Over 100 Braintree Residents Protest Teacher Job Cuts

BRAINTREE, MA — More than 100 people gathered outside Braintree Town Hall on Thursday afternoon to protest a proposed school budget that would cut dozens of teacher's jobs.

The protest saw parents, students and educators, calling for Mayor Charles Kokoros to use more of the town's coronavirus pandemic relief money and "rainy day" funds to save 28 teacher jobs, including eight reading and math specialists at the elementary school level. Protestors held signs reading "Dear Mayor: You can make this rainy day go away" and "Worst Teacher Appreciation Week ever." Some even carried umbrellas as symbolism for their demands to use "rainy day" funds to prevent teacher cuts.

"My daughter, she really needs a reading specialist in her life, and I fear she's not going to get the help she got this year," parent Sarah Raad said. "I'd hate to see all these kiddos fall behind because they don’t have the help that they need."

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. Staff cuts from declining enrollment include nine elementary school teachers and 10 at the middle schools.

"As much as we don't want to make any reductions at all, that is not the situation we are in," Hackett said. "We are in a position where there are several positions we'd reduce regardless of the economic situation."

Most parents Patch interviewed advocated for one of two solutions for preventing teacher cuts. Some said they want other town departments to face bigger cuts before the schools, while others called for Kokoros to dip into the town's reserves to prevent the cuts.

"The town is willing to fund the [municipal] golf course for $2 million, yet they want to cut all of these staff positions," parent Rowan Pantaleo said. "We have an entire town of children who had to learn remotely, many of which are behind due to that. Cutting the specialists who will help these children catch up is not the answer."

Parent Caitlin Bradley said she wants more transparency on where town reserves and coronavirus relief are going. She said the town needs to find a way to use more of that money to prevent the teacher cuts.

"I can't tell you how wonderful the teachers have been to us," Bradley said. "I don’t know how we can turn our backs on them and lay them off."

Hackett said the school budget already "maximized the use of federal funds. He said the district spent more than $1 million in relief for additional janitors and substitute teachers to cover classes while teachers were in quarantine.

"They're not there. They're just not there," Hackett said regarding additional coronavirus relief money.

Hackett also advised against using more one-time funding sources, saying they could lead to more cuts in the 2022-23 school budget.

Kokoros said he's lobbying state and federal officials for more funding, and if any becomes available, he will push for the school district to get a share.

The proposed school budget now sits before the Braintree Town Council. The town charter allows the council to reduce the budget, but they cannot increase it. The council's ways and means committee is scheduled to review the budget at its meeting on Thursday.