By AMANDA DRANE
NORTHAMPTON — Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School trustees approved a budget of $9,161,653 Thursday, eliminating four classroom positions, adding two classroom positions and reducing three clerical positions.
The total represents an increase of approximately $86,400, or less than 1 percent, over the current year’s spending.
The city will be asked to appropriate $7,071,163 of the budget. The vote came during a specially scheduled meeting that became necessary after the state came through (http://www.gazettenet.com/Trustees-disagree-over-handling-of-Smith-Voke-budget-1650848.aspx) with relief from a newly enacted law that limits the tuition vocational schools can charge for out-of-district students.
The school still takes a hit from the regulation. Last year the tuition for nonresident students was $17,556, and the relief issued from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education came in the form of a school-specific cap of $17,000 for this year alone. The regulation comes at the same time as another limiting exploratory periods for vocational students to in-district institutions, which Smith Voke Superintendent Jeffrey Peterson said will negatively impact the school.
Last week, trustees Mayor David J. Narkewicz and Northampton Public Schools Superintendent John Provost voted down the budget, criticizing Peterson for asking them to vote on it without knowing what positions were being cut.
To address the budget blow, Peterson said he had to make the cuts, which he revealed during Thursday’s special meeting.
The budget shifts the class period structure for academic teachers in the school so that instead of every teacher teaching four periods per day, they will teach five. That restructuring, he said, means the school can leave two soon-to-be vacant positions unfilled — one in English and one in engineering.
To save additional dollars, the school will eliminate one teacher by splitting a position between agricultural mechanics and carpentry, and will also operate with one fewer special education specialist by leaving an open position unfilled.
All four of those positions, Peterson said following the meeting, were cut through attrition.
“No one was terminated or laid off for budgetary reasons,” he said.
Additionally, two of the principal’s clerks and a clerical position in the guidance counselor’s office, Peterson said, will be reduced to a 205-day work year.
“These staff members have been spoken with and we are moving forward with that,” he said.
In the coming year, Peterson said, there will be an influx of students in the criminal justice program so he’s adding a second full-time teaching position to the department. He’s also bumping up a physical education assistant position to a full-time position.
Julie Spencer-Robinson, president of the Northampton Association of School Employees, deferred questions to Illtyd Fernandez-Sierra, chapter coordinator for Smith Vocational. He could not be reached for comment.
Peterson saved additional money by cutting the athletics supply budget from $15,000 to $13,000 and by eliminating the budget for athletics uniforms.
“They’re just going to have to use the ones we have,” said Peterson.
Narkewicz cited a recent report by the Donahue Institute that recommended the school move to a fee structure for athletics. “It’s something I think you need to be mindful of,” he said to Peterson, especially “when we’re talking about cuts to classrooms and shops.”
“I think you have to responsibly look at things like athletic fees,” Narkewicz said.
But Peterson was resistant to the prospect.
“No one wants to charge students for an educational experience,” he said.
Peterson also said he’s cutting a custodial position, which saves the school an additional $29,000.
Before casting his vote of approval, Narkewicz urged Peterson to look ahead at creating a more sustainable budget for future years.
“(Smith Voke) provides an important choice for kids, so we need to figure out a way to preserve that,” Narkewicz said. “This budget — this process — needs to be a real wake-up call.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.