Schools Open with Retained Programs Despite Budget Cuts and Staff Reductions-September 3, 1991

When Norwood students return to classrooms tomorrow for the start of the new academic year, they will encounter a few visible adjustments—including higher cafeteria prices, a smaller teaching staff, and the discontinuation of Latin courses. However, school officials emphasized that despite a roughly $600,000 reduction to the $18 million school budget amid town-wide cutbacks, Norwood schools remain in a comparatively strong position relative to neighboring communities.

Preserved Programs and Cafeteria Price Hikes

“Norwood has its art, music and physical education programs intact,” School Committee Chairman Marilyn Saltzberg noted. “We don’t have user fees for any of that. Norwood has a lot of advantages over surrounding communities.”

Students will immediately notice changes in the cafeteria, where hot lunch prices are rising by 10 cents—representing the second price hike within the past year. Lunches will now cost $1.10 at the elementary level and $1.20 at the junior and senior high schools. Food Services Director Mary Nagle explained that the price increases are necessary to rescue the school lunch program, which has run a deficit for several years driven by rising food costs and declining student participation.

Staffing Reductions and the End of Latin

In the classroom, students will see six fewer teachers, reflecting layoffs approved by the school committee in the spring and bringing Norwood’s total teacher layoffs to 24 over the past four years. While administrators stressed that staffing reductions will not impact core programming, the opening day marks the end of an era with the official elimination of high school Latin courses.

According to Cheryl Brown, chairman of the foreign languages committee, Latin was dropped exclusively due to dwindling student enrollment, concluding a historical run when the subject served as the anchor of the district’s foreign language curriculum. Meanwhile, class sizes have crept upward, particularly in elementary schools where Superintendent James Savage reported that the largest classrooms hold approximately 28 students.

Opening Day Schedules

Superintendent Savage released the official first-day arrival and dismissal schedule for the district:

• Elementary Schools: Report at 8:40 a.m.; dismissal at 2:50 p.m.
• Junior High Schools: Report at 7:50 a.m.; dismissal at 2:20 p.m.
• High School: Report at 8:00 a.m.; dismissal at 2:00 p.m.

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