Newtonite
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Newton North High School, 457 Walnut St., Newtonville, Mass. 02460
U Friday, March 25, 2011 • Volume 90, Issue 4
FY12 budget proposes cuts HILARY BRUMBERG Due to an increased number With a $4.4 million deficit, su- of students on IEPs, 1.1 FTE perintendent David Fleishman’s reading specialists (0.6 FTE at Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year this school) are proposed to be 2012 will eliminate teaching added to the two high schools, positions and add extra-cur- providing students with “spericular activity fees, among cialized assessment and instrucother efficiencies at the high tion in reading, and consultation school level. to staff,” the proposal said. This Fleishman presented the will cost $87,714. proposed $171,620,000 budget Per School Committee budat a School Committee meeting get guidelines, a 1.0 secondary Monday, March 14. The FY12 reserve FTE split between the budget proposes a 2.6 percent two high schools will be added, increase over the total FY11 costing $54,000. budget of Fleishman $167,203,992. proposed genThis inerating addicrease does tional revenue size of budget deficit not fully covby adding new er increases fees and modiin employee fying existing regular education health care ones. At the costs or costs high school high school teaching associated level they are positions eliminated with an inUadding crease in ena drama fee rollment. The of $150 per fee for participation in $1.8 million participant non-athletic schoolloss of stimuper play with lus funding sponsored extra-curriculars a m a x i m u m “causes furof $450 per ther strain,” year per paraccording to fee for participation in one ticipant. This Fleishman. is expected season of most sports In preparto generate ing the pro $56,550 to posal, Fleishman said that he offset the cost of supplemental was especially mindful of the music and drama salaries, acNewton Public Schools’ Stra- cording to the proposal. tegic Plan, which highlights Uadding a student activity fee the importance of excellence in of $125 per student for particiteaching. pation in unlimited non-athletic Fleishman proposed instruc- school-sponsored extra-curricutional reductions, fee offsets and lar activities. Fleishman expects efficiencies to close the budget 2,175 students to pay, generatgap, totaling to a 0.6 percent ing $271,875 to offset instrucdecrease in funding at the high tional expenses and operation school level. costs of the school buildings. First, the proposed budget Uincreasing the athletic fee cuts 9.8 regular education high from $210 per student per sport school FTE positions with an per season to $300, with a family equivalent impact on the two cap of $900. The fee for particihigh schools, saving $529,200 pation in football and ice hockey on salaries and $84,280 on ben- will increase to $400 per student efits. 2.9 FTE will be cut from per season. This fee is expected this school, according to the to generate an additional net proposal. revenue of $144,236 over FY11, Fleishman said that as a re- offsetting 42 percent of the cost sult of the eliminated teaching of the FY12 athletics program. positions, he and the School “While we are not happy to Committee will reduce the increase and introduce new number of courses offered and fees, we want to do everything increase class sizes in the high possible to prevent a reduction schools. in the breadth of programs and They will look at students’ an increase in class size,” Fleishfinal course selections before man said. “Thus, the increase in deciding exactly which teaching fee revenue will lessen the need positions to eliminate in order to to reduce teachers.” maximize offerings to students, Between the cuts, additions match final enrollments and and fees listed above, an estimonitor low enrollment classes, mated $920,889 will be saved according to the proposal. from high schools, the proposal Class sizes are projected to said. increase at both high schools The efficiencies Fleishman with a large number of classes proposed are expected to relieve with over 25 students, according an additional $1.2 million, he to the proposal. said. They include transitionIn addition, the proposal ing food services to privately eliminates 4.2 FTE high school managed food service program Special Education teachers and Whitsons New England, Inc., 3.8 high school Special Educa- saving $750,000 in FY12 and tion aides, resulting in savings more than $1 million per year of $420,000. in future years. BY
$4.4 million 9.8
Gabe Dreyer
A musical inside a musical: Freshman Alex Shames, seniors Annie Gombosi and David Gore and sophomore Ben Lidsky dance in “Curtains.” See review on page 4.
’13 senior packets to change SAMANTHA LIBRATY Beginning with the Class of 2013, all senior packets for college will include a counselorwritten statement in place of the current teacher or faculty member assessment written for sophomores and juniors, according to guidance department head Beth Swederskas. “Upon critical reflection of this school’s senior packet materials, the counseling department has decided to streamline the required documents that are included in the senior packet being sent to colleges and prospective employers,” she said. As a part of these changes to the senior packet, teacher comments will include: “a sentence or two about the student in a class, athletics or an extra-curricular activity, the first few words that come to mind when describing the student or an anecdote that portrays a student’s character, work ethic and/or personality,” Swederskas added. The main purpose of teacher comments is to provide addition-
al information about students, according to Swederskas. The senior packet will now include “a student’s transcript, Newton North profile, GPA histogram, senior info sheet and the Secondary School Report Form that includes the counselor statement,” Swederskas said. The packet gives colleges more information on each student. Before these changes were made, “When there was something to be explained either academically or personally, on behalf of a student, a counselor would provide that information to colleges,” Swederskas said. This system existed for over 35 years at this school, according to guidance counselor Larry Allen. In the past, each counselor has been writing about 30 statements per year, Swederskas said. With the new system, each counselor will be writing statements for all of their students, incorporating teachers’ comments, according to Swederskas. Counselors will now be
writing approximately 100 statements per year. The increased workload for counselors will “significantly impact the current tasks that counselors are responsible for, and as the process continues to unfold, we will see if other changes need to be made,” she said. The changes were brought about because “there are changing demands and requirements for a more concise way to represent our seniors that will result in a more streamlined senior packet being sent to colleges,” Swederskas said. Because colleges’ requirements are changing, Swederskas initiated the review of the role of teacher comments within the senior packet last fall, she said. A Teacher Assessment Task Force was created to decide on changes for the senior packet. The Task Force has been “meeting, discussing, creating and putting forward the proposal to make changes” since November, Swederskas said.
JARED PERLO Student Faculty Administration members decided to move forward in adding cultural amenities to Main Street several weeks ago. The SFA held a unanimous vote to form a subcommittee, which would review the different possibilities for Main Street and the cafeteria. The subcommittee will be made up of several representatives from
different school groups, principal Jennifer Price said. Price noted that there would not be total freedom. “It’s going to be important to set the ground rules,” she said. Junior Caleb Bromberg said that a big part of the proposal was the establishment of what he described as “definite hangout spots.” During the fourth term, some of the additions could be made
as a preview. The proposal, written by librarian Kevin McGrath and history teacher Ty Vignone, argues that the school lacks social places and “options for places for students to go outside the cafeteria and library.” The proposal emphasized the importance of Main Street in the school, saying that Main Street should be “both a passageway and a community space.”
BY
Main Street proposal approved BY
$125
$300
See inside for spring sports, Theatre Ink and presentation coverage
pages 13-16
pages 8-9
page 7