HAVERHILL — The $54,665,246 budget approved by the School Committee last night is not about to win any popularity contests.
Even the members who voted for it said they disliked the reductions to art, music and physical education. The vote was 5-2, with Mayor James Fiorentini, Shaun Toohey, Joseph Bevilacqua, Paul Magliocchetti and Scott Wood backing the budget. Ray Sierpina and Susan Danehy were opposed.
Sierpina lamented so many programs being "decimated."
The 50 or so people who filled most of the seats in the council chambers of City Hall — many of them teachers — offered suggestions on how to keep art, music and physical education as they are. Many called for closing Crowell School, which serves 72 students in kindergarten through second grade. Others called for cutting the transportation budget.
The new budget calls for reducing the instructional time for art, music and gym by half. The school system will shed five teaching positions in each of those subjects. Some of the teachers of the "encore" subjects plan to retire, so it's not yet clear just how many will actually be laid off.
"It's like watching my house burn down," said Gayle Bridgeford, a music teacher. She said she expects to teach more than 1,000 students next year.
"Time to cut the arts," Betsy Chipman, a music teacher, said sarcastically.
Chipman said the city spends too much to bus kids to school and that the high school could probably get by with fewer than seven guidance counselors.
"You are doing such a disservice to the children," Chipman said.
Former City Council President Michael Bresnahan presented a challenge to each School Committee member: Find another $100,000 for education. Privatization of services, such as cleaning, should be looked at, as well as consolidation between school and "city side" functions, he said.
"The time has come," Bresnahan said, to close Crowell School. Outgoing Superintendent Raleigh Buchanan has estimated that would save $50,000. Gene Zylkuski, who attended the hearing with his son Nick, a Haverhill High senior, said closing Crowell could save one teacher's job.
Danehy proposed an amendment to shut Crowell. It failed 4-3, with Bevilacqua, Magliocchetti, Toohey and Wood opposed and Danehy, Sierpina and Fiorentini in favor.
Bevilacqua reiterated one of his ideas for saving money: Asking teachers to accept a one-year step increase freeze. Assistant Superintendent for Business Kara Kosmes said that could save as much as $500,000.
"No one has answered in the affirmative," Bevilacqua said.
Fiorentini said he is "very disappointed" that no school employees have agreed to switch to the Value Option health insurance plan, as other city workers have. He estimated that would save $85,000.
The budget passed last night applies to the new fiscal year, which will start July 1. The new spending plan, which still needs the approval of the City Council to take effect, is .35 percent lower than last year's budget.
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