Wallingford-Swarthmore may lay off teachers and increase class sizes amid tight budget outlook

The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District is planning to reevaluate class sizes next school year, and layoffs are a possibility if the district cannot trim its budget in other ways, its superintendent said at a meeting Tuesday.

At a school board finance committee meeting, Russell Johnston said that with the district’s expenses projected to rise next year at double the rate of revenues, the district will have to continue to reduce staffing, even after implementing a reorganization plan this year that eliminated about 20 positions and losing four more through attrition.

The district will also look at which classes have the smallest enrollments, Johnston said, and might “scale back” on certain offerings.

Johnston said cuts would be necessary. Otherwise, Wallingford-Swarthmore would be on pace to use more than 30% of its reserves to balance the budget, he said.

Here is what the superintendent said about possible cuts coming to the affluent district:

District leaders have said Wallingford-Swarthmore cannot sustain its current staffing levels, which grew significantly in recent years.

Of the projected $6 million growth in the district’s $106 million budget next year, nearly $4 million is coming from salaries and benefits for the district’s 541 employees, officials said.

Laying out options for cutting those costs, Johnston — who became superintendent last year — said the district could offer staff an incentive to retire early, though he was not sure whether that would generate enough savings.

The district will also evaluate whether it needs to fill positions that become vacant as someone retires or resigns, Johnston said.

“If we do have to invoke layoffs,” Johnston said, the savings likely will not be as great as by reducing staff through attrition, because more junior and less costly employees will be laid off due to union seniority protections.

Board members voiced concern about rising benefits costs in particular: Prescription costs for district employees are projected to grow by 50% next year, a $1.8 million increase.

Johnston, who noted that benefits are part of a collective bargaining agreement that does not expire until 2028, said the district was in “ongoing dialogue” with its teachers union.

Johnston said the district would be looking “hard at class size and enrollment” as it tries to find areas to cut.

While the district has an “amazing array” of offerings for students, it could ”perhaps scale back where we don’t have enrollment to justify that," Johnston said.

He did not offer specifics but said the district would perform a class size analysis at the start of the coming school year.

District officials indicated Tuesday they intend to move forward with a reduced scope for the planned Strath Haven High School renovation — down from $99 million to less than $70 million — with a focus on fixes to keep the building “safe, warm, and dry,” and fewer interior renovations.

The district will also look to cut back other aspects of its capital plan, which board members said would reduce a $1.5 million increase in debt service projected for next year.

Some parents have started to raise concerns about the budget cuts.

Lindsay Doyle, whose children attend Nether Providence Elementary, said she was dismayed to learn that class sizes at her children’s school would be increasing in fourth and fifth grades due to the district not filling two teaching positions.

Doyle, who said class sizes would grow from about 20 students to 26 or 27, is worried that core instruction will suffer.

“It’s no longer about administrative inefficiencies and discretionary spending,” Doyle said. “When I see we’re now cutting back on teachers, that’s when I’m like, red flag.”