Letter from the Superintendent of Schools

We are very quickly coming up to the vote on our school budget for next year. While the district cannot go out and campaign for a “Yes” vote, we can encourage people to get information and we can answer questions. The education of our children is one of the most important responsibilities we have.

Please call us or visit our web site if you have any questions about any aspect of the budget or our educational program. We are doing our very best to bring your children the highest quality education we can at the most efficient cost.

Often the question is: “What do we get for our money? It just seems so expensive.” There is no question that educating children is expensive. It is especially so when there are obstacles to overcome and compensate for. In Springfield, we do a very good job with providing the services needed at the lowest cost for our local taxpayers. Engaging the state funding for support of pre-school children is one of those strategies. Having a greater number of children show up “ready-to-learn” at Kindergarten will save us a great deal of cost for supplementary services later. It also helps local pre-school businesses stay in business and provide a high quality program. Our average cost of educating a Springfield child is just slightly over the state average. We are not in the high spending tax penalty category. What else does your money do?

This year we are completing the renovation and new construction on our elementary schools. They will be 21st Century ready, allowing Springfield’s students access to the very best education possible. These buildings will also be highly energy efficient and green, reducing our use of expensive utilities and oil. Riverside will complete its heating renovation this summer. We are doing everything in our power to limit, reduce, and eliminate overhead costs.

Math scores at Riverside have made a dramatic improvement. Some of our students are merit scholars, graduates of SHS attend the best of the best colleges and serve our country with pride in the armed services. We have student and adult mentors, student council members, service clubs and justice panel members. Staff and students are role models for the community. All of our staff is involved in Professional Development Courses and workshops that are geared toward preparing students for the future. We are one of the few schools that can offer Advanced Placement Courses in all of the Core subject areas. We have a full range of allied arts activities in Art, Music, and Drama. Our high school students have won awards at state and regional competitions in all of these areas. Our athletic programs excel with three State Championships in the last two years.

Students at the high school have sponsored presentations by leading political leaders and recently hosted and presented to a visiting group of Dignitaries from the Republic of Georgia here to see our Restorative Justice Program. Our children have raised thousands of dollars worth of food and money for our own Springfield food pantry as well as for Haiti and other causes. The instructors for Antioch University New England have praised teachers for their hard work, commitment and engagement as they strive to find new research based ways to help our children succeed. We all should be proud of our schools and everyone who works here.

Over the last two years the school district has given back all or part of thirty-one positions through budget cuts. We have educated more special education children by bringing children home from out of district placements and we have been taken off of the State’s high spending list. This is a huge accomplishment. The district has re-engaged the belief in inclusion and, above all, we are putting all of our curriculums into written form and aligning them to the state standards to help us improve our test scores.

Our staff has done what was necessary to get through the past two years of construction, noise and disruption at the two elementary schools. Our children have not felt the struggles and frustration of this transition as teachers and staff professionally responded to this challenge. Whatever the official title or role, all employees are a members of the Springfield Educational Team. We make a difference in the lives of 1,400 children every day.

Teachers, paras, and support personnel have all felt the increase work load because of class size increase, and scarce materials. We have even asked our students to walk farther to school in order to bring the district’s costs down. There is no end to the demands of doing more while making do with less. We do our work with a smile, collegially and professionally, even when it is extremely difficult.

Springfield educators do the hard work because they believe in the district mission and the vision of a better life for all of our students. They are PROUD of who they are. As the next three weeks go by, I ask that you, the voting public, also know that we are proud of our work and our students. Share that pride with us. Call us and ask us any question you have about the budget or school in general. Make us convince you to say “yes;” I know my taxes are going to go up, but our children deserve it; our schools are the best and we are proud to support them.

Steve Hier, Board members and I will come to your home or organization to answer questions or just talk about school. We are not perfect, but hope to get there soon. Thank you for your continued support.

Frank S. Perotti, Jr., Ed.D.
Superintendent