Some opposition already has surfaced from residents who question the need for more money in the schools. “I believe [this] override has more to do with pay raises than it has to do with class sizes,’’ said North Street resident John L. Sullivan.
But school officials said more than contractual pay raises are at issue.
“When the ’07 override failed, we had to implement cuts, and that trend really hasn’t stopped,’’ said School Committee chairman Brian Walsh. “We’re really at the bone now, and there’s not much left to cut out… . People say things are fine; we’re not going to be fine next year. I don’t think anyone will be satisfied with the way the schools will look next year’’ if an override fails.
According to Superintendent Lincoln Lynch, the quality of a Walpole public education already is at risk, primarily because of increased class sizes.
About a quarter of the classes at the two middle schools have more than 25 students, several fifth-grade classes have more than 30 students, and 120 classes at the high school have 25 students or more, including an Advanced Placement English class with 35 students, he said.
“We’re at the point now where we’re at a crossroads,’’ Lynch said. “Our MCAS scores are starting to flatline, where in the past we’ve seen steady growth, and we still have farther to climb. And our SAT scores dipped for the first time in many years.
“We’d like to continue to maintain a high-performing district, and we’re asking the community to support that. It’s a community override, and the community needs to tell us through a vote what direction they want the district to move in,’’ he added.
Lynch took over as superintendent after the 2007 override failed, and said he rebuilt the budget to create “efficiencies of over $1 million’’ by doing such things as reducing custodial overtime and reorganizing clinical services for speech and language therapy.
