of million dollars but I will let you know," she said.