Auditorium Crowd Supports School Budget-This Day In Norwood History-June 8, 1978

Audience Backs Proposed $11.3 Million Allocation as School and Finance Boards Clash Over Fiscal Math

If there are taxpayers who share the finance commission’s outrage over the $11.3 million school budget they were not in the Aaron Guild School auditorium last night. Although the public hearing on the budget attracted more than the usual number, many of the 60 persons attending appeared to be supporters of the school committee and its proposed budget. Applause followed an appeal for support from school Supt. Philip O. Coakley. “We need your help as we try to maintain our standards of excellence,” he said.

The school committee took strong exception to the FinCom report to the town, distributed this week in preparation of Monday’s town meeting, which stated the school budget had increased $1.1 million over 1977-78. School Business Manager Lawrence S. Canter cited the town clerk’s statement of the 1977-78 school appropriation showing a total of $10,660,000. “We are requesting $11,270,000 for 1978-79, an increase of $610,000 very different from $1.1 million,” he said. The requested school budget is up 5.8 percent over last year, according to school officials, but does not include pay raises yet to be negotiated with administrators, secretaries and cafeteria workers. However, those increases reportedly will add about $120,000 which would still bring the increase far short of the FinCom’s $1.1 million figure.

In addition to recommending a cut of $600,000 from the school committee request, the FinCom is also demanding one elementary school be closed in September. There was no such demand forthcoming from the audience last night. Town meeting member Thomas DiFrancia did challenge the Chapter 766 (special education) program which is state-mandated and will cost the town more than $1 million next year, but is partially reimbursed. “The state should pay for the program if it is mandated,” he said. Noting there are 725 children being served under Chapter 766, school committee member Richard Kief said, “We should provide those children an equal education whether the state pays or not”. The FinCom did support the $350,000 operational budget for 766 which is about 60 percent state reimbursed, but that amount does not include salaries for the 50 teachers in the program.

School committee Chairman Henry W. Diggs, responding to a question, said he did not foresee being able to reconcile the school committee’s figures with those of the finance commission. He indicated his board would be prepared Monday to offer amendments to the FinCom’s recommendations. The FinCom cut $437,000 from the salary budget, $160,000 from operational expense and $25,000 from new equipment. Canter said the recommended salary cuts would eliminate about 28 teaching positions. The FinCom’s public hearing on the entire town budget is scheduled for tonight in Memorial Hall at 7:30.

In other business, the committee heard reports from the seven elementary school principals outlining how every room in their schools is utilized. Member Rudith Berkowitz urged the committee to realistically address the declining enrollment situation instead of finding uses for extra rooms, such as instrumental music rooms and vocal music rooms. “I can see we could have possibly closed a school this year with some transportation problem and would like to hear us say we will most likely, if not absolutely close a school in a year,” she said. She cited the capacities of elementary schools as delineated in the Arthur D. Little (ADL) report of several years ago. “We now have 700 students less than the ADL rated capacity said we could handle and we all laughed at them for being too generous in allocating space,” she said. The Balch School, she said, was built for 550 students and Norwood projected to have 431 in the fall. The ADL report rated it as being able to hold 430 comfortably and noted the capacities were based on the desired 25 to 1, pupil-teacher ratio. Member Joan Cuff appeared to support Mrs. Berkowitz saying, “Eventually, we are going to have to decide what we want done with our school system.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger