Most members of the School Committee said they want to consider a change to the budget formula, but it hasn’t happened
“Three years of cuts in a school, three years of cuts!” said School Committee member Miren Uriarte during the budget debate last March. “We need to, at some point, stop!”
The committee had heard from parents, teachers, and students about schools without librarians, nurses, and other critical staff, pleading that the cuts be restored, and Uriarte was far from the only member who was upset.
Member Jeri Robinson said that if students go to college lacking research skills because their school didn’t have a library program, “we’ve cheated them.”
In the end, the committee approved the budget 5 to 2, with Uriarte and Regina Robinson opposed. (Jeri Robinson answered the roll call with“Maybe” and then switched to “Yes.”)
But before the vote, four of the seven members said that, for future budgets, they wanted the School Committee to consider starting each school off with a basic set of staff and programs that any good school should have — including librarians. Those members were Alexandra Oliver-Davila, Hardin Coleman, Jeri Robinson, and Miren Uriarte. Others may also have been in favor but didn’t explicitly say so.