Superintendent’s Message to Ferryway School Families

To: Ferryway School Community
From: John Oteri, Superintendent of Schools
Date: June 2, 2020

Last night the Malden School Committee voted to not apply for the Extended Learning Time (ELT) Grant due to the state budget crisis. The Governor’s budget drastically underfunds the ELT program and it is doubtful it will be fully funded when the revised budget comes out in late summer. In order to be fiscally prudent and give ample notice to families to plan, the committee voted unanimously to not participate in the program as it would potentially leave the district to fund the $1.25M it costs to run the ELT Program at the Ferryway.

At the inception of the program in 2006-07, the faculty was compensated at a rate of 18% above their base salary. However, due to level funding of this grant over the years by the State, a deficit was created which the School Department has had to fund. The School Committee has always held the position that the ELT Grant had to be self-sustaining and not come out of the operating budget which would ultimately affect other schools. This year, with the looming state deficit, it is highly likely that there will be little or no funding for the ELT program from the state.

We realize this will be a great change for the Ferryway School community and we will assess other options to help our students and families. As we move forward, we will be in communication so that everyone is updated.