When Wayland High students returned to class on January 4 after winter break, WHS seemed to be facing a two-pronged assault, threatening to fundamentally alter the status quo.

That’s only slightly a hyperbole. In early December, next year’s proposed school budget was unveiled, and, due to a harsh economic environment, contained deep budget cuts. These first proposed reductions contained cuts that would have had a significant impact on the Wayland curriculum, from the abolition of the middle school Latin program to the loss of the elementary school librarian to the reduction of 4.2 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) teachers at the high school level, and more.

It was not just Wayland’s academic program that was facing a crisis: Wayland High culture faced a severe crisis as well. Around the same time the proposed budget cuts were unveiled, it was announced that student parking would not be available next year due to new high school construction.

How were students supposed to get home from sports? Would seniors – 80% of whom, according to the administration, would otherwise drive to school – be forced to pay to take the bus? What would happen to the sacred senior privileges?

Both students and parents voiced their complaints about both of these issues in public forums. Due to this democratic activism, combined with a fair amount of luck, both the lack of parking and the budget cuts no longer look to be as severe as once imagined.

Mid-January, the School Committee announced that Wayland’s finances were not as bad as originally thought, giving the committee $210,000 to put back into the school budget. A “restore list” was announced and the budget was approved by the committee.

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Then, this past week, Principal Tutwiler announced that there would, in fact, be limited parking for seniors available next year.

These events were fantastic news for the student body; however, we’re not out of the woods just yