Override failure has Franklin educators concerned going into 2024-25 school year

FRANKLIN — Educators are entering the new school year with a sense of trepidation after last month's failed override vote initially led to the slashing of 37 positions, including educators, administrators and other non-union personnel.

In an interview with the Daily News, Franklin Education Association President Donna Grady said teachers are anxious about the coming year. Grady, a kindergarten teacher at Helen Keller Elementary School , called the local school budget a "moral document."

"We fund what we value, and many of the citizens of Franklin are telling us they don't value the educators or the education of their children, which is unfortunate," she said. "And that has been a continuing message and that message is loud and clear."

'Public system decimated': Franklin voters reject $6.8 million override in special election

In a recent memo to the community, Superintendent of Schools Lucas Giguere announced that the 37 positions were being eliminated to help balance the fiscal 2025 budget, which started July 1.

"We're losing really good, new educators, we're losing veteran educators," Grady said. "It was 37 initially and then there were many transfers, there were people who resigned — we had about 18 resignations last week."

Grady said other educators are putting in for leaves of absence, as students lose out on various programs and electives.

"Not knowing what the year was going to bring, it's had a ripple effect and we still don't know what that's going to look like come September," she said.

What's getting cut from the Franklin school budget?

Two weeks after the failed override vote, on June 26, the Town Council approved an increase of $1,145,000 from the municipal budget in order to help fund the schools. That put the revised fiscal 2025 school budget at nearly $76.5 million, or $2.8 million less than what it would have if it were level serviced from the previous year.

A June 28 memo from Giguere outlined some restorations to previously announced cuts. At the elementary schools, impacts include an a potential reduction in student curriculum specialists, library support and an adjustment counselor. School libraries will be closed on some weekdays.

The June 26 memo said elementary school teachers will be reinstated to kindergarten, fifth grade and the STRIVE program. Student instructional intervention supports will also be reinstated.

The plan originally called for eliminating middle school chorus and orchestra programs; however, the June 26 memo said the chorus program will be reinstated. Each of Franklin's two middle school will have just one Spanish teacher. Access to libraries at the middle schools will be limited.

For high school students, courses that are required to graduate will be prioritized over electives, resulting in some elective classes being reduced or eliminated. This includes advanced placement (AP) classes, other science classes and arts electives such as theater and music production, according to the memo.

Franklin voters rejected $6.8 million override question on June 11

On June 11, Franklin voters rejected a $6.8 million tax override . Most of the money would have gone to the schools for items such as contractual obligations, special education and to make up for "lost revenue from dissolving grants and federal revenues, as well as to restore many services cut in FY23 and FY24," according to an override pledge made to residents on May 1 by the Town Council .

The remaining $500,000 would have gone toward "increases to general town and school facility operating expenses," according to the pledge.

Had the override passed, the average Franklin homeowner's tax bill would have increased by $552.82 for fiscal 2025, according to an override document provided by the town, in addition to the normal annual increase allowed under Proposition 2 1/2. That figure is based on the town's current tax rate of $11.79 and average single-family home value of $650,377.

"These children are our future and they deserve the same opportunities that their previous peers had," Grady said. "We need to remember that these are the kids that are going to be taking care of us. My worry is that many, if not most, of the cuts in Franklin have been to educators who are facing students. Children are going to be impacted every day, with a loss of some kind of educator."

This article originally appeared on The Milford Daily News: Override failure has Franklin educators concerned going into 2024-25 school year