Brookline Public Schools Proposed Layoffs amid $2.4 million deficit

By Madison Lucchesi

Brookline Public Schools created a proposal to cut more than 20 full time positions and the entire elementary world language department. These cuts will alleviate a $2.4 million deficit in next year’s budget. 

The proposed layoffs include terminating 12.6 full time world language positions, four language coaches and four education technology specialists. In the central office, one position will be terminated and another will move from full time to part time. One or more positions at Brookline High School will be affected, but the specific positions are not yet determined.

“We cannot address our financial challenges without impacting staff,” said Superintendent Linus Guillory. Superintendent Guillory told the Brookline School Committee that Brookline Public has managed deficits for years.

The vote on the suggested $2 million in cuts is set to take place in the coming weeks. The proposal included a prioritized order of cuts with staff cuts falling toward the end of the list. The cuts to the elementary world language department amounted to $1 million and was the largest proposed reduction. 

There are concerns about cutting the elementary world language department because world language is a part of the middle school curriculum with classes meeting three times a week. However, students who took Spanish only in middle school were equally likely to score intermediate as students who took Spanish beginning in kindergarten, according to a 2023 report from the world language department.