CHELSEA, Mass. — Hundreds turned out at city hall on Thursday for the Chelsea School Committee budget hearing to address dozens of proposed teacher layoffs, surpassing room capacity and postponing the meeting due to fire code.
“I’ve been here 17 years, and even when we’ve had bigger cuts than these, I have never seen this amount of people show up in this room,” said Chelsea School Committee Chair Ana Hernandez.
Facing an $8.6 million budget deficit, the Chelsea School District is proposing cutting about 70 educator positions, Superintendent Almi Guajardo Abeyta told Boston 25 News.
The shortfall is due to a loss of state funding based on enrollment, which has declined by 350 students, Guajardo Abeyta said, attributing the decrease to immigration enforcement, a cost-of-living increase, and overall low birth rates.
“It’s so horrible to me, the fact that families in Chelsea, they have so much on their plates,” said School Committee Member Sarah Neville. “They have so much trauma and stress from what’s going on with immigration enforcement. And the fact that we also have to deal with losing education funding just is salt in the wound. It’s not fair to our students and families.”
Chelsea not only serves a large proportion of low-income families but also has the highest percentage of English language learners in the state, Neville said.
Kathryn Anderson, president of the Chelsea Teachers’ Union, said the district’s funding had finally begun to improve under the Student Opportunity Act, but now losing dozens of educators will take years to rebuild.
“Class sizes will be going up, case loads will be going up,” Anderson said. “Everybody’s job descriptions will be changing as we adjust for the eliminated positions for next year.”
About 40 students had planned to speak during the public comment portion of the hearing. Some passed around a sign that read “Fire our teachers, fire our future.”
“There’s a lot of motivation that comes from our teachers and a lot of mentorship that comes from our counseling as well,” said Chelsea High School senior Andrea Mendez. “So, to take that all away or put that on the line of risk, that’s also risking our futures as well.”
Anderson proposed administrative cuts instead of eliminating student-facing positions.
Anderson, Neville, and other advocates are appealing to the state for one-time grants to help fill the deficit.
“Having to cut positions… isn’t fair to kids and it’s really tough,” Neville said. “These kids deserve better.”
The budget hearing will be moved to Tuesday, March 17, at a larger venue yet to be announced.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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