MARION — School Committee members grudgingly approved this year’s school budget, which would eliminate a full-time teacher position and move one full-time teacher over to a special education position.

“This particular budget is the hardest we’ve done in a long time,” said Chair Christine Marcolini at a March 27 meeting.

The $6,058,909 budget represents a 1.48 percent increase from last year. The cut would mean that the third and sixth grades would drop from four class sections to three, increasing the number of students in class to about 20.

“We are grateful we were able to have four class sections for as long as we did. But we could not maintain four sections. Believe me, we tried,” Marcolini said.

In presenting the budget Old Rochester Regional Superintendent Doug White noted that 72 percent, is dedicated to salaries, leaving very little resources for supplies or contracted services.

Relieving some of the pressure on the school budget, tuition for Bristol Agricultural High School students will now be paid on the town side of the budget, which allows the school to remove $59,000 from its budget.   

One of the largest increases in the budget is $172,069 for contract adjustments related to special education. At the meeting with the Finance Committee, School Committee members noted that Sippican School has a great reputation for providing special education services and that 21 percent of Marion students have a documented disability. 

The school had to bring back a special education paraprofessional at the beginning of this year to meet student needs, which are particularly high in the current third grade class. However School Committee members noted on March 20 that students with challenging behavior also impact the rest of the school in the hallways and common spaces.

Many of the questions from teachers in the audience on March 27 had to do with the process that the school would go through if more students enroll and the school needs additional staff.

Marcolini noted that the School Committee has the right to go back before the town with special requests if need arises.

“A couple years ago we had to add in two different sections unexpectedly. And they were true to their word,” in terms of providing additional funds, Marcolini said.

School Committee member Ron Gerhart brought up the fact that numerically, compared to other schools, even having 20 students a class was “comparatively very good.”

Teachers in the audience pushed back on that idea. “With all due respect, we’re looking at children. They’re not numbers to us,” one teacher said. 

School committee members thanked the teachers in the audience multiple times for their support in raising awareness of the budget process, and Committee member Michelle Smith urged parents to continue voicing their opinion about school needs.