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Smithfield superintendent warns of large town-driven cuts; administrators and programs eyed
Summary
Superintendent told the School Committee a recommended 3.24% budget request was trimmed by the town to roughly a 0.8% appropriation increase, producing about an $825,000 gap that could force staff and program reductions, postponed equipment purchases, and altered CTE rollouts.
The Smithfield School Committee on June 26 heard a detailed budget briefing from the superintendent, who said recent town decisions trimmed the district’s requested increase and left administrators scrambling to identify roughly $825,000 in reductions to meet the new appropriation figures.
"This is a really significant cut in my opinion," the superintendent said, summarizing the gap created as the town’s recommended appropriation dropped from the district’s 3.24% request to an outcome that leaves the district with roughly a 0.8% increase in town support. She said the district did receive additional state aid tied to enrollment increases and categoricals, but that some recalculations reduced high-cost special-education funding compared with last year.
The superintendent front-loaded the priorities the district intends to protect: classroom staffing, curriculum and supplies for the Aug. 26 first day of school, and technology for a one-to-one student-device plan. Still, she outlined areas under consideration for reduction if cuts are required: not filling a vacant district electrician position for at least a year; reducing one high-school administrative post (a dean or assistant principal); postponing some non-mandated intervention supports and training; trimming projectors, library materials and other classroom equipment; and slowing parts of the district’s device-replacement cycle.
On staffing, she said the district had nearly filled teacher and staff openings and expected to finalize administrative hires soon, but added that deeper reductions would likely affect positions. "We have filled all teaching and staff positions unless something changes," she said, while noting some administrative and maintenance vacancies could be left unfilled to save money.
Committee members pressed for specifics about risks to student services. The superintendent proposed adding a special-education teacher at Smithfield High School to create a stable "home base" for returning and high-need students; she said the district’s alternative-learning program had shrunk to a single teacher and that restoring staff would improve continuity of services.
The superintendent also warned that reductions to CTE equipment purchases and professional development could slow planned program launches and blunt long-term goals. She said the district’s three-program CTE plan includes culinary and potentially biomed and pre-engineering pathways, but equipment shortfalls could delay implementation.
The committee received the update as informational; final budget figures remain subject to town appropriations and a July 24 meeting that the superintendent identified as the point when numbers will be finalized.
