Evesham school leaders present cuts to close multimillion-dollar gap; hundreds of residents, staff push back

Evesham Township School District superintendent Dr. Smith told the board Tuesday evening that the district faces ongoing reductions in state funding and a projected structural shortfall, and presented a package of proposed reductions that would save about $4.3 million if fully implemented.

The proposal includes outsourcing district transportation (estimated savings $800,000), raising middle-school teachers’ daily class load to six periods (estimated middle-school savings tied to 10 core-content position reductions), increasing elementary class sizes, phasing out paraprofessional health benefits (estimated $750,000), eliminating elementary extracurriculars (about $150,000), and using other position and reserve adjustments. Dr. Smith said the state released an unexpected additional $400,000 in aid the day of the meeting and the district plans to claim a state-permitted enrollment adjustment worth about $2,336,000 above the 2% tax-levy cap; even so, he said, the district still faces roughly a $4.5 million gap for 2025–26.

The presentation, which district staff said will be posted online, also reported a year-to-date estimated net surplus of about $618,000 from the recently expanded full-day preschool program, and reminded the board that the district has exhausted many one-time reserves used to smooth previous shortfalls.

Why it matters: Dr. Smith described the choices as "the least horrible path forward" to meet the board’s legal duty to adopt a balanced budget. Dozens of staff, parents and students told the board the proposed changes would reduce student supports, upend middle-school team structures and harm special-education services and literacy outcomes.

Details of the proposal and fiscal context

Dr. Smith summarized a multi-year funding squeeze the district has faced under the state’s School Funding Reform Act (referred to in the meeting as "S2") and said the district’s cumulative reductions total tens of millions of dollars. He walked the board through revenue assumptions used to build the 2025–26 estimate: current tax-levy base plus the 2% cap, the newly announced $400,000 of state aid, projected miscellaneous local revenues and use of available fund balance. The administration presented a total available-revenue figure of $85,589,998 for 2025–26 and said expenditures as currently modeled exceed that amount by several million dollars.

Dr. Smith summarized the eight primary savings steps discussed previously and re-presented updated estimated savings: outsourcing the transportation department ($800,000 estimated); reduced transportation burden ($100,000); converting middle-school team time to a sixth content class (estimated $900,000); middle- and elementary-class-size increases (savings rolled into position totals); phasing out paraprofessional health benefits ($750,000 estimated); elimination of elementary extracurriculars (about $150,000); use of a "shift dividend" reserve previously tapped; and other position/operational consolidations. A slide shown to the board translated the workforce impact into position counts: an estimated 28 certificated teaching positions (10 middle, 8 elementary core-content among others), 55 noncertificated transportation positions affected, and a combined position impact cited in the presentation of about 83 positions and $3,200,000 tied to certain steps.

Public comment: staff, families and students push back

Public comment extended for more than an hour and included more than three dozen speakers who urged the board to preserve services and consider alternatives. Speakers who identified themselves as district educators, paraprofessionals and bus drivers described the district’s in-house transportation, paras and bus aids as long-standing programs that provide safety and continuity for students. Union representatives warned that phasing out paraprofessional benefits would force long-serving staff to leave.

Tracy Brown, vice president of the Evesham Township Education Association and a Marlton Middle School teacher, said, "This will affect every current and all future ETSD students," and warned that middle-school content teachers assigned a sixth class would handle up to 180–190 students a day.

Other teachers described the middle-school "team" model and independent-study time as essential for collaboration, for monitoring students’ social-emotional needs, and for allowing teachers to confer about students with IEPs and 504 plans. Several middle-school teachers said independent-study time is where struggling students get catch-up help, make-up work and individualized attention.

Multiple speakers urged the district to adopt structured, phonics-based reading instruction rather than continuing with balanced-literacy approaches. Renee Pico, a district reading interventionist, called the "science of reading" an evidence-backed approach and urged the district to provide professional development and decodable texts for core instruction. Michael Hayes, a parent and education-policy researcher, noted that district performance reports show nearly half of students not meeting expected English-language-arts benchmarks and urged evaluation of core reading program choices.

Transportation and paraprofessional concerns

Drivers and bus aides said the district’s in-house system provides routes tailored to students with complex needs and fosters close relationships that help get children safely to school. Several drivers and aides, and family members of staff, warned that outsourcing to a private contractor could disrupt safety, local knowledge and service reliability and could produce transition costs and potential litigation later.

Board response and next steps

Board members did not vote on the budget at the meeting. Dr. Smith and board members said the district will continue developing the 2025–26 budget, refine position-level impacts and return with additional detail. The superintendent repeatedly cautioned that taking the enrollment adjustment does not automatically restore eliminated positions and that decisions about how to use that state-authorized revenue have not been finalized.

Votes at a glance (agenda motions approved during the meeting)

- Approval of minutes (agenda items 6.1–6.2): Motion by Mr. Thompson, seconded by Ms. Fox; roll call recorded unanimous approval by board members present. Motion carries. - Administrative items (7.1–7.7): Motion by Ms. Fox, seconded by Mr. Thompson; roll call recorded unanimous approval by board members present. Motion carries. - Curriculum and instruction (8.1–8.5): Motion by Mr. Peelman, seconded by Mr. Thompson; roll call recorded unanimous approval by board members present. Motion carries. - Finance and operations (9.1–9.14): Motion by Ms. Fox, seconded by Mr. DeMarcy; roll call recorded unanimous approval by board members present. Motion carries. - Personnel (10.1): Motion by Ms. Fox, seconded by Ms. Buttermowitz; roll call recorded unanimous approval by board members present. Motion carries. - Policy (11.1–11.3): Motion by Mr. DeMarcy, seconded by Ms. Noll; roll call recorded unanimous approval by board members present. Motion carries.

Ending

Dr. Smith said the administration will post the budget presentation on the district website and continue work with the board on specific personnel and program impacts. Board members and administration were repeatedly urged by commenters to seek alternatives, prioritize proven reading instruction, and consider the long-term costs of losing experienced paraprofessionals and in-house transportation staff.