ORANGE — Following voters’ substantial rejection of a roughly half-million-dollar tax override, Orange’s elementary schools will be shaking up administrative duties.
Superintendent Tari Thomas recently released a statement about changes coming at Orange’s two elementary schools — Fisher Hill Elementary School, which is for students in preschool through second grade, and Dexter Park Innovation School, for students in third through sixth grades.
“While the loss of the override has put a squeeze on the possibilities (for next school year), everyone has been pulling together to create a staffing plan that meets all students’ needs at both Fisher Hill and Dexter Park,” Thomas wrote. “Fortunately, due to the fine work of the Orange Elementary School Committee, the district is in a good place despite the override failure.”
That staffing plan includes one principal, Christopher Dodge, who is already the Dexter Park principal, heading both schools. There will also be a full-time dean at each school, Thomas said.
At the Annual Town Meeting on June 17, voters passed a $21,353,712 budget, an increase of 6.2 percent over last year’s budget of $20,103,316. For comparative purposes, at the 2018 Annual Town Meeting, the budget was increased by around 2 percent.
As is common in Franklin County towns — and across the state — much of Orange’s overall budget goes toward education, around 55 percent in recent years. Of all the departments, the elementary schools requested the largest budgetary increase at the Town Meeting, $300,000, which was still less than the original roughly $600,000 increase the elementary schools asked for, and was rejected, in pre-Town Meeting budget discussions.
While the requested budget for the coming school year originally passed, it was nullified July 29 when a Proposition 2½ tax override vote failed with 676 opposed and 295 in favor. That means cuts will have to be made to town departments’ budgets to close a $513,971 gap between the town’s revenues and its costs. Cuts to balance the budget will not be officially made until a Special Town Meeting this fall.
According to Thomas, decisions like reducing staff to one, two-school principal, cutting school budget lines and eliminating two full-time positions were made “in anticipation” of the override failure, and were decided upon by the School Committee in June.
“Soon, Principal Dodge will be updating the school community with various specifics and teacher assignments once all of our hiring is complete,” Thomas said.
Having one principal for both elementary schools is a change for Orange. The district started the 2018 to 2019 school year with a principal at both schools — Dodge at Dexter Park and Maureen Donelan at Fisher Hill.
Donelan was put on paid administrative leave amid problems with student behavior at Fisher Hill — with episodes of violence in preschoolers and first graders causing classrooms to be evacuated to other areas of the school to keep students away from potentially dangerous peers. Such episodes were described as “frequent” by Thomas, and one teacher reported having her classroom evacuated 30 times at meetings last fall.
Donelan was ultimately fired in March, despite public protests in her support, letters of support from teachers and having been cleared of any wrongdoing by the state Department of Children and Families, and her lawyer said they would be bringing the school district to court over the firing.
School officials have not released any information about what led to Donelan’s firing, citing a need for confidentiality and personnel policies. No public connection has been made between the problems with student behavior and the firing.
However, the principal’s absence and student behavioral problems were frequently brought up during the same School Committee discussions, and Donelan’s lawyer said she was made a “scapegoat” for problems in the classrooms.
Despite having one principal being a change, Orange is moving in the direction of having one elementary school for all students anyway. The School Building Committee and architects have been examining options to replace the 1951-built Dexter Park building for several months — Dexter Park is one of nine schools with the lowest possible rating from the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
Last week, the School Building Committee voted to pursue building a three-story addition onto Fisher Hill and demolishing Dexter Park, educating all students at Fisher Hill. Architects at Raymond Design Associates are working on the details of that project to have a finalized building schematic to present to the Massachusetts School Building Authority early next year. The state is expected to pay for about 80 percent of that project, which will be voted on by residents at the 2020 Annual Town Meeting.
Thomas’ letter expressed optimism about the coming school year, saying the district has been “fortunate to be able to stay within our budgetary salary constraints.” However, she added that there are “fingers crossed we don’t have a mechanical or system failure, unanticipated costs in special education or a sudden bump in enrollments requiring additional staff.”
Reach David McLellan at dmclellan@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 268.