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RSU 60 budget workshop: board and community clash over proposed Noble Intermediate staffing cuts
Summary
Board members, parents and teachers debated proposals that would cut a sixth‑grade teacher and reduce health/PE time at Noble Intermediate School; administrators said reductions are budget‑driven, while parents and staff warned of instruction loss and equity harms.
The RSU 60/MSAD 60 budget workshop on May 14 opened into a prolonged debate over staffing at Noble Intermediate School (NIS), as board members weighed administrator recommendations to reduce personnel and reconfigure the NIS schedule to shave district costs.
Advocates for preserving positions said the proposed reductions would meaningfully reduce instructional time and disproportionately affect sixth‑grade students. "Physical education is not merely elective — it is a vital part of everyday education," said Lauren Shane, a district teacher who spoke during public comment, urging the board to protect PE and health instruction.
Administrators told the board the proposed staffing changes were a response to rising contractual costs and limited revenue. They described a scenario in which restoring three positions would add roughly $245,000 to the budget. When the board polled members on whether to restore all three positions, responses were split and produced no binding decision; a subsequent, narrower poll on restoring a single sixth‑grade teacher likewise yielded equivocal support and no formal vote.
Board members and parents focused on several concrete effects: with many fifth‑ and sixth‑grade students participating in band or chorus pull‑outs, the proposed schedule would increase the frequency that those students miss core classes; this raised concerns that the already complex sixth‑grade schedule would further fragment instruction. One parent who identified herself as a fifth‑grade caregiver told the board that reductions could cause students to be pulled from core instruction multiple times per week, complicating grading and continuity of learning.
Administrators and principals defended the proposed model as a carefully considered way to address a structural budget gap while maintaining essential services. They stressed that the district had reviewed options and prioritized minimizing front‑line impacts where possible, but that some reductions were unavoidable without further revenue.
The board did not take a final, binding vote on NIS staffing at the workshop. Members asked administrators to run the financial numbers for targeted restorations and to provide more detailed schedule and class‑size projections before the next public meeting.
Next steps: the administration will return costed options for restoring specific positions and provide the board with detailed class‑time schedules to show how different staffing scenarios would alter students’ instructional minutes.
