Police escorted a member of the Andover Education Association from Thursday’s Andover School Committee meeting as the board moved forward with proposed layoffs and position cuts to close a $2.7 million budget gap.
Union members and parents packed the meeting to protest the cuts, but the school committee rejected a motion to amend the budget ahead of final approval of the budget next week. Activists are planning to challenge the cuts at Monday’s town meeting, which has final approval over the Town and school district budget that include the layoffs.
Even if that effort is successful, there’s no guarantee the positions would be saved. Town Meeting can only allocate money; how the money is spent by the school district is up to the school committee.
Andover Public Schools officials have been warning parents and teachers about the layoffs since ending a three-day strike in November after months of stalled contract negotiations. The new contract gave teachers a 15.5% raise and instructional assistants a 35% pay hike over the next four years.
Local government activist Mike Meyers plans to lead an effort to amend the Town’s budget to move $2.7 million to the budget or force the Town back to the drawing board. Meyers has told officials he wants to find a way to add $2.7 million to the school system’s budget, which is the amount of a gap the district said forced it to give pink slips to more than 20 teachers earlier this month. The district said the cuts reflect declining enrollment over the past decade and would not have a significant impact on class size.
“We have to be prepared for a number of different scenarios,” Town Manager Andrew Flanagan said in an interview last week. Flanagan and Town Chief Financial Office Patrick Lawlor outlined the three most likely scenarios if Meyers musters support for his push at annual town meeting.
- Under the first scenario, Town Meeting could approve moving $2.7 million from the Town’s $45 million operating budget to the school department’s $103 million budget. Town Meeting would also need to cut portions of the Town budget to make sure it passes a balanced budget.
- The body could also simply shoot down the budget, which would force the select board to call a special town meeting to consider a new budget. A special town meeting last month cost the Town approximately $45,000 to host.
- Under the final scenario, Town Meeting could approve a $2.7 million increase to the school budget, contingent on approval of a Proposition 2.5 override in a special election. That special election would be to approve a tax increase and be held within 90 days of town meeting. The election can be held after July 1 without running afoul of the state rule requiring a balanced budget by the start of the fiscal year.