By Tim McCarthy
tmccarthy@hgazette.com
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CORRECTION: This story, as originally reported, contains erroneous information about the funding of stipends for advisers of after-school clubs and programs at Haverhill High School.According to school officials, some programs may become self-supporting, meaning teachers' stipends would be covered by fundraising, student fees, ticket prices, donations or a combination of those means.However, no firm decision has been made.
Original story appears below:
To close a $3.7 million budget gap for the 2010-2011 academic year, Haverhill's school leaders eliminated close to 30 positions and will expand the list of activities that students must pay to participate in at the high school.
Elementary and middle schools "encore" subjects — which include music, art, and physical education — took the hardest hit at 15 teachers. Five teachers were lost in each of the respective categories.
Bonnie Porter, a Whittier middle school art teacher and the lead teacher for the middle school arts program last year, said her department will have to operate on a skeletal staff of five teachers across every elementary and middle school in the district — roughly one teacher for every 1,000 students.
Furthermore, the number of "encore" classes she'll teach in the year has been reduced from one every three days to one every five days.
Currently Haverhill is expecting 5,356 students attending the districts elementary and middle schools in the fall.
One "encore" teacher who lost his job is Arthur Bakopolus, the former music tutor and instrumental band leader for Haverhill's middle schools. He started in the position half-way through last year.
Though he's shopping his resume to other school districts and even universities, Bakopolus said that he'd love to resume the middle school band program he resurrected.
"I would love to go back," said Bakopolus. "For some of these kids, this was the highlight of their day. Regardless of their academic standing, they had music."
Other positions that were cut include eight special education aides and four high school teachers in the areas of art, science, foreign language and language arts.
An adjustment counselor's position was left unfilled.
Another 109 teachers who received layoff notices in the spring have been called back to work this fall, said interim Superintendent James Scully.
At Haverhill High School, students are going to be asked to pay a fee to participate in school clubs, including yearbook, drama and band. The fees will cover the stipends for teachers to act as advisers to the programs. Stipends range from $1,500 to $4,000, said Kara Kosmes, assistant superintendent for finance and operations.
"The bottom line is it costs money to educate children," Kosmes said.
The city's middle schools implemented a similar payment program for after-school clubs about seven years ago, Kosmes said, and Haverhill High principal Bernard Nangle suggested implementing it for the high school this year.
Every cost-cutting option was considered by the administration and school committee before eliminating teaching positions, Kosmes stressed.
"The classroom teacher is a top priority for the School Committee," she said. "We prioritize people as much as we can."
Haverhill High School teacher Marc Harvey, president of the Haverhill Education Association — the district's teachers union — said the cuts serve as a reminder of how tight budgets have become.
"There's nothing left," he said. "That's the sad reality."
Harvey added that while Haverhill has hired two to three teachers per year recently, it has done so at reduced salaries and slashed benefits.
He also noted that the district has shifted away from hiring teachers to fill positions such as librarians or media specialists, and instead hires education support professionals who are hired at hours less than part-time, meaning they do not receive benefits.
Harvey added that the crunch has led to unique partnerships between the union and school administration in order to save money and jobs.
"Central office and the union have often collaborated to get around the funding problem," he said. "We are being inventive. Believe it or not, the bad economy might help."
