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Parents and teachers warn proposed Freeport Middle cuts would harm science, RTI and student supports
Summary
Administrators presented proposed staffing reductions at Freeport Middle School; teachers and parents urged the board not to cut a seventh‑grade science position, ed‑tech hours and RTI capacity, saying the changes would increase class sizes and reduce support for students with attendance and mental‑health needs.
Freeport Middle School administrators outlined proposed staffing adjustments Wednesday that would reduce teaching and support positions in the coming fiscal year; parents, teachers and students urged the board to protect the roles.
Assistant Principal Dr. Paige Fournier described the budget challenges and said the proposed reductions reflected retirements and difficulty hiring part‑time staff. The draft plan would not refill one retiring seventh‑grade science teacher; it also contemplates consolidating two half‑time RTI positions into a single full‑time RTI role and leaving an unfilled general‑education ed‑tech position vacant.
Why staff worry: Seventh‑grade science and the district’s blended STEM program were singled out by school staff as essential to the middle‑school curriculum. Seventh‑grade science teacher Kathleen Brown told the board FMS students exceed state averages on Maine science assessment tests and urged replacement of the retiring teacher to sustain that performance. Seventh‑grade STEM teacher Elaine Depre warned cutting the science role could force STEM changes and risk losing hands‑on engineering and project work that staff say helps attendance and engagement.
RTI and ed‑tech concerns: Amy Colton, the part‑time math RTI teacher, told the board she and a counterpart deliver subject‑specific interventions; the proposal to replace two half‑time specialists with one general RTI teacher, she said, would reduce content expertise. Administrators said the change aims to increase consistency and have one staff member embedded full time to attend team meetings and oversee MTSS structures.
Class size and schedule tradeoffs: Dr. Fournier said the district will explore creative scheduling and staffing models to preserve science and STEM access at each grade, noting that FMS uses different rotation models in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. She and the board acknowledged the final configuration will depend on enrollment and the scheduling committee’s work; they cautioned that no final decisions have been made.
Board and community response: Dozens of public commenters specifically urged the board to retain middle‑school positions, saying cuts would disproportionately harm students with learning or attendance challenges. The board asked administrators for a detailed, grade‑by‑grade staffing and schedule map that shows current staffing and the specific impacts of proposed reductions so members and the public can evaluate tradeoffs before deliberations.
Next steps: Administration agreed to provide the requested visual staffing maps and more precise class‑size scenarios ahead of the board’s budget deliberations in March.
