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Pittsfield Principals Present Budget Requests Part 3: Instruction, Supplies, Security
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
06:10AM / Monday, January 18, 2016
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The School Committee spent all of Wednesday hearing from school principals. The hearing was also recorded by PCTV.

Stearns Principal Aaron Dean said he would like to implement new lessons but the manuals are expensive.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The principals in each of the city's 12 schools wants the most highly trained teachers and their students to be safe.
 
But at what cost? During an all-day budget workshop on Wednesday the principals all presented what they think they'd need to most effectively operate their schools.
 
iBerkshires outlined some of the building repairs and staffing needs through two previous stories, all of which would be above and beyond what a $2.8 million increase would cover. 
 
"Every year as we come to this budget process, not including any additions we are at 2.7 percent." Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance Kristen Behnke said. 
 
That 4.9 percent increase would be enough to cover increases to "school-based budgets" for supplies, professional development, technology, and instructional manuals. But it does not cover what would be required to enhance security. 
 
At Conte Community School, Principal Kerry Light said there is only one phone per quad and only one radio per grade level. If an emergency happens, not every teacher may know about it. 
 
"We have one phone per quad but that phone is located in a storage area," Light said. "The secretaries can call classrooms but no teachers can respond because they would have to be in the storage closet."
 
The school does have an Airfone system that often breaks down. If a teacher takes a class outside, there isn't a way for him or her to communicate with the main office, she said. Meanwhile, there are 93 windows with broken shades, allowing any perpetrator to peer right into the classrooms. 
 
Her request for those improvements to boost security is outside of a $16,967 request to become more effective instructionally. Her request includes a $13,000 increase for technology, manuals for curriculum programs, field trips, furniture to improve use of space, and subscriptions. 
 
"We would like to keep working on that but it is slow and steady," Light said of bringing more technology into the building.
 
The school has seen an increase in enrollment, which calls for additional general and art supplies. Light said, "I think our population will continue to grow in the upcoming years." 
 
It also includes a $3,000 boost in professional development, a line that hasn't been funded. 
 
That request for school-based professional development opportunities was one of the most striking for Superintendent Jason McCandless, who heard that from nearly all of the principals. They all wanted training and presentations specifically tailored to their staff's needs. 
 
Egremont Elementary School Principal Judy Rush wants $3,000 to bring in speakers to coach teachers to be more poverty-sensitive and trauma-sensitive in their classrooms. Her request is up by some $7,700 and includes photocopying and $11,000 more for instructional materials, while decreasing money for textbooks, general and art supplies. 
 
Rush would also like to pilot a transportation program to provide a late bus for those attending her "after the bell" tutoring program. That program took off with some 35 to 40 students enrolled to stay after school to receive additional homework help. But since then, enrollment is down into the single digits. She believes more students would come back to the program if they had a way to get home.
 
"It starts with a bus doing a loop on Thursdays to bring students home," she said of the pilot transportation program she is asking to bolster the program.
 
Her request may improve student and teacher performance but it doesn't improve the school's safety. She is also asking for enhancements to the front entrance so staff know who is at the door.
 
"We have to walk to the door and open the door basically," Rush told the School Committee. "There is a speaker so we can hear them but we can't see them or check their IDs."
 
She joined the chorus of teachers asking for hand-held radios to communicate with staff and she would also like security cameras and enhanced lighting outside.
 
Crosby Elementary School Principal Donna Baker says she has had a "number of issues" with people using the park and the trash roll-off container. 
 
"We're just looking to get some security cameras in the back and on the playground," Baker said, saying she wants to know who's back there at night and what they are doing. 
 
Baker says when the school's office is busy, there is a chance somebody could just slip through. She's asking for swipe card access to the main school. And she, too, wants radios so that every staff member has one.
 
That is all outside of Baker's request for a $15,500 increase in the school budget. 
 
"Every class I visited yesterday was engaged in using technology. So while we have a lot of technology, we are looking to have 25 computers for every two classrooms," Baker said of her $13,000 request for technology and instructional materials. 
 
For professional development, she is asking for a $3,500 increase so that the paraprofessionals can attend the sessions the school does hold. 
 
"I did put $1,000 this year in professional development. I get a lot of requests from teachers to go to a workshop or having somebody come in and present," Taconic High School Principal John Vosburgh said.
 
Vosburgh requested his budget be level funded and achieved that by moving some budget items around. When the new high school is built, he expects to have a series of personnel requests to add programs so for now, he's keeping his requests minimal. However, he still wants money to send teachers to conferences at Tufts or St. John's universities, which were previously paid for through a state grant. He is also seeing increased enrollment in the school's Advanced Placement programs and needs money for textbooks.
 
He'd also like more hand-held radios.
 
For PHS, Principal Matthew Bishop says he's focusing his attention on improving remediation work for students who are falling behind. 
 
"We are weak in remediation so a lot of our asks are focused on that," Bishop said, later adding that "We don't really have a vehicle if a student is falling behind to address their areas of needs." 
 
In his budget, he is looking to bring on the Aleks and MindPlay programs. 
 
