Teacher Cuts May Be In Braintree School Budget Squeeze: Patch PM

BRAINTREE, MA — It's Tuesday, March 23. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• The coronavirus pandemic forced the School Committee into a position where it may have to cut $7.6 million from the Braintree school district's budget, and eliminating teaching positions is on the table for potential savings.
• Seven students were taken to the hospital with what were described as minor injuries after their school bus crashed with a tractor trailer.
• A Lowell Regional Transit Authority employee told a Black immigrant woman "Shut up you low-class Black person," according to a complaint filed on behalf of the woman Monday by Lawyers for Civil Rights.
• A rope found tied to a tree branch in a way that gave it a "noose-like appearance" was found in Linscott Park in Swampscott on Monday morning.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

The coronavirus pandemic forced the School Committee into a position where it may have to cut $7.6 million from the Braintree school district's budget.

Currently, the school budget sits at $73.2 million. Maintaining current school programs for another year would cost $75.79 million due to a $2.57 million increase in contractual pay raises. But Mayor Charles Kokoros told both the School Committee and the Town Council last week a more conservative budget is needed because of revenue shortfalls brought on by the pandemic. He's instructed town departments to present level service budgets and then cut 10 percent.

With the cut a potential reality, eliminating teaching positions is on the table, as is replacing retiring teachers with new hires at lower salaries, Superintendent Frank Hackett said last week during a presentation to the school's finance and operations subcommittee.

The presentation included eliminating five teachers at the elementary school level and another $375,000 in savings from replacing retiring teachers with new hires at lower salaries. Hackett said needed cuts will start outside the classroom first though. Areas like supplies and utilities will be considered first.

Read the full story.

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Tuesday's Other Top Stories

Pedestrian deaths on decline statewide: As speeding, distracted and impaired driving, and other dangerous driver behaviors spiked, nearly 3,000 pedestrians were killed on U.S. roads during the first six months of the pandemic. But Massachusetts was among those where pedestrian deaths actually decreased during that time period, according to the GHSA's Spotlight on Highway Safety.

7 students injured in bus crash: A Shrewsbury school bus carrying ten children and a tractor-trailer crashed on Route 20 on Tuesday morning. Seven students who were on their way to Al-Hamra Academy, were taken to the hospital with what were described as minor injuries.

Passenger accuses transit agency of racism: A Lowell Regional Transit Authority employee told a Black immigrant woman "Shut up you low-class Black person," according to a complaint filed on behalf of the woman Monday by Lawyers for Civil Rights. Lucia Appia's complaint outlines other accusations of harassment, discrimination and violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

North Shore noose: A rope found tied to a tree branch in a way that gave it a "noose-like appearance" was found in Linscott Park in Swampscott on Monday morning. Police said they are investigating the origins of the rope tied with a loop at the bottom that made it resemble a noose. Police said the bottom of the loop is approximately 4 feet from the ground.

By The Numbers

863: The number of flowers staff at Melrose-Wakefield Hospital planted in front of the main entrance Monday. Each flower represents a coronavirus patient the hospital has treated since the start of the pandemic.

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