School Budget Crisis Looms: District Faces Massive Layoffs, Overcrowded Classrooms

Superintendent warns of 76 teacher layoffs, class sizes up to 50 students if $6.4 million budget shortfall isn't addressed through override

BRIDGEWATER - April 16 - The Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District faces a dire financial situation that could result in significant staff reductions and dramatically increased class sizes for the upcoming school year if voters don't approve a tax override.

Superintendent Ryan Powers presented a sobering update on the fiscal year 2026 budget planning during Wednesday's school committee meeting, detailing the potential consequences if the district's $6.4 million budget shortfall isn't addressed.

"We're at that point where unfortunately we have to start looking at positions," Powers said during his presentation to the committee.

The district plans to issue layoff notices after April vacation to 76 non-professional status teachers. Professional status staff will also face cuts if the override doesn't pass.

Powers explained that even with a "level services" budget of approximately $102 million, the district faces a significant gap between what's needed and what the towns can provide without an override.

"With what the towns, the state, and the district has been able to commit, that would approximately translate into $96 million and change. So you can see we're $6.4 million off from a level services budget," Powers said.

The impact on students would be severe, particularly at the high school level. Powers warned that class sizes could reach 30-36 students at the middle school, while some high school classes could have 40-50 students.

"We'll have to use rooms like this," Powers said, referring to the auditorium where the meeting was held. "It means a reduction in electives."

The situation could be so dire that high school students might find themselves in multiple study halls per day due to reduced course offerings.

"Ms. Watson [is] creating a mock schedule right now [and] does find that our students, especially our upper classmen, if they're in 3, 4, 5 study halls a day, can't even imagine that. Does it make sense to have them be here for a full day?" Powers questioned.

Elementary schools would also feel the impact with projected class sizes of 28-30 students in grades 2-4, and approximately 27 students in kindergarten and first grade for Bridgewater schools and 25 for Raynham schools.

School Committee member Laura Conrad-Laberinto expressed her dismay at the potential cuts.

"This is really disheartening to hear this. Having kids in high school, this is very disheartening to hear," she said.

The district is exploring multiple avenues to reduce the budget gap before resorting to layoffs. These include:

- Redirecting approximately $1.2 million in capital funds back into the operational budget

- Negotiating down health insurance increases from an initial 20% to potentially 15%

- Potentially using additional funds from the district's excess and deficiency account

- Examining all fees, including athletic fees, extracurricular fees, and facility rental fees

- Potentially making athletics self-funded, which could cost families $900-$1,000 per student per sport

If athletics become self-funded, a three-sport athlete's family could pay between $2,700 and $3,000 annually.

The district is also considering the future of its BASE, its fee-supported after-school program if it continues to operate at a loss.

"We should not be losing teachers to pay for BASE," noted School Committee Vice Chair Jessica Davenport.

During public comment, community member Ashley Mallard expressed frustration about the potential cuts.

"Fifty kids in a classroom in here, that's not protecting the seniors. Telling them that before they go to college, we won't even have classes for them when they're applying, that's not protecting the children," Mallard said.

The Raynham Town Meeting is scheduled for May 19, and if an override article passes there, the Raynham Board of Selectmen will schedule a special town election for an override vote, potentially in June.

The Bridgewater Town Council has referred the matter to their Budget and Finance Committee, which will discuss it before the next Town Council meeting on April  22.

Both towns are still discussing whether to hold their potential special elections on the same date or different dates.

The next school committee meeting will be held in the auditorium of Raynham Middle School on May 21.

This is an AI generated news article. Please contact bridgewaterraynhamnews@gmail.com with any accuracy concerns.

Watch the complete meeting courtesy of the Bridgewater Raynham Regional School District YouTube.