Fairhaven students, parents rally against proposed teacher cuts

FAIRHAVEN, Mass. (WLNE) — Fairhaven students rallied Wednesday after learning nearly 20 teachers were at risk of losing their jobs.

“I was really upset, because they’re great teachers,” Teagan Barros said. “They don’t deserve for this to happen to them.”

The potential cuts were laid out as the town attempts to balance its budget for the next year.

“We see a lot of rhetoric in town,” Kenny Rogers Paulino said. “Everyone’s kind of fighting back-and-forth, fund this, fund that.”

The group gathered ahead of a joint meeting between the town’s finance committee and school committee Wednesday.

Superintendent Tara Kohler spent much of that meeting defending her proposed school budget.

“Right now the town currently has a placeholder that is about $500,000 different from what our ask was,” Kohler said.

Kohler said that’s an improvement from the previous number, but could still result in roughly a dozen staffing cuts.

The school’s proposal would result in just four cuts.

“It’s a challenge,” Kohler said. “We’re prioritizing where certain things can be taken from and not have so much of an impact on class size.”

“At the same time, there’s always an impact because you can only service kids so much as the staff you have,” she continued.

Finance committee members said they are working on thin margins to avoid a tax increase, but parents say it’s clear to them where money should be prioritized.

“We need to put our schools first,” Paulino said. “Education is extremely important, and our kids are our future and the future of the town.”