METHUEN — Superintendent Brandi Kwong is fighting back against claims that her administration is “top heavy.”
During a budget discussion on May 21, Kwong cited a graph from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education showing Methuen spent the least on administrators per student out of a cohort of six comparable districts: Haverhill, Everett, Taunton, Malden and Revere.
During the previous fiscal year, Methuen spent $408 on administrators per pupil. Haverhill was the next lowest of the bunch at $463 per pupil and Revere topped the list at $619.
“People keep saying we are top heavy. I keep having to be on the defensive every single year,” said Kwong. “Share this with whoever you need to share it with to stop that narrative, because it is just not true.”
The city also ranked the second lowest for per pupil spending on teachers at $6,954 out of the six. Everett ranked the highest at $8,767.
“How many jobs do you do?” School Committee member Ryan DiZoglio asked Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Ian Gosselin.
Gosselin said beyond what his title entails he acts as the school’s transportation department, and oversees facilities and food services, among other tasks.
Kwong defended the need for administrative staff among talks of cuts.
“I don’t know how we function as an organization to support our teachers, our students, our families without all of those pieces of the organization,” said Kwong.
According to DESE data, Methuen also appears to have the lowest per pupil expenditure on administration in the immediate area, with Lawrence at $444 per pupil on administration, North Andover $552 and Andover $783.
Kwong said other similar districts have additional administration positions that in Methuen are combined together and under one person.
“There are deans in many of the schools that unfortunately got cut years ago,” she said.
To fix a hole in the budget this year, around 40 school jobs were cut, but the only three people to be laid off were in management at the districts’ central office.
The district has also seen upheaval with top administrators in recent years. Last year one grammar school principal retired, the high school principal resigned, and a special education administrator, recognized by the state as a principal, resigned and now works as a teacher in the district, according to Kwong.
Kwong has served as the superintendent in Methuen since 2019.
For more data on per pupil costs in public school districts around the state visit: tinyurl.com/ms5r4sum