Resident warns Bedford School Board that staffing changes and retirement rules contributed to near-$100M budget

Resident Nate Feldman told the Bedford School Board during public comment on Dec. 8 that the district needs to examine how staffing changes produced what he described as a near-$100,000,000 budget and to look for ways to cut without reducing classroom services.

Feldman said he had reviewed data provided by the superintendent and that district staffing has changed since 2012. “So in 2012, we had ... a little over 4,400 students, and we had 298.9 teachers ... for an instructor student ratio of 10.2,” Feldman said, and he reported the current instructor-to-student ratio as 8.56 (his figures reflected a stated reduction in students and an increase in adults since 2012). He argued the district should prioritize classroom resources and suggested reductions outside direct student-facing roles.

Feldman also raised a concern about state retirement calculations, saying he was not convinced recent guidance fully resolved an issue about earnable compensation versus average final compensation and warned the difference “could be a lawsuit waiting to happen.” He thanked the superintendent for sharing data and said he supports preserving resources in classrooms where possible.

Superintendent Mike Fournier and board members listened but did not announce any immediate budget decisions during the meeting; budget adjustments and staffing changes were discussed elsewhere in the agenda and administrators said they will return to the board with recommendations as the budget process continues.