By Julia Hanson

In the wake of the recent budget override failures, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School now faces the difficult task of creating a budget for the next few years with limited resources.
In the Sudbury town election of March 31, voters were asked to consider two separate override propositions: Question 1a called for an override of $1,821,200, while Question 1b called for an override of $2,821,200, the amount of money required to keep all staff and programs. Voters were warned by Superintendent of Sudbury Public Schools John Brackett that “there would be deep cuts to technology equipment purchases and replacement, school supplies, textbook budgets, and staff professional development.”
As many L-S students already know, both overrides failed, and the administrations at L-S and the other five district schools in Sudbury now must confront the issue of what to cut and what to save. Sudbury’s problem is especially troublesome because the town has experienced a dramatic population growth in recent years, which can be attributed to the excellent record of its schools and town services. The cost of educating a child in Sudbury, the town with the highest percentage of school-aged children in the state, exceeds the revenue that many new homeowners pay in taxes.
L-S students and parents alike are outraged at the prospect of cutting sports teams. Proposed cuts include JV Boys’ Ice Hockey, Gymnastics, Cheerleading, JV Boys’ and Girls’ tennis, Nordic and Alpine Ski, and Sailing. Students have voiced their opposition through Facebook groups, holding signs outside the town hall and publishing opinion articles in the the Town Crier and The Forum.
Increases in class sizes are a controversial issue in the override debate, with 115 classes at L-S already exceeding 25 students. The proposed loss of four full time positions will increase the workload of teachers across the board. In addition, the amount of full time substitute teachers will be reduced dramatically resulting in more cancelled classes.
Despite Sudbury’s past successes in passing overrides, more than 69 percent of votes opposed Question 1b and 57 percent opposed Question 1a. Question 1b was the third override of more than two million dollars proposed in the last four years.
In some parents minds, the economic downturn contributed to the overwhelmingly negative response to the override; Sudbury taxpayers do not want to spend any more money on school than is necessary right now. Town Manager Maureen Valente stated in the April 1 Town Crier, “It was a clear message. My gut says residents value services they receive but this year they aren’t comfortable with an override. We did a layout of a non-override budget. It was clear to voters what services they would have with and without an override. The voters spoke.”
Many Sudbury residents feel that education should be the top priority, rather than athletics. Funding sports and activities by those participating and their parents has been suggested in order to salvage cuts to curriculums, teachers, and courses.
Many residents had hoped that at least Question 1a would pass, making the transition of a smaller budget a bit smoother. However, this was not the case, and now the many Sudbury residents feel that education should be the top priority, rather than athletics. Funding sports and activities by those participating and their parents has been suggested in order to salvage cuts to curriculums, teachers, and electives.
Many residents had hoped that at least Question 1a would pass, making the transition of a smaller budget a bit smoother. However, this was not the case, and now the administration of the Sudbury Public Schools faces an important challenge in creating a budget for the next few years. A Sudbury resident, Gary Bean, wrote in the Town Crier, “The cuts in federal aid in general have hit all school systems.”

Taxpayer opinions...

The Sudbury Town Crier printed the following pro-con examples of taypayer opinions in its blogs. The following opinions were unsigned.

CON “After living in this town for sixteen years and voting for every override that came along, I thought it was time that we looked not at adding more money to the school system. After approving so many and continuing to have shortfalls within the schools, we need to reallocate the dollars we do have.”

PRO “Old [folks] need to know that the young deserves the same quality they and their children got to experience, even if it costs more in today’s society. The young deserve to have what the old got.”