Revere’s full-day ‘K’ may face ax

REVERE - Parents of 500 kindergartners may see the time their kids spend in school reduced if the state cuts back school spending over the next year.

Eliminating full-day kindergarten is one of the cuts School Superintendent Paul Dakin last week said he may recommend to the School Committee as early as December.

Dakin has warned for months that the schools need $6 million to $7 million in additional state money to continue operating existing programs. Expectations of receiving the money have all but vanished with legislators and municipal officials’ warnings of state aid cuts next July, perhaps sooner.

“We have some hard decisions. My goal over the next month or two is to prioritize,” Dakin said.

The public schools launched all-day kindergarten in 2006 without financial support from the state. Parents praised the program, especially a design feature in the new Whelan School providing curbside pickup in front of kindergarten classrooms.

Dakin admits the program is popular, but said cutting back to a half-day program will allow school officials to assign 11 of 22 all-day teachers to other classes.

Dakin is also prepared to recommend reassigning all teachers with non-classroom duties back to classes, including mathematics and reading coaches.

He said committee members must examine all school programs and consider reducing or cutting ones not essential to meeting state requirements.

“We’re certainly talking about the necessity of cutting back and making program changes,” Dakin said.

He is also prepared ask the committee to consider delaying maintenance work in the high school and deferring science laboratory upgrades. Delaying maintenance could save money, but potentially jeopardize the high school’s ability to meet accreditation standards when its 10-year accreditation review begins in 2012.

Dakin said he may also consider asking the committee to approve fees for extracurricular activities.

“The committee has never had an appetite for that,” he acknowledged.

Dakin earlier this fall started planning for potential state funding cutbacks by not filling school jobs vacated by retiring employees. The secretary, librarian and electrician vacancies and other savings totaling $163,000 represent a first round of belt tightening.

Leaving the secretary and electrician’s job vacant provides $47,000 in savings along with the elimination of refreshments at school meetings.

A librarian retirement at Rumney Marsh Academy provides another $46,500 in savings and a special needs retirement will be covered by another employee currently in training.

Dakin identified another $73,000 in savings as well as “green” savings from reduced electrical use and other energy use reductions.

His decision to not fill job vacancies created by retirements has already been adopted citywide by Mayor Thomas Ambrosino who also has said that police and fire hiring goals will be tempered by state spending cutbacks.

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