Union President Says Current Funding Is Insufficient To Meet “Real Needs” of Students
Westford Teacher Union President Christina Jussaume used the “open forum” section of the January 15th Finance Committee meeting, to urge both the Select Board and Finance Committee to reject the FY27 budget proposed by Town Manager Kris Las. The joint meeting of the Select Board and Finance Committee was held at the town hall meeting room. Jussaume said that the defeat of the FY24 tax override negatively impacted the school’s ability to provide services. She pointed to rising behavioral, academic and mental health needs of students and said that the increased class sizes caused by the failed tax hike have detrimentally affected education quality in Westford. She offered her own personal experience stating that in 2018 she taught a class with 18 to 19 students. Assisting her was a seven member team of teaching assistants. Today she teaches a class of 26 students with only four teaching assistants. She added that several of her students are on IEPs (Individual Educational Programs), which require special attention and 2 are under the 504 program, which involves accommodations for disabled children.
Jussaume passed out a document prepared by the State’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), which identified 14 towns in a so-called “market basket” which she said the state agency utilizes for comparative analysis, when judging local support for school districts. Jussaume claimed that the state data revealed that Westford was not spending at the same rate as the other towns in the market basket. She pointed to the fact that Westford spends 17.6K annually on students, which was the lowest of the towns in the market basket. She concluded her remarks by asking the joint boards whether they were willing to accept mediocrity in our education program or excellence. She said; if we want excellence we have to pay for it.
Subsequent to this meeting IZON conducted an independent analysis of the data offered by Jussaume regarding the 14 towns in our “marketbasket”. Utilizing the Department of Revenue’s community’s at a glance data for FY 2024, Westford ranked first in the percentage of total revenue assigned to education. It collected a total of 126M in property tax, local taxes and state aid and assigned 67M of that revenue or 53% to the Westford Public Schools. Westford ranked 9th in per capita income, 10th in population but it ranked third in performance behind Winchester and Wayland according to “Niche”.
PUBLIC SAFETY REGIONALIZATION EFFORT STALLS
Town Manager Claims “Regionalization” Is Not In The Best Interest Of The Town.
Andrew Shepherd the director of Public Safety Communications for the town of Westford came before the Finance Committee during January 15th meeting to explain a 5.95% increase in his department’s line item. He said that the increase was due to a step increase for the administrator, and a 88% increase in shift differentials paid to the dispatch staff. Shepherd said, that this part of a contractual requirement with dispatchers union.
FINCOM member Dennis Galvin asked about the status of “regionalization” of the communication center, which had been on the table for discussion at several meetings of the so-called “Triboards”. These meetings were conducted through the summer included, the Select Board, School Committee and Fincom. Part of their focus was on improving town efficiency in service delivery. Regionalization of Public Safety communications was identified as possible cost savings. Galvin made a specific reference to a comment related to regionalization filed in the meeting packet. The response was “ multiple conversations with other municipalities, upgrades to facilities and other logistical matters; determined not to be in the best interest of the town, at this time.” Assistant Town Manager Mike Edwards reported that the comment was offered by Town Manager Las, who was not present at the meeting.
Galvin responded by saying that he found the response “unacceptable” and that a more definitive explanation was necessary. He added that it should be clear to everyone that pressure is rising on town’s finances and town leadership has a responsibility to examine every possible means for realizing cost savings. He cautioned the select board, that if their answer to the town’s fiscal pressure was to simply pass costs on through property tax increases, Westford will not be a pleasant place to live, for many people.
FIRE DEPARTMENT DEMANDS ARE INCREASING
Hospital Closures Put Pressures On Ambulance Availability
Fire Chief Mike Dennehy and his office manager Nick Denim came before the Finance Committee to support their 4.7M budget request, which is a .63% increase over last year. The Fire Department’s core service is the ambulance. The complexity of calls is increasing, as are back to back requests for service. Turnaround time, from response to return to quarters, is increasing, because of the closure of the Nashoba Deaconess hospital in Ayer MA. Patients, who would have normally been transported there are now being transported to the Emerson Hospital and Lowell General Hospital. The resulting crowing has increased delays in the disengagement of the town ambulance from hospital trips impacting ambulance availability. Mutual aid requests are also increasing as a result. Chief Dennehy reported that the Westford ambulance has responded to 219 mutual aid responses out of district.
The Chief reported that collections for ambulance services have been very good. The recovery rates is 89%. The problem is that Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements are underfunded, which requires the town to subsidize the shortfalls. The increase in back to back service calls have increased. The Chief alluded to a propane tanker accident on Boston Road a few weeks ago, stating that resolving that matter took the entire department off line for three hours. During that time the town was fully dependent on mutual aid if additional calls occurred. The Chief also expressed his concerns over increased battery recharge and storage facilities. When problems develop at these facilities it often results in an extended response.
Link To Finance Committee Meeting on Westford CAT
Finance Committee Meeting – January 15th, 2026 | Westford, MA
Leave a Reply