Braintree Mayor Adds $377K To Budget, Saving 3 Teachers' Jobs

BRAINTREE, MA — Mayor Charles Kokoros added $377,000 to the school budget to save the jobs of three elementary school math specialists.

Originally, Kokoros set aside the money to pay future retirement benefits. Instead it will be transferred to the school department's budget, Nicole Taub, the mayor's chief of staff, said during a meeting Thursday with the town council's ways and means committee.

Prior to Kokoros' announcement, the town was expected to have their math specialist split time between the six elementary schools. Now, each school will get its own specialist, just as they did during this school year.

"Restoring full staffing for these math specialist was a top priority for the school committee and for parents, and I'm relieved that these critical positions will be staffed at the same level next year," Town Councilor Meredith Boericke said in her Facebook recap of the meeting.

Despite the addition, Braintree Public Schools will still lose 25 teaching jobs under the proposed budget, including reading specialists at the elementary school level. The school budget and other town departments took hits from revenue losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But Superintendent Frank Hackett said at the May 3 school committee meeting that most of the teacher cuts are necessary regardless of the budget situation.

He said the cuts are mostly because of declining student enrollment at the elementary and middle school levels and shouldn't affect have a big impact on students' education. But not everyone agreed, especially parents. On May 6, more than 100 parents gathered outside Braintree Town Hall to protest the teacher cuts and demand additional funding.

The Brainteee School Committee still needs to approve Kokoros' addition to the budget. It's expected to be discussed at the committee's meeting Monday night.