- Students have indicated staff more often interrupt instances of biased comments or incidents than in previous years. - High School Leadership Team engaged in exploration of the culturally responsive indicators in the DESE Teacher Evaluation Rubric. - In a third year of budget reductions, we added another Multilingual Learner (ML) Educator to address the growing population and needs of our ML students.
FY26 BUDGET PRIORITIES, INITIATIVES & BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
- Into year three of the five-year plan, the high school will continue to prioritize course leveling work. This requires resources for students and teachers as curriculum and structured supports are developed for the more heterogeneously-grouped classes.
- We will work to continue to focus on social and emotional learning, academic support, and special education services for students.
- We will make efforts to improve the connectedness of all students and staff within a large high school setting. We are examining our school structures with the goal of creating the most positive, supportive, and inclusive environment possible.
- We will continue to prioritize the safety of all students and staff in a large building with many doors and access points within the structure of an open campus model for students.
SUMMARY OF CHANGES FROM FY25 TO FY26
Given the challenging budget situation, we had to make difficult decisions based on student need and class sizes. These proposed changes will impact what we can offer students. Of particular note is the variations in class size inherent in a high school schedule. Almost every one of our 1626 students has a unique schedule. Students are able to change courses with approval into the Spring. With the wide range of variables in high school scheduling, there can be significant variance in class size with respect to the average class size. When a class size average is reported, there will still be a variance in the actual class sizes (some larger, some smaller) between the many sections of each class due to the many nuances of a high school schedule trying to fit the needs of over 1600 students. Increasing class sizes will result in reduced ability to schedule students in as many requested elective courses and less flexibility for students to change classes during the school year. Proposed Reductions and Impact of the High School’s A Budget ● Reduction of 1.5 English Teachers – The reduction of 1.5 English Teachers will bring average English class size to 23.16 . ● Reduction of 2.0 Social Studies Teachers – The reduction of 2.0 Social Studies Teachers will bring the average Social Studies class size to 23. 21. This will require two Professional Status teachers to move to other roles in the High School and Junior High school, impacting the individuals currently in those positions. ● Reduction of 1.0 Math Teacher – This reduction will bring math average class size to 22.40 . ● Reduction of Campus Monitor Manager – We will eliminate this position that manages and coordinates staff supervising students in common spaces and monitoring building access. ● Reduction of 1.0 Campus Monitor – This position manages students and building access which is particularly important for the supervision and safety of students within our open campus model. In recent years, we have reduced our Campus Monitor staff. Reducing this position will bring our total staff to 5.5 positions. ● Reduction of STAR Tutor – This reduction will eliminate the Humanities support for students returning from hospitalization. ● Reduction of Transition Program – This reduction will eliminate the Transition program that provides support for students who benefit from a more structured transition to a large high school setting. ● Reduction of 0.5 Senior Seminar – The Senior Seminar Teacher provides education and opportunities for students to acquire valuable life skills and actively engage in the school to work transition. Reducing this position will limit the Senior Seminar courses offered to 2 each semester.
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