Second Draft Budget for Schools Proposes Staff Reductions, Adjustments to Class Sizes
After presenting a first draft budget for Winchendon Public Schools for Fiscal Year 2025 (academic year 2024-2025) to the School Committee and hearing their feedback, Interim Superintendent Dr. Ruthann Goguen presented a second draft with some revisions to the Board of Selectmen, School Committee and Finance Committee at the Tri-Board budget meeting on February 12 and to the School Committee again on February 15. The presentations explained at length the financial situation facing the school district in the coming year and plans for changes in staff, scheduling and services.
The second draft budget has total expenses of $21,315,140.87, representing an increase of 5.62 percent over the current year. That is a smaller percentage increase than the previous two years. After offsets, the school district would be requesting $17,861,878.73 from taxpayers.
Dr. Goguen began her presentation to the Tri-Board meeting by saying, "I am proposing a budget that I believe is fiscally responsible, transparent, and based on looking deeply at numbers and efficiencies within the school district." She emphasized that proposed staff reductions did not mean cutting programs for students. Class sizes are being adjusted upwards, and some teachers will be shared between buildings.
"The goal for me as your Interim Superintendent is to help get the district on solid ground and help be able to put some sustainability in the budget and be able to have money and funding for student programming," Dr. Goguen said. She added, "Before I go into this presentation, I will let you know that there are a high number of students that live in Winchendon that do not come to this district. We have over 90 homeschool students, and well over 100 students going to other schools." This number is voluntary school choice such as Monty Tech, Sizer School, and other districts, not out-of-district placement for special needs students, which is a separate number (currently 26).
(In an email to the Courier, Dr. Goguen stated that 114 students voluntarily attend other schools, and 10 attend Charter Schools. If these students attended Winchendon Public Schools, the district would see an increase in Chapter 70 funding, Dr. Goguen confirmed. According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education [DESE], there are 1,219 students enrolled in the Winchendon Public Schools. By the Courier's calculation, over 15 percent of school-age children and youth in Winchendon are receiving education elsewhere than the WPS district. The district pays $799,120 in school choice tuition and $146,274 in Charter School tuition for these students.)
Dr. Goguen told the Boards that there is a new Admin Team which is working on a new district strategic plan, including a mission and vision "based in reality."
"Basically what we're trying to do is build a culture of achievement where our students are really the thinkers and doers in the classroom. And that they're engaged in their learning," Dr. Goguen said. The ongoing improvements include lots of staff training, new curriculums, better collection and analysis of student achievement data, and numerous grant applications. Improved student support includes medical and mental health support, daily "specials" (art, music, P.E.) for grades K through 8, athletic and enrichment programs at the Middle and High School, and online courses and dual enrollment at the High School.
Dr. Goguen explained that the district's challenges are staff recruitment, reconciliation of the accounting, and budgeting for limitations given what the schools receive from the town. It's important to make sure that funds are used where the funding sources intend them to be used.
Staffing changes are based in efficient scheduling of staff and realistic class sizes, Dr. Goguen explained, moving to slides displaying charts of projected enrollment, current class sizes and target class sizes. Classes in grades K through 4 are somewhat small and can be increased to around 20 to 23 students.
"High school is a little different because every class is different, but what we have seen is we have a very small high school and we have seen very small numbers of certain classes," Dr. Goguen said. "So what we want to do is be more efficient with scheduling. For example, we don't want an English 9 class on period one with six students and then period two have English 9 with four students. That should be one class. So in a deeper dive and looking at the schedule this year in high school, we did uncover that there were at least 11 classes that could have been combined to be reasonable."
The goal is to put the Middle and High Schools on the same schedule and have both teachers and classes shared more with both schools, Dr. Goguen said. The number of teachers would be reduced, but those that remained would have a more varied schedule and more teaching opportunity. "The sharing of staff for specialists--art, music, technology should be in that--would enable students to have specials, they get one special a day, specials are designed to cover the teachers' prep. And there's still an extra period with sharing the staff between the two buildings. So again, it's a fiscally responsible model without impacting the student programming."
