By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

Coleen Hatt said her story isn’t any different frommost teachers who put their heart and soul into their work.

Except Hatt won’t have a job next year.

A special education teacher at Biddeford MiddleSchool, Hatt was told she will not have a position next fall due to districtbudget cuts.

“While my program is still technically available forthose students who need it, I will not be the teacher, as I am low on thereduction in force list,” Hatt said in an e-mail this week.

The Biddeford School Committee voted May 11 to accepta list of position and stipend cuts presented by Superintendent of SchoolsSarah-Jane Poli. Roberta Bernier voted in opposition, as did studentrepresentative Ryan Fecteau.

Poli said three department employees definitely willlose their jobs. Other employees could avoid losing their jobs because openingsfrom several planned retirements and some one-year positions will be availableto qualified employees. District officials should know by the end of the schoolyear who will be employed in what position, she said.

The city council earlier this year told the schooldepartment to reduce its proposed budget by $514,000 to achieve a flat taxrate. Several councilors urged the school committee to make cuts that weresustainable and don’t affect students in the classroom. The current proposedbudget is $29.1 million.

The position and stipend cuts approved by the schoolcommittee total $513,587. The city council is scheduled to vote on the proposedschool budget tonight and June 3. The public will have the opportunity tocomment on the budget at today’s meeting at 7 p.m. in city hall.

The cuts affect 10.9 positions and nine stipendsdistrict wide. Positions cuts include an administrative assistant, fourth-gradeteacher, high school social studies teacher, part-time bus aide and part-timecustodian. Hours for other positions were reduced, including the assistantprincipal at Biddeford Intermediate School and a Latin teacher at the highschool. 

Stipend cuts at the high school include juniorvarsity golf, diving coach, freshmen softball coach and outdoor trackassistant. Middle school stipend cuts include the seventh-grade assistantfootball coach, seventh-grade field hockey coach, color guard and athletictrainer. The high school marching band program was cut during a budgetreduction in March.

Hatt began teaching at the middle school in 2006 anddeveloped a special education classroom that focuses primarily on students withAsperger’s syndrome. Her classroom serves students in grades six through eightat all levels, from beginning readers to students with high school levelskills.

“My classroom is incredible, as I am constantlydifferentiating my instruction to best serve the students. While it often meansnever having a free lunch or prep period, I love what I do and I believe thatmy program is crucial to BMS,” she said.

Hatt, who also has coached the civil rights team anddrama club, said she is losing her job because she is low on the reduction inforce list. A teacher from another school will take the middle school position.Poli said all cuts were made following discussions with union representativesin the district.

“Because I do not have my master’s degree, I am leftwithout a position, with no regard to my level of experience, specializedtraining and vast knowledge of working with these Asperger’s students,experience I can safely say no one else in the district has at the middleschool level,” Hatt said.

Hatt said she is most concerned for her students, whostruggle with social cues and need someone to advocate for their needs.

“These are the students I have come to know and loveand my heart is broken,” she said. “I worry about my students because theystruggle so much with transitions. I don’t know how they will be able to adjustto a whole new teacher, a whole new set of rules and a whole new way of doingthings.”

Cuts to special education are the biggest concern forBernier, the school board member who opposed the cuts. She  has a son with autism and works withother parents of children with special needs.

“I don’t approve of it because special needs took thebiggest cut,” she said. “I don’t think it’s fair, these kids need help themost.”

Poli said special education cuts are the result offewer students needing services, not a reduction in services.

At the school committee meeting, BiddefordIntermediate School Principal Deb Kenney said the reduction of the assistantprincipal from full time to part time is a “big cut” for the school. She saidstaff will do their best to make up for the reduction, but some proactive workwith students could be reduced.

“To say it’s not going to affect kids or how we doour work, it will,” she said. “I don’t know what to say, it’s a big cut.”

Biddeford High School Principal Britton Wolfe said heworked closely with guidance office staff to make the “difficult” decision tocut a social studies teaching position. There is large variability in classsize in that department, so some classes will increase in size.

“It may also mean we have to take an elective out ofthe curriculum for the time being,” he said.

Fecteau, the school board student representative and seniorat Biddeford High School, said he has a number of concerns about the proposedbudget. He started a Facebook page, “Vote NO! on the Biddeford School Budget,”which had 113 members Tuesday morning.

Fecteau is leading an effort to pack council chambersand city hall with students for the first reading of the school budget tonight.He said he also is personally asking voters throughout the city to reject thebudget because of the negative impact it will have on students.

“The cuts aren’t sustainable. We get the same songevery year, no tax increase,” he said. “The budget needs to be voted down andmoney needs to be put back into the schools.”

Fecteau said it is not realistic to expect thequality of education to be maintained in a district that must cut teachers andprograms to avoid a small tax increase. He said voters proved they supportspending money on education when they approved a high school renovation bondlast November.

“We need to start selling education as one of themost important parts of the city,” he said.

Staff members of The Roar, the monthly high schoolnewspaper, said they have closely followed the budget process and tried to keepfellow students informed about proposed cuts.

Managing editor Tom Du Bois, 17, said he learnedthrough interviews with school officials and school board members that proposedcuts affect the entire district.

“I think it’s unfortunate we have to cut staffpositions. That bothers me. When you cut staff, you cut opportunities,” hesaid. “I think when the budget has to cut into student extra curricular time,it’s the students who pay. They’re being robbed of opportunities that should beavailable to all students.”

Du Bois said he cannot support the budget becausestudents ultimately pay the highest price.

“I don’t support the budget and I think the taxpayershere could withstand a small mil rate increase,” he said. “I think they cantake that in stride given what’s at stake.”

Amber Perkins, a 15-year-old freshman, said theeducation budget should not be cut. The cuts approved by the school committeewill take away opportunities for students to prepare themselves for the future,she said.

Andrew Soucy, 16, said he is most concerned with cutsto extra curricular activities. For many students, participating in sports andactivities is the only reason they come to school and maintain good grades, hesaid.

“That’s the main tie to school for a lot of thesekids,” he said. “There’s going to be consequences later on. If there’s nothingto tie an interest into school, there’s going to be no motivation for them todo well.”

Bil Moriarty, a father of three, joined Fecteau’sFacebook group last weekend. He said fire, police and education are the mostimportant parts of any budget and he is worried about education cuts.

“As my children get older, they become moreinterested in different programs in school and maybe this is sparked by a greatteacher or two,” he said. “When we passed the high school bond in November, weknew the mil rate would rise. If the issue is keeping a zero percent increase,that’s foolish. We have already demonstrated (Biddeford) is a city whereeducation is first by passing the bond.”

City Council President Bob Mills, also a member ofthe Facebook group, said he “somewhat” supports the proposed school budget. Hismain concern is cutting teacher positions.

“As a parent and elected official, I always wantsomething better for our kids. When school programs are cut, it affects ourkids,” he said. “When kids’ education is suffering because of budget cuts, Iget concerned.”

Mills said students and parents play an importantrole in the budget process by voicing opinions at meetings. He said heencourages students to stand up for what they believe in and take time to makesure their opinions are heard at city hall.

Fecteau agrees. He and other staff members of TheRoar said it can be difficult to get students to attend meetings, but theirclassmates understand the importance of funding education. Fecteau said thereis no time to waste when it comes to making student opinions about the proposedbudget known.

“You have to be able to get out and do somethingabout it,” Fecteau said. “This is not the time to sit idle.”