Board chair: Will hear public before taking final action; potential money-saving steps could include cuts to school day schedule

By Holly Dillemuth, Ashland.news

Among considerations being proposed by Ashland School District amid a looming $2.2 million in budget cuts are cutting five to 10 days of school and/or moving​​ to a four-day work week, according to Rebecca Dyson, Ashland School Board chair, who spoke to Ashland.news before the first of several listening sessions with Superintendent Joseph Hattrick regarding potential budget cuts. No actions have been taken nor will be taken without public comment.

Hattrick held a districtwide staff listening session in Mountain Avenue Theatre at Ashland High School on Monday after classes let out to give school district employees first dibs on asking about next steps, as well as a chance to make comments and give feedback. 

The meeting is the first of several planned listening sessions, with the first public one planned for Monday, Dec. 2, at Ashland High School, but this one was limited to staff only. Media were not allowed into the gathering, but a teacher on her way from the district parking lot, who was one of 75 staff members to attend, spoke with Ashland.news about the pending budget cuts, and what she hoped to learn from the meeting.

JoEllen Meyeroff has served for 10 years as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher at TRAILS Outdoor School, which serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade with a focus on outdoor education, the natural sciences and the arts. 

Meyeroff said that, going into the listening session, she was looking to learn if her school could maintain a consistent schedule with the same educational assistants and teachers that they know and trust.

“I think we kind of knew it was happening a little bit last year, but never had any concerns like this with the budget,” Meyeroff said. “I want to just hear first hand what the options are.

“We need to be able to maintain what we have. We have nothing to give up.”

Dyson, the board chair, told Ashland.news that the school calendar is already set through June 2025 and possibly longer, ensuring that, pending board action, no changes in calendar days would impact students or staff this school year. 

“This wouldn’t be something that would take effect for at least a year, if not two (pending board approval),” Dyson said.

Going into the listening session, Meyeroff wondered about the years ahead for TRAILS (an acronym for trust, respect, awareness, interdependency, leadership, stewardship), which this year went from a full-time to half-time principal.

“I’m wondering about the future of our school and if that’s a possibility, that they’re thinking of absorbing us,” she said.

Additional money-saving ideas being proposed, such as a four-day work week, first arose from one of several school innovation committees created by the school board two to three years ago, Dyson told Ashland.news.

Each innovation committee has one board member leading it, with a faculty advisor and additional community members.  

“Joseph came up with the idea, ‘Well, if we can cut 10 days from our academic calendar … monetarily that translates into about $1 million,” Dyson said. “That’s significant.

“Probably we couldn’t (cut) all 10. It has to be bargained with the union, has to be approved.

“To find a balance, maybe we do five academic days and then some other measures, whatever we can come up with.”

Cutting days instead of cutting teachers and programs seems more effective, in Meyeroff’s view.

“If it helps maintain staff and programs, it could be a good thing to consider,” Meyeroff said, “but it’s hard to maintain the learning socially, academically, emotionally that you built up.

“I don’t think that we could have less teachers or staff members than we have now,” she added. “We need people for supervision to keep kids safe and help support all of their needs … so I don’t know about other schools, but for my school, I don’t think that’s an option at all to have less.”

Another possibility for cuts coming out of the innovation committees was to have a more balanced, year-round school calendar that would mean a shorter summer break — three weeks — but would include more frequent breaks during the school year.

“A lot of other countries do that,” Dyson said. “I think it hasn’t been done so much in the U.S. yet.”

An additional option is to maintain the same school schedule with some “minor tweaks” to maximize efficiencies, Dyson said. 

According to an email from Hattrick following the meeting, the closed-door session focused on answering staff questions. These included clarifications on the data shared with the school board at a special workshop meeting Nov. 21, inquiries about proposed solutions and their timelines, and concerns about the overall impact on the district. 

“The district is committed to using the feedback from tonight’s session, along with input from future sessions, to better understand potential solutions and gather information that needs further research,” Hattrick said in the email. “We will also be creating a dedicated FAQ page on the website to provide ongoing updates and address any questions from the community.”

During the budget listening session on Monday with Ashland School District staff, Hattrick said he provided a brief summary of the presentation shared during Thursday night’s board meeting, and emphasized the district’s financial position, the factors contributing to current challenges, concerns around expenditures, and potential solutions.

“I am incredibly grateful for the collaborative and constructive atmosphere during tonight’s session,” Hattrick said in an email to Ashland.news following the meeting Monday. “While we are facing a challenging situation, I remain committed to guiding our staff and community through this time and emerging stronger and more successful than before. Our students, staff, and families deserve the best possible education and resources to achieve it.”

The district will host four more listening sessions, where Hattrick will provide a brief presentation followed by time for attendees to ask questions and propose solutions. 

“I also look forward to engaging with different employee groups to discuss potential solutions,” he said. “On Dec. 12, I will present a proposed short-term action plan to the school board during our regular meeting, with a long-term plan to follow at a future meeting.”

Email Ashland.news reporter Holly Dillemuth at [email protected].