"Our accountability data says we need to do something," he said.
 
Next year he is adding five new courses, four of which are AP courses that will need textbooks. In some classes, there are books dating back 20 years. He's asking for a boost of $24,000 to start a new renewal cycle to replace old books. Overall, he is looking for an increase to his budget of about $27,000.
 
As for security, he'd like to replace the 32-camera system, replace 75 window shades, install push-bar emergency alarms for exterior doors to top people from going in and out, repair the swipe card system, have a public address system that reaches all parts of the building, and the larger lockers so staff can prohibit bulky bags from being in the classrooms. And, of course, more hand-held radios.
 
In the school improvement plan for Herberg Middle School, Principal Gina Coleman says it calls for at least four different professional development sessions. She currently doesn't have a budget for it. The parenting council provides some funds but she'd like to have $500 in her budget to provide those workshops.
 
"We can't every year rely on the resources of our parenting council," Coleman said. 
 
Her budget request is up by $700, most of which for those sessions. But she also has security concerns. The security system can support 16 cameras, which she'd like to see boosted to 32 to cover all areas of the school. At night when there are events, people are able to access the entire school so she'd like a folding gate to restrict movement. And, more hand-held radios.
 
Linda Whitacre, principal for Reid Middle School, is concerned about her students crossing the street. She would like a crosswalk and stop signs posted on North Street. 
 
"Students are crossing in the morning and there is no one there and it is risky there," she said.
 
Whitacre says if the fire curtain is dropped in the auditorium, there is only one exit from the stage so she'd like a second egress. She also asked for another security camera and hand-held radios.
 
She is asking for $5,000 for professional development. Reid will also have an increase in enrollment so she would like increases in general and art supplies and instructional material. Overall her request is up by about $3,500.
 
Aaron Dean, principal of Stearns Elementary, is also asking for a boost in instructional materials. 
 
"The only thing that will jump out at you is the boost in instructional materials," he said. "The big boost you are going to see has to deal with purchasing items from the programs we implemented."
 
The district has been trying to increase the Fundations program for literacy throughout the elementary schools but the costs for the training and manuals has restricted that implementation. 
 
"It is a program that is hoped to prevent the need for Wilson in the middle schools," Deputy Superintendent Joseph Curtis said. "The consistency has been somewhat hindered because of the cost."
 
Dean also said he'd like to bring in the Framing Your Thoughts program, but those manuals are $500 each. That program is also one the central administration has eyed to expand into all of the schools. 
 
"It gives students a nice formula for writing paragraphs and sentences," Dean said. 
 
Overall, Dean is looking for about an $11,000 boost. He'd also like to see an improved phone system and hand-held radios to boost security.

Allendale Principal Brenda Kelley was just one of the many who asked for school-based professional development opportunities.
At Capeless Elementary, Principal Candy Jezewski really wants a fence installed to stop speeding dirt-bikers who tear through right at dismissal. By the time police get there, the bikers are gone. School Committee Vice Chairman Daniel Elias said he's seen it firsthand.
 
"We have dirt bikes that go through during school hours," Jezewski said. "We don't know who it is. It's been going on for three years."
 
She would also like an improved intercom and phone system. Meanwhile, she is hoping to provide teachers with more instructional technology. Overall, the school-based budget request is up by about $3,000.
 
Despite proclaiming that Morningside Elementary School is one of the safest schools, Principal Jennifer Stokes has security requests, too. She wants replaced window shades. Her playgrounds are already locked and staff has radios. On the school-based budget, Stokes is looking for about $5,500 more for instructional technology.
 
Williams Elementary School Principal Lisa Buchinski's requests are similar to all of the other principals. She would like an increase in general supplies and professional development in her school-based budget, which is asked to see a $5,000 increase, and upgrades to the phone, intercom, and clocks.
 
Brenda Kelley, principal of Allendale Elementary School, is asking for an increase in her budget of $3,500, which would go toward photocopying, instructional material, and professional development. 
 
She, too, would like more hand-held radios and swipe card access to the kindergarten hallway because right now if there is an emergency outside and students or staff needed to get inside, they'd have to walk around to the front entrance.
 
The budget requests had previously gone directly to McCandless' office who would then craft a budget. This year, the principals presented directly to the School Committee. Now, the administration will be looking to craft a preliminary budget in conversation with the mayor's office. 
 
"This is an excellent way to start the process. I feel we have a much better handle on the issues," School Committee Chairwoman Katherine Yon said. 
 
Behnke said the 4.9 percent increase doesn't account for the building or security needs nor does it take into account the contractual agreements. She said he next step is to get a better handle on what the state will provide in Chapter 70 funds and what the exact number will be for contractual agreements. 
 
Mayor Linda Tyer says the hearing was "very informative" but everything won't be funded. 
 
"I think it is really critical to address some of these emerging issues," Tyer said. "At the same time, we have to take a serious look at what things we can sacrifice in order to address these emerging issues."
 
Some of the items that stuck out to her was the need for permanent substitute teachers, professional development, behavioral issues, and building repairs. She has not yet provided guidance to where the city will be financially as she is just one week into her term.
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