The votes were counted, and the override passed. So the question is — now what? Many Walpolians are curious to see just how much the override, which created a $3 million property tax hike, will impact the Walpole school system this year. Some individuals seem to think there is a surplus of override money in the town budget; however, while the Town of Walpole may have a surplus, this is not the case for the School Committee budget.
The bulk of the override money went to replacing faculty positions that had been cut in recent years and more that would have been cut this year. So , for elementary school students, the replacement of these positions ensured that their class sizes would remain manageable — which means most classes would have 25 or fewer students. For middle school students, the override preserved the current Foreign Language Department at the middle schools, which is the feeder system to a very successful Advanced Placement program at the high school. In addition, this money allowed for the School Committee to withhold increasing Athletic User Fees and Bus Fees.
After the School Committee had replaced the faculty positions, it had $600,000. This money was not excess however. Rather, Superintendent Lincoln Lynch said, “It has been allocated for instructional materials.
Specifically, the School Committee allocated $300,000 to create a brand new math program for grades K-8 and $100,00 to replace outdated textbooks. The other $200,000 will be held onto until mid-year in case any additional costs arise; then, it will be put to more instructional materials.
And, as he stated before the override vote, Dr. Lynch repeated that the School Committee would not request a tax increase for the school for at least the next five years.
The greatest impact seen at the schools involves staffing. During the summer, Walpole High was given the go-ahead to hire four new teachers for Technology, Spanish, Science, and English. Also, the override restored five additional elementary teachers, and in total, the override restored 12 new teachers for the district. Without the override, several teachers would have been laid off.
Principal Stephen Imbusch said, “What is important to realize, however, is that without the override, not only would we not have these new teachers, but we would also have lost several positions: Social Studies teacher, Math teacher, Custodian, two Instructional Aides, and a cut to our secretarial staff.”
Lincoln Lynch added, “We avoided laying off 15 staff members” in the entire district. Between saving 15 jobs and creating 12, a gross of 27 staff members were either welcomed or preserved. Many of the new staff members are the result of the override, but because a couple teachers retired last year their spots were going to be filled anyway — override or not. For example, two new Spanish teachers were hired at Walpole High this year, but only one was the result of the override. The other was to take the spot of Mr. Chris Alberg, who left after last year. Along with the new teachers, Walpole schools are to be allocated an increase in their operating budget.
Mr. Imbusch said, “[This] will allow for more adequate materials to be purchased for classrooms, or increased professional development for our teachers.” As for specific materials, Mr. Imbusch cited one example by saying they would be purchasing brand new Social Studies textbooks to replace the ones that were 12 years old.
As for class sizes, last year’s classes were usually filled to the brim, with the number of students ranging from the high 20’s to the low 30’s. The addition of 12 new teachers in Walpole has helped to preserve lower class sizes and bring back some popular elective courses at the high school like Web Design and Computer Programming. Also, AP Chemistry and media classes were again offered at the high school. Vice Chairman of the School Committee, Mrs. Nancy Gallivan said, “Almost all of our classes max out at 25.” Even though there are still some large class sizes, the additional staff has overall lessened the amount of students per class.
Smaller class sizes tend to be more engaging places for students because they’re able to have a more personal connection with teachers. Mr. Imbusch said, “I see [the override] impacting the attitude of both the staff and students. When teachers have lower class sizes, both the teachers and students benefit from the increased level of instruction, and the ability for more individualized attention.”
Elementary class sizes were one of the primary concerns of the override because students typically spend most of their day in only one classroom. One Second Grade class currently has 18 students instead of 25 (with a failed override). Similarly, a First Grade class now holds 22 instead of 29. Individual attention in the classroom is crucial at this level while the kids learn important developmental skills like reading and writing.
The Foreign Language Department was preserved in the middle school level because the override passed. If the override had not been successful, the Foreign Language Departments in the middle schools would have been eliminated. There would be no introductory course for French and Spanish in 6th grade, so the core subjects would therefore have been cut in 7th and 8th grade as well. In effect, Spanish V and French V would eventaully have been cut for seniors at the College-Prep 1, Honors, and AP levels because students would not have those extra two years of preparation. One less AP course on a transcript, particularly one in the five core academic areas, could have possibly been detrimental to students applying to competitive colleges. Because of the override, these classes remain intact in both the middle schools and the high school for future generations.
Another important impact from the override is that the athletic fees have stayed the same. With a failed override, $25,000 would have been cut from the athletic budget. The fees would have been doubled per student, per sport. Instead of paying $200 per sport, parents would have had to pay $400. Athletes already have to do major fundraising for their sports, so the increase in fees could have been a deciding factor as to whether they played or not.
Of course, there is still work to be done with allocating the new budget. Mr. Lynch said, “We are always looking for more efficiencies.”
Due to the success of the override there have been several changes and additions to Walpole Public Schools seen just in these first few weeks.
Mr. Lynch approved the purchase of new Special Education vans the reorganization of food services — two measures that should greatly reduce future costs.
New teachers, smaller class sizes, no increase in fees, and no cuts in programs are just a few of the major impacts seen in the 2012-2013 school year because the majority of Walpole residents voted “yes” and produced a successful override.
