Acton‑Boxborough task force offers staffing shifts to close $2.3M shortfall; teachers, aides urge preserving specialists and assistants

Dozens of elementary teachers, specialists and classroom assistants told the Acton‑Boxborough Regional School Committee on Dec. 19 that proposed staffing changes recommended by the district’s Elementary Budget Task Force would damage student supports and school community relationships.

The task force, working with consultant New Solutions K12, presented structural options aimed at closing a roughly $2,300,000 budget gap. Recommendations include moving from “one‑per‑school” staffing toward sharing certain specialists across schools, reallocating about 25 percent of classroom assistant funding to preserve other roles, and prioritizing math and reading specialist time with students. The task force also recommended using objective measures of student need to allocate specialist time districtwide.

Why it matters: committee members and administrators said the district must balance a legally required budget while preserving core services; staff and community speakers said the proposed changes would reduce day‑to‑day student contact with trained specialists and eliminate the continuity that many educators link to student success.

“I'm here tonight because recently life has thrown some curveballs at me,” said Madeline Cruz, identifying herself as an Acton resident, who told the committee families rely on school vouchers for after‑school care. “When I was looking for after school care for my daughter, I was informed that Acton‑Boxborough no longer takes vouchers, and I think that you all need to reconsider that.”

Teachers and specialists repeatedly described how their schedules and daily responsibilities already limit non‑instructional time and warned that the task force numbers understate the time specialists spend working directly with students. “If you account for those times, I’m with students 98% of the time that they’re in a building available to have intervention,” said Amanda Montero, who identified herself as a reading specialist in Acton‑Boxborough. “There is not hidden easy efficiency that can be drawn out of the reading and math specialist.”

Multiple unified arts and library staff described the value of being assigned full time to a single building. “As a unified arts educator in one elementary school, one of the best parts of my job is to be able to build a seven‑year relationship with students,” said Jill Reed, who identified herself as Gates Elementary physical‑education specialist. Similar comments came from art, music and library staff who said traveling between schools or increasing part‑time positions would reduce curricular continuity, make collaboration harder and diminish opportunities such as concerts and exhibitions.

The task force’s consultant, Nate Levinson of New Solutions K12, told the committee his analysis found no “painless” savings and that many of the more obvious options—transportation efficiencies or ending open enrollment—produce far smaller savings than public members expected. Levinson said transportation comprises roughly 0.3 percent of the district budget and that open enrollment, contrary to many commenters’ assumptions, is saving the district money.

“Just because what we’ve done in the past has worked doesn’t necessarily mean we can’t find ways to do it better,” Levinson said. He described two levers to increase the number of students served without increasing staff: (1) increasing the percentage of a specialist’s duty day spent directly with students and (2) raising carefully formed small‑group sizes for targeted instruction from roughly three students to four or five when groups are formed by the same instructional need.

Tori (first name used in the meeting) who led the task force, summarized the process: volunteers, parents, staff and two high‑school students participated in 25 members of the task force; about 700 community survey responses were collected; the group weighed tradeoffs and found “structural” changes are required because the shortfall cannot be closed by one one‑time change. She emphasized the group’s near‑unanimous support for preserving math and reading specialists’ student time as a top priority and noted the task force’s recommendation to repurpose 25 percent of classroom assistant funding rather than the larger cuts some suggested.

Superintendent Peter (first name used at the meeting) said the administration recognizes the depth of the impact and will present a detailed budget to the committee at the end of January. He also said state changes to the MCAS competency determination will create additional district reporting and administrative workload.

Public commenters urged the committee to protect classroom assistants—often the most diverse staff in elementary schools—calling them “the heart and soul” of daily student support. Multiple speakers described duties such as lunch and recess supervision, small‑group support during MTSS periods, and ad‑hoc help that prevents operational breakdowns. “You are paying them pennies on the dollar for what they do,” said one parent and school volunteer during public comment about classroom assistants.

Task force recommendations noted tradeoffs: sharing specialists requires a common elementary schedule and careful operational design to avoid chaotic travel schedules and lost planning time. Levinson said there is a “good” and a “bad” way to share staff, and successful models require unified schedules and clear expectations. He also cautioned that significant class‑size increases—adding four or five pupils per class—is generally politically unpalatable and produces only modest savings compared with other options.

What the committee did: the School Committee accepted the presentation for discussion; no binding vote on the task force’s staffing recommendations occurred at the meeting. The committee approved routine consent items (minutes and donations) by unanimous vote and adjourned after the capital projects presentation.

The committee and administration said further public engagement and careful implementation planning would be required before any staffing changes. Committee members encouraged staff and concerned residents to continue contacting town finance bodies and legislators, and to participate in upcoming budget hearings.

Ending note: the administration has scheduled a full budget presentation for Jan. 30, which will include options refined by district leaders; any staffing decisions will be part of the formal budget adopted by the School Committee.