Curtis Says $200K Cut Won't Mean Staff Reductions
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Superintendent Joseph Curtis insists that the district's $200,000 budget cut will not reduce additional positions.
"We all feel strongly, and I'm sure that the [School Committee] does as well, that we will not reduce any additional staff members as a result of that $200,000 reduction," he said on Wednesday.
The day before, a $216 million city budget was passed that included a last-minute reduction to the schools. During Tuesday's City Council meeting, an uprising of staff members worried that it would cut additional positions was attributed to misinformation.
Curtis reported that the district would be comfortable bringing forward proposals for non-staff member cuts on June 26, sending out the information to committee member before hands.
Mayor Peter Marchetti said they be celebrating because $200,000 of the $82 million school budget is not a great difference from what was put forward. He cut $400,000 from the original proposal before bringing it to the council.
"I think we need to take a step back and respect the entire process and respect the fact that at the end of the day, we got a budget that was very close to what we were looking for," he said.
Committee member Diana Belair was "dismayed" by the council's action to cut additional monies from an already reduced budget.
"I just feel like you do not support an organization by cutting its funding, you don't support an organization by cutting staff, you don't support an organization by reducing the number of caring individuals working to make their live better," she said.
"As a parent, my heart aches to know that our schools are not up at the top priorities for the city. Our future depends on these kids and we should be rating behind them, propelling them forward, and not pinching pennies at their expense to save on our tax bill."
Daniel Elias pointed out that there was a period of time 15 or so years ago where the council and the committee were not on good terms.
The mayor has formerly served on the School Committee and the City Council.
"Peter Marchetti had authored a joint meeting to try to get both groups together, thinking if you got good people together, good things could happen to show the human side of things," he said.
"That still continues today with a joint meeting for the audit."
While he doesn't agree with the council's decision, he agrees with its right to do so.
"A back and forth verbally is not healthy. That doesn't work and leads to a path we saw some years ago and what we see in other communities," he said, pointing to the claims of a game of telephone leading to the misinformation and reminding committee members that there are good people on the council, many who are friends.
Curtis pointed out that the process may have led to failures in communication, as the council didn't receive the same two-hour presentation with every single detail that it did last budget cycle.
"It's almost a setup for failure," he said. "There is no way to explain what needs to be explained or bring an understanding in one evening. It's just not possible, in my opinion."
Marchetti said that as part of the process, maybe the district can start creating a narrative to educate the community and public about its positions and what they do.
At the beginning of the meeting, a couple community members expressed concerns about transparency within the district, pointing to the Conte Community School's lack of funding for an after-school program.
Social worker Jeanna Tinney said she has reviewed documents that reflect a pattern of non-compliance from the administration, "undermining trust and cooperation necessary for our collective success."
She said Conte did not receive the 21st Century Program grant this year, which offers "substantial" financial relief.
"I was concerned and inquired with the School Committee and the administration in September of 2023. I was told by Mr. Curtis that he didn't receive a notice about Conte not getting the grant, that no other schools were at risk for losing the funding, and that they didn't receive any information about the program from DESE and that PPS was not operating in a deficit," she said.
"However, the limited records I received, including emails from Mr. Curtis, indicate the exact opposite."
Tinney said the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education directly addressed concerns "several times" with Curtis and other administrators months before her inquiry, withholding funding until concerns with the district were addressed.
"Mr. Curtis was informed officially on Aug. 25, 2023 that Conte would not receive the grant but he may have known even sooner when he signed off for funding on every 21st Century program except for Conte," she said, adding that the lack of transparency is alarming and she had to invest nearly $500 to bring this to light.
She also expressed concern about the use of Title One funds to cover the after school program at Conte.
"Regarding the record request, the records I received were incomplete yet unnecessarily voluminous, with duplicates throughout the 2,874 documents I received," she said. "I had to appeal to the Office of Secretary of the Commonwealth to obtain everything requested after being ignored. A compliance notice was issued and PPS continues to ignore the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth."
Parent Kaitlyn Pierce said that through a public records request, they uncovered emails that revealed what she felt to be significant discrepancies and misleading statements from the administration.
She seconded the allegations of Curtis misreporting his knowledge of the grant status.
"According to the public records we obtained, the 21st Century grant for Conte was denied due to several criteria failures on the part of the Pittsfield Public Schools," she said.
In a statement to iBerkshires, Curtis said the news had been unofficially received.
"At last evening's meeting, the public speaker referenced an email from a PPS staff member. However, the staff member had heard unofficially, which is not an acceptable notification to the superintendent regarding a competitive grant award. Once the official competitive grant notification was received from Karyl Resnick, 21st Century Learning Centers coordinator for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the School Committee was informed, and the PPS administration acted swiftly," he wrote.
"Although it was unfortunate that the competitive (not entitlement) grant submitted by the former 21st Century Coordinator was not awarded, the students at Conte Community School experienced no interruption in their after-school programming. As mentioned earlier, once PPS received official notification from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, we reallocated federal Title One grant funds — initially designated for hiring an administrator at another school — to support this after-school program. During the 2023-2024 school year, this comprehensive program was led by Conte veteran educator Ann Marie Hines. This after-school program was provided at no cost to our taxpayers and did not impact our local budget in any way."
Tags: fiscal 2024, Pittsfield Public Schools,
