GREENFIELD — The city’s finance director says that while 43 full- and part-time positions have been lost in Greenfield schools and may not be replaced for the fall, not all are layoffs.
Early last week, when asked about the Greenfield School Department laying off 43 people, Mayor Roxann Wedegartner, who is a member of the School Committee, and school officials did not make any distinctions, but by the end of the week, city Finance Director Elizabeth Gilman did, saying 14 pink slips were handed out and the remaining people either retired or resigned, and new positions that had been created will not be filled after all.
Superintendent Jordana Harper said she hopes to recall the 14 who were laid off at the end of this school year, but isn’t sure that can happen. Of the 43 lost positions, 24 were teachers. The rest were instructional assistants, guidance counselors and nurses.
“We have really good people,” Harper said. “It was difficult to hand pink slips to them.”
Harper said she had to lay people off after the City Council voted the mayor’s $20.9 million fiscal year 2021 school budget, a $1.7 million decrease from the budget Harper presented for the 2020 to 2021 school year.
“To get to the mayor’s budget, I did what I needed to do,” she said. “And we have no idea yet what we’ll see from the state in funding.”
School Committee Chair Amy Proietti said layoffs were unavoidable, and not a lot can be done about them until the school department learns what kind of Chapter 70 money it will be receiving from the state. The School Department is already bracing itself for receiving no money from the Student Opportunities Act, which was meant to boost funding.
“We were told not to count on that at all next year,” she said.
Wedegartner said she hopes Harper is able to recall all who were laid off, or as many as possible, but is afraid there could actually be more layoffs before it’s over.
“We may have to lay off more people on both the school and city side,” she said. “It’s all going to depend on what we get from the state for funding.”
Harper said the school department “obviously had to be cautious and not promise to pay salaries when there’s not money to do so. All school systems across the state are feeling the same pain.”
A reduction in state aid — as much as 10 to 20 percent — has nothing to do with performance, Harper said. Rather, it is happening to all districts.
Wedegartner likened the financial situation both schools and the city find themselves in to a “ship without a mooring.”
“We’ve heard little from the state,” she explained. “None of this is in our control. We have to have a balanced budget and still figure out how to provide services, and we’ll do our best to meet all obligations to our taxpayers. This isn’t where we planned to be, but here we are.”
Additionally, the superintendent is waiting for guidance from the state on how to resume classes in the fall. Greenfield schools closed in March and went to remote learning after the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“It is almost entirely likely there will at least be a remote component in the fall,” she said. “How much or little, we don’t know yet.”
Harper said if students do return to schools, even part-time, the state is talking about limiting the population in each building to 10 students and one teacher per classroom.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” she said. “We want to educate our students and protect them and teachers at the same time.”
Teachers and administrators miss their students and the community that is created when they are all together, Harper said.
“We just don’t know what it’s going to look like and we ask for everyone’s patience,” she said. “We’re going to take expert advice and follow it.”
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.