Wallingford-Swarthmore schools are cutting nearly 20 positions amid a ‘spending problem’

The Wallingford-Swarthmore school board on Tuesday approved a plan that would eliminate nearly 20 positions as it tries to reverse what officials have called a trend of unsustainable spending in the affluent suburban district.

The reorganization plan, which was approved by the board 8-0 and takes effect July 1, will save the district about $2 million, said Superintendent Russell Johnston. Five administrative positions will be eliminated, along with positions for instructional assistants at the middle and high schools, a high school special education teacher, high school secretary, and high school part-time guidance counselor, among other roles.

Some of those positions are currently unfilled. And not everyone whose position is being eliminated will be leaving the district: Employees with seniority will be able to bump less senior staff, Johnston said.

Overall, the changes will result in three to four layoffs, Johnston said Tuesday. Seven long-term substitutes will also no longer work in the district.

“This is not about solving a problem in this year’s budget,” but ensuring the district can sustain its programs in the future, Johnston said Tuesday.

District officials told the board in November that they were facing mounting budget challenges.

“Bottom line: the district has a spending problem,” DeJuana Mosley, the district’s business administrator, said at a November finance committee meeting. She said there had been “considerable increases” in staffing since 2021 — and the district’s budget grew by 18%, from $89 million to $105 million — despite no increase in enrollment.

The district also lacked adequate inventory management, Mosley said — describing a “culture of just ordering stuff” — and faces other mounting pressures, including deferred maintenance and a lack of curricular investments, including some course materials not aligned to Pennsylvania or Advanced Placement standards.

Mosley described the district’s $164 million capital plan as “added pressure,” but not the source of budget troubles.

Meanwhile, the district’s tax base — which is heavily residential, with limited commercial properties — has declined, Mosley said. Taxable assessed value dropped by $6 million from 2024 to 2025, resulting in a loss of $175,000 in annual tax revenue for the district.

Even if the district raised taxes for the coming year by 3.5%, the maximum amount allowed by state law, it would still be short $2.6 million, Mosley said.

It wasn’t clear why Wallingford-Swarthmore’s budget troubles weren’t discussed publicly sooner.

The school board parted ways with former superintendent, Wagner Marseille, in 2024, after an opposition campaign from parents that accused Marseille of excessive spending, among other allegations. Marseille, who had led the district since 2021, was replaced on an interim basis in August 2024 by Jim Scanlon, a former West Chester superintendent.

The board hired Johnston, a former Massachusetts education commissioner, in May.

In an interview this week, Johnston said that in planning for the fiscal year starting July 1, he “began to see more and more signs that we needed to make this adjustment.”

He said that in November, “I brought the full scope of the problem before the board.”

Five administrative positions will be cut under the plan approved Tuesday: director of assessment, compliance, and federal programs; supervisor of counseling and wellness; safety and security coordinator; communications and community relations liaison; and supervisor of buildings and grounds.

Other cuts include: two high school and one middle school instructional support positions; a high-school part-time guidance counselor; a high school secretary; a high-school special education teacher; a middle-school safety aide; a middle-school long-term substitute; a middle-school substitute custodian; and six teachers on special assignment helping with new curriculum rollouts. (The plan also includes the creation of two new curriculum supervisor positions.)

In outlining the cuts Tuesday, Johnston said, “This is really about a change in positions, not people.” He said responsibilities from discontinued administrative positions would be shifted to other administrators.

“What’s good for students is sometimes hard for adults,” he said.

The district is also eliminating “Cultural Proficiency Equity Teacher Leader” positions, which were created in 2022-23 and gave additional money to teachers working on equity initiatives.

Johnston said at a finance committee meeting last week that “this is no way a backing off of our commitment to equity,” and responsibilities would be absorbed elsewhere.

The reorganization plan isn’t the only way the district is trying to save money. At last week’s finance meeting, Johnston said the district would eliminate redundant software programs and increase oversight of supply purchases. He also said he would be sending a memo to staff to cut back on snacks at after-school events.

The district, which taxes residents at a relatively high rate compared to others, will be limited in how much it can increase taxes in future years, with the Act 1 index that dictates how much they can increase taxes projected to decline, Johnston said. The board directed district officials to prepare a budget for 2026-27 with an increase between 3-3.4%, under the 3.5% state-imposed limit.

“We want to make sure what we live with next year, we can live with in future years,” he said last week.