School Com approves budget

The Norwood School Committee met twice over the last two weeks and voted to approve the budget Norwood Public Schools (NPS) Superintendent Timothy Luff presented.

The budget is staying at its proposed 2.96 percent increase, as previously reported.

The presentation was two weeks ago, and the vote was last week. The public was invited to comment but no one spoke at either meeting.

Luff presented the highlights of the budget and started with the most recent changes, which included adding another health teacher at the Norwood High School (NHS) for its Health Care Pathway Improvement program, an additional business teacher at the high school for the Business Pathway Improvement program, a social worker at the Coakley Middle School, and an additional bus for the Coakley.

Luff said they might also have to acquire new staff if the kindergarten program sees “unanticipated enrollments” in the coming school year.

Luff said revenues were also considered.

“We did update fees across the board for a 2 percent increase, which is a $22,000 increase, mostly in the revolving fund,” he said. “We added an additional bus, out of concern for the School Committee conversation at one of our meetings, and we’re going to pay for that bus, about $92,000, through increased fee revenue and some reductions that I will share. We’re increasing the bus fee for about $9,000, and with participation increase in the elementary plan that’s about $38,000.”

Luff said the redistricting plan for the elementary schools makes this possible, as almost all students are less than two miles from their schools. That means they are not eligible for free transportation from the district, and families will have to pay the fee, or walk/bike/drop-off to school.

Luff said they are also reducing the English Language Education (ELE) Director position for $135,000 back into the budget, but adding an ELE Chair with a stipend for about $10,000; adding a paraprofessional for a kindergarten classroom for another $30,000; holding an elementary teacher and a paraprofessional position in abeyance until the late spring for an increase at $111,000; reducing the media station by about $60,000 with the retirement of Jack Tolman from his school position (still staying on at Norwood Community Media); and allocating an additional $45,000 towards the new bus.

Luff also discussed the schools’ side of the Town’s structural budget deficit. The Town will be spending about $7.3 million in free cash to cover the gap, as the allowed revenues by Prop 2.5 – https://gvimes.link/mass-taxes – are not meeting what the Town is spending.

Luff went through the things they could cut to help bring the NPS’ costs down, and said it would cost children of Norwood quite a bit.

“We know there could be a financial cliff coming in multiple years, and we’re considering everything that we can possibly consider to support our taxpayers,” he said. “We’ve also considered a lot of reductions that we may have to consider next year. I just want to share that with the public, as these are things that we may consider as part of a larger discussion in Fiscal Year 2028.”

Luff said those cuts included eliminating any transportation that’s not legally required for $500,000 in the budget.

“But it would decimate our roads, make our pick-up and drop-off lines absolutely insane,” he said. “If you’ve been to one, you know. It would be a safety risk for walkers and there would be roadway congestion. It would also be an issue for our chronic absenteeism rates, which we’re now seeing improvement in.”

Luff said they would look at pay-for-play and pay-for-performance models for sports and arts programs, which he said would likely decrease participation.

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“That would save almost $1.3 million,” he said. “But these are staples of the Norwood community and not something I would ever recommend. They would decimate our district if we were to go that way. But those are things we would have to consider if we were asked to cut the almost $4 million if we didn’t have that in free cash.”

He said they could also reduce elementary intervention for reading and math – students who are falling behind – for about $800,000; after-school clubs for $55,000; reduce district-wide administration from $150,000; reduce high school/middle school administrators for $250,000; eliminate professional development for $483,000; and reduce supplies/software for each department.

The Committee voted unanimously to approve the budget during last week’s meeting.

Also last week, School Committee members Anne Marie Mazzola and Teresa Stewart, who are not seeking reelection, thanked the NPS and the committee for the opportunity to help make Norwood better.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the committee, at least most of the time,” said Mazzola. “I have some great memories being on the committee. Some of my favorite things are interfacing with the staff and students. I became chair for three years, and one of my favorite things to do was go to convocation, to speak words of encouragement to the staff, and watch the really silly videos that were put together. The enthusiasm was fantastic and I really, really enjoyed that… I want to thank everybody I’ve served with over the last six years, the teachers, the staff and the admin staff for working as hard as you do and making my time on the committee memorable.”

“In my time on the School Committee, I have worked with three superintendents, three assistant superintendents, four business managers and 10 different school committee colleagues,” said Stewart. “I have learned from each and every one of you and deeply appreciate the dedication you and my former colleagues have put into this district. The School Committee role is nuanced, and one that people can’t understand unless you’re in it. I really didn’t know what I was getting into in 2017… Being on the School Committee has been one of the most challenging – but also most rewarding – experiences I’ve had in my life.”