Proposed staff reductions are, at the elementary level, 3 FTE (full time equivalent) classroom teachers, of which two are retirements; 3 FTE Specialists (Art, Music, P.E.) with the remaining Specials instructors shared between buildings; 1 FTE Kindergarten Paraprofessional; 1 FTE Counselor. At the High School level, 2 FTE teachers (English Language Arts [ELA] and History).
10 FTE positions posted for the current academic year have not been filled. Some additional positions were put into the FY2025 budget, including a full time Athletic Director for the Middle and High Schools.
Budget reductions have been made in other areas besides instructional staff, including custodial, maintenance and educational subscriptions.
There was further discussion about the various funding sources the district draws on, in addition to the main block of state Chapter 70 funds via the town. For several years, COVID emergency ESSER funding has been available; it is now discontinued. Revenue from the town's solar fields, under PILOT agreements, had been diverted for a couple of years, and the district is looking to return these to the schools. Grant money comes from a number of sources, including the state, the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation, and Murdock Trust funds. State Circuit Breaker funding assists with costs for special education services.
At the School Committee meeting on February 15, Dr. Goguen began by addressing concerns being heard from the public, parents and the School Committee about proposed reductions in staff. A number of residents and school staff had spoken during the public comments section of the meeting about proposed changes and reductions they were hearing about.
"I would like to start with just clarifying a couple things," Dr. Goguen said. "I certainly understand that there is the perception that students would not have Art, Music, P.E. and Library and Technology. Currently we share a Technology teacher between Memorial and Toy Town so students don't have Technology, they have it on an every day four day rotation. Currently we have wonderful paraprofessionals who are doing a great job with our librarian doing the library." It's very hard when the town is in financial straits and everyone has to draw from the same small pot of money. It means difficult decisions are made. The decision to have Specialists shared among the schools isn't "personal," it's a way of being fiscally responsible and sustainable, Dr. Goguen said.
"Teachers can teach 20 percent out of their content area. So that library block certainly is a very valuable block," she went on. "No one's trying to take that away from kids. No one's trying to take art or music or P.E away from our kids. And I want you to understand that that was not the mission."
Much of the discussion with the School Committee focused on the uncertainties of revenue and funding. The state budget will not be finalized until June, but the school district must approve a budget in March. Both the town and the school budgets are dealing with many unknowns. Some items, such as the solar PILOT money and funds from a long-ago Prop 2-1/2 override, have been tugged back and forth between the town and the schools in recent years. The ending of COVID emergency funding that has been available since 2020 is also a factor impacting both the town and schools now.
There will be a third draft of the school budget soon, with more adjustments. Nothing is yet final and no specific staffing decisions or cuts have been made. The final budget must be approved by the School Committee.
In an email to the Courier on Thursday, February 22, Dr. Goguen answered a few questions about details in the second draft summary budget. Some of these will be adjusted further in the next draft budget. However, Dr. Goguen explained that the high amount for Special Education Consultants was due to the district's inability to hire qualified speech and language pathologists, and having to rely on contracted services. The Murdock Academy for Success has been moved back to the High School (it was at Toy Town) and is supervised by the High School Principal, so it does not need its own Director, hence that $96K line item being zeroed out. There will be a Dean at the High School rather than an Assistant Principal.
For those who wish to look closely at the second draft budget information and discussions (bearing in mind that Ver. 3.0 is on the way), they may be found at the following links:
Superintendent's presentation slides, 2-15-2025
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T42_IzcgE8Cw9uNhSlplxeKx_DPuD7Mo/view
FY25 School Budget Summary Sheet (second draft)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qwKNWa0fCSFHlNlvJVfrIGaZKFYr8Gwx/view
Video of Superintendent Goguen's Presention to the Tri-Board Meeting, 2-12-2024
https://winchendon.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/60?site=1%C2%A0%C2%A0 (beginning at 1:21:30 in the video)
Video of School Committee Discussion, 2-15-2024
https://winchendon.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/62?site=1
(beginning at 1:59:15 in the video)
Residents Voice Concerns About W.L. French Landfill Capping Work on River Street
At the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, February 12, David Watkins of Mellon Road rose to speak to the Board during the public comment period, saying that he and other residents had been placed on the agenda for the meeting and then notified that they had been removed. Mr. Watkins wanted to bring the Board's attention to concerns about the ongoing landfill capping work at the former Mabardy landfill on River Street.
As reported in the Courier three years ago ("W.L. French Announces Purchase of Winchendon Landfill" in the February 4-February 11, 2021 edition), Billerica-based company W. L. French Excavating Corporation, a site excavation and soil management firm, bought the Winchendon Landfill from the former Mabardy group with the stated intention of "performing closure activities on the landfill, including installing a permanent cap. As part of the capping project, the site has been permitted by MassDEP to accept up to 800,000 tons of COMM-97 Unlined Landfill grading and shaping materials."
On June 1, 2020, representatives of Mabardy, operating as 580 River Street LLC, appeared before the Board of Selectmen to discuss plans to close and cap the landfill, which was mandated by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Pursuant to ongoing discussions with then Town Manager Keith Hickey, Mabardy said that Mass DEP was "requiring the Mabardy group to bring all fill necessary over a two year agreement that begins when the agreement is authorized by all parties. The shape of the landfill must be consistent with engineer plans approved by the DEP. After the two year period allocated to bring in all fill, the Mabardy group will have one year to shape the landfill and place the required 2-3" covering over the landfill." Mabardy estimated 350 tons of fill, requiring 64 round trips by vehicles carrying 40 tons, would be brought in each day of operation (Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). They would pay the town one dollar for each ton of fill. Mabardy also held a $300,000 bond to restore the road.
(For more details, see the minutes of the Board of Selectmen meeting of June 1, 2020, at https://www.townofwinchendon.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif8401/f/minutes/bos_minutes_6.1.20.pdf, beginning on page 5.)
Material began to arrive at the landfill in early January of 2021.
At the most recent BOS meeting, Mr. Watkins stated, "It's very concerning to me, that this has been going on for the length of time that it has. I was privy to some of this information. The board voted on accepting this with the previous Town Manager. And I know that was actually a difficult acceptance, there was some problems. So I believe everybody's on board with the French capping project. I know the town's making some money off of it. I think we need to end this."
Mr. Watkins referred to the upcoming hearing scheduled for February 28 before the Zoning Board of Appeals in which Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. is requesting a Special Permit Renewal and Modification "to renew the existing permit to continue the pre-existing non-conforming earth removal operation. Also request for increase of allowable hauling vehicle trips per day from 64 to 75." (The application and the Assessor's database describe the property as still being owned by 580 River Street LLC, which now appears to be an entity of W.L. French, having switched over from Mr. Mabardy in December, 2020.)
"So I have some pictures here with a picture that I took personally you know, from the roadway, public property, and it's downed trees," Mr. Watkins said. "This is recent. And this is like, large growth trees that's just laid down. Are they intending on burying these trees? I don't know." He gave the photo to Board Vice Chair Rick Ward.
Mr. Watkins continued, "I think the Board of Selectmen needs to really take a hard look at this. Have you folks driven by, anybody driven by this? It's a mountain. I know over the last three years, I have seen pictures that was not taken from public property. I really don't know where they came from, but I saw plastic buckets. I saw stuff being dumped. Once again, I'll talk with [Department of Public Works Director] Brian Croteau, I have in the past about, is there anybody overseeing this? I know the original project was halted because they were down in the water table. Now does that mean that French just keeps dumping and dumping on this water table? Is there water testing being done? This is potentially getting into the wells. I think it needs to be really looked into, certainly before they can issue any more permits."
Mr. Watkins pointed out that the citizens wishing to speak to this issue are now on the BOS agenda for February 26, only two days before the ZBA meeting of February 28. "I think that you need to rethink this," he urged. "I think it's time to wind this down. I mean, it's a mess. I don't know how to recover from it, I couldn't imagine being a homeowner looking at it, I mean, this is going straight up."
In the past couple of months, the firm doing the project (whether this is W.L. French or Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. or some other entity) has been blasting on the site, requiring notifications from the town to alert residents. The blasting has been to create more clean fill material from rock and earth on the site, Mr. Croteau told the Courier.
Board Chair Audrey LaBrie, who was joining the meeting via Zoom, said that she had spoken to Mr. Croteau and asked him to reach out to W.L. French and ask them to attend the BOS meeting on February 26 and give a full presentation on the project so far, what they intend to do if they are given the Special Permit renewal, and what their timeline is for being finished. Mr. Croteau had confirmed to Ms. LaBrie that he spoke to W.L. French and the Board expects them to be at the meeting. On Thursday, February 22, Land Use and Planning Coordinator Nicole Roberts spoke to Mr. Croteau and conveyed his confirmation to the Courier that two representatives from W.L. French will attend the February 26 meeting.
Board member Danielle LaPointe said that it appeared that the February 26 BOS meeting was listed as cancelled due to early voting for the Massachusetts primary election being set up in the Town Hall Auditorium. Mr. Ward said, "looking to me, we're going to have to uncancel it."
As of Thursday, February 22, the meeting will be held at Beals Memorial Library, 2nd floor, 50 Pleasant St., Winchendon, at 6:30 p.m.
Rikku the Siberian Husky and his human, Dorothea Hasselmann, will be at the Winchendon Library on March 11 for Paws for Reading!
Photo courtesy of Beals Memorial Library
Paws for Reading at the Beals Memorial Library
Do your little readers love dogs? Then sign them up for the Winchendon library's Paws for Reading this March! Paw-ticipants will have the chance to meet a new, furry friend and enjoy the calming experience of reading to a friendly dog!
On Monday, March 11, at 3:30 p.m., Rikku the Siberian Husky will be at the Beals Memorial Library to listen to little readers in ten-minute, one-on-one sessions for an hour-long Paws for Reading program. This free program is designed to give children of all ages the opportunity to gain confidence and improve their reading skills by reading aloud to a friendly animal. Rikku and his human, Dorothea, are a certified therapy dog team with Alliance of Therapy Dogs. Your little readers are sure to have a pawsome time reading with Rikku!
Registration is required to join this program.
The Beals Memorial Library is located at 50 Pleasant Street in Winchendon. For more information or to sign up for this program, contact the library at 978-297-0300 or visit bealslibrary.org.
Updates on Water Main Replacement and Whitney Pond Dam
The Courier reached out to Department of Public Works Director Brian Croteau to ask about the status of two major concerns from 2023: the main water line from Ashburnham, and the Whitney Pond Dam.
In April of 2023, the town was awarded a $9.5 million 30-year fixed rate loan from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, at 2.4 percent interest with more than 19 percent forgiveness on the loan repayment by the state (as long as conditions are met), in order to replace the main water line running from Ashburnham to Winchendon which supplies all the town's water. Mr. Croteau told the Courier that the town is "working through the paperwork with the state" and hopes to advertise for a contractor in the next couple of months, with construction work beginning in late spring. Per discussions last year, this will be an entirely new line installed adjacent to, and completely replacing, the old line.
In March of 2023, voters at the Extra Special Town Meeting on March 13 were presented with a non-binding referendum (basically a poll), and indicated a preference for the less expensive (but still costly) option for repairing the Whitney Pond Dam. This option will not raise the water level of the pond. There was some unused money in a state fund for the dam. Mr. Croteau told the Courier that the state money is being used to pay for engineering designs, and when those are complete, the town will look into grant money for the dam repairs.
Winchendon Parks & Recreation Seeking Volunteers and an Intern
Winchendon Parks & Recreation is seeking volunteers to assist with the two-day-long Wyndonshire Renaissance Faire which will transform the Winchendon Community Park (86 Ingleside Dr) on Saturday and Sunday, April 27 and 28. There are many volunteer roles, as well as openings for vendors. For complete details, and to sign up, go to
https://www.eventeny.com/events/wyndonshirerenaissancefaire-8828/
The Parks & Recreation department also has an unpaid part-time internship opportunity, which will train the intern in how to run events with a municipality. Skills learned include program coordination and social media/marketing. The internship is 10 hours per week with nights and weekends required (you must be available at the times that events happen). Application deadline is March 11. For a full job description, email TNewton@winchendon-ma.gov or see https://www.townofwinchendon.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif8401/f/pages/part-time_recreation_intern_position_description.pdf. The standard employment application is on the town website at https://www.townofwinchendon.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif8401/f/uploads/job_application_2018_0.pdf.
