Students, teachers and residents press North Andover School Committee over teacher cuts and world language eliminations

North Andover students, teachers and residents pressed the School Committee on staffing cuts and the elimination of the middle-school world language program during public comment, saying the changes will harm students— instruction and the district—s diversity of offerings.

Speakers said the reductions followed a multi-million-dollar budget shortfall that led the district to cut about 40 teaching positions systemwide and close one elementary school. The superintendent told the committee the district was operating with an unresolved budget gap and that the district had followed the collective bargaining agreement in making cuts.

Why it matters: Students and families said early and continuous world-language instruction is needed to reach advanced levels and college-credit opportunities. Teachers warned that removing middle-school language and reducing high-school native-speaker positions will reduce students— long-term outcomes and may disproportionately affect students who benefit from instruction by multilingual, native-language teachers.

Public commenters included Allison Shimana, a North Andover reading interventionist, who described the reading intervention caseload she led and the resulting assessment outcomes. "According to the last year's end of the year DIBELS data for my caseload, 97 percent of my students met or exceeded the benchmark in phoneme segmentation fluency. 86.5 percent of my students met or exceeded the benchmark in nonsense word fluency correct letter sounds... 89 percent of my students' total composite score met or exceeded the benchmark," Shimana said, describing progress that she said will be lost if reading support positions are eliminated.

Students also addressed the committee. Sertad Sankla, a sixth-grade student at North Andover Middle School, read a poem urging officials to "do what is right," and Anastasia Mahon, a high-school student, presented a petition of 362 signatures asking the district to "find sustainable solutions to the current financial crisis that do not involve laying off our dedicated teachers."

French teacher Zahira Sawawi, who said five of nine high-school world-language teachers were cut, told the committee that losing native-language teachers reduces students' opportunities to connect with instructors who share their linguistic and cultural backgrounds. "By cutting these positions, we're taking away the opportunity for students to learn foreign languages from teachers who can actually connect with them on a personal level," Sawawi said.

Several speakers described a student-led walkout that took place in protest of the layoffs. The superintendent said administrators worked with students and the police department to keep the event peaceful and safe.

Superintendent and committee response: The superintendent repeatedly told the committee the district followed the negotiated collective bargaining agreement in implementing layoffs and that staffing decisions were governed by those contractual rules. The superintendent also said the district is "relooking" at world-language offerings and will examine whether some positions can be restored if additional funds become available.

Kittredge transition and timeline: The superintendent outlined an elementary-school transition timeline tied to the Kittredge school closure. Families of students who would have attended Kittredge will receive school assignments and bus eligibility information on April 18; principals of receiving schools will introduce themselves in late April and early May; and class placements districtwide will be published on August 18. A transition committee chaired by district leaders was announced to coordinate visits, tours and meet-and-greet events.

What stayed unresolved: Speakers asked for clearer long-range planning and asked the committee to consider phased or graduated approaches to fee increases (separately discussed at the meeting) and to provide more transparency about where newly raised funds would be spent. The superintendent said any restoration of positions would require reducing other programs or new funds.

The committee did not reverse the layoffs during the meeting. Committee members and administration encouraged continued community engagement and scheduled follow-up opportunities, including community chats and the next school committee meeting in May.