Ray Mariano: School Committee should start budget cuts from the top
When the school administration announced that it was “facing a budget gap of $22 million,” I started getting emails from teachers and parents worried about the impact of potential cuts and lost services. Then the superintendent sent a letter to staff which some interpreted as a prelude to job cuts. Again, my inbox took a hit receiving more emails.
When the Telegram & Gazette published a list of the top city salaries, it showed that superintendent Rachel Monárrez gets a total compensation package of $294,402. Fearing impending budget cuts, I got more emails from teachers and parents who were upset that the superintendent was making so much money.
To be fair, I have a number of things that I would criticize the superintendent for. Her salary isn’t one of them.
My concern is not what the School Committee pays the superintendent. Yes, nearly $300,000 is a great deal of money. But it’s a big job — if she does all of it. My concern is that the superintendent has put layers of extra administrators in place to take some of the duties off of her desk and lighten her workload. And that costs taxpayers millions.
Request for info not forthcoming
Not long after Monárrez became superintendent, I began hearing rumblings about a number of new administrative positions being added to the table of organization for the school department. So I went to the superintendent’s office and asked for a list of the positions that were added. I had already checked the records of the School Committee and had seen more than a dozen new administrative positions authorized costing somewhere between 1 million and 2 million taxpayer dollars. I was told that I would get the list quickly. If "quickly" is defined as "never," that’s what happened.
Evaluating what positions were added and then understanding their cost to the system is difficult because the school administration hasn’t been fully forthcoming. For example, some job titles have been changed, like the new director of strategy and innovation. When I asked about this new position, the school department said that this new title was simply a repurposing of an existing position. But when I questioned them further, they were forced to admit that this position and the one before it never existed until the new superintendent showed up.
More recently, I decided to give it another try and asked for a list of the administrative and support positions that had been added and the salaries attached. It took a while but they did send me a list.
Trying to make the point that the current superintendent has added less in administrative positions than her predecessor, they sent me a list showing both. It was as if they were saying, “See, the superintendent didn’t add as many positions as the previous superintendent.”
In fact, according to the document they gave me, over five years, superintendent Binienda added about $3 million in administrative staff and support positions. In about two years, superintendent Monárrez added a bit over $2 million. Here’s what they don’t say. For the most part, Monárrez added the new positions on top of what Binienda had added — that’s $4 million-5 million more than in fiscal year 2018.
What was not on the list?
Beyond that, I don’t believe that the list that they gave me is complete. Now some of that is because I didn’t make my request precise enough. When you’re talking to someone who doesn’t want to tell you the entire story, you have to be precise.
For example, I didn’t ask which positions were upgraded along with a generous bump in pay. Under the previous administration there was a single assistant superintendent. Now the new superintendent has three — two assistant superintendents and a deputy superintendent — two are upgrades.
I had more questions. There were at least eight additional positions that had been approved by the School Committee (I checked the minutes of the meetings) that were not on the list that I was given. So I sent the communications officer the list of additional positions and asked for an explanation. That was weeks ago. I haven’t heard a thing.
I asked about the chief community relations officer (approved July 21, 2022), the early childhood coordinator of child find teaching and learning (approved Sept. 15, 2022) and the evaluator of developmental reading (approved Sept. 15, 2022).
I asked about the co-director of family and community engagement, which I saw in a story that appeared in this newspaper. I asked about the assistant information and technology director (approved July 21, 2022) and a few other positions.
Perhaps the administration has good explanations for each of these. I don’t know because they didn’t get back to me. But I’ve been told that the superintendent has hired so many new administrators that the system has struggled to find office space for them.
If the school administration has good reason for the new positions, the generous upgrades and the repurposed titles, it should be willing to defend their actions. So far, at least in my opinion, in the opinion of several members of the School Committee, and members of the public who have requested this information, the administration has been less than transparent.
The school administration will submit its recommended budget to the School Committee sometime in May. And they have outlined a reasonable process for community meetings and discussion. Ultimately, because of an anticipated shortfall in state funding, the system may be forced to make some cuts. When they do, they should start at the top and not in the classroom.
Email Raymond V. Mariano at rmariano.telegram@gmail.com. He served four terms as mayor of Worcester and previously served on the City Council and School Committee. He grew up in Great Brook Valley and holds degrees from Worcester State College and Clark University. He was most recently executive director of the Worcester Housing Authority. His column appears weekly in the Sunday Telegram. His endorsements do not necessarily reflect the position of the Telegram & Gazette.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Ray Mariano Worcester School Committee should cut budget from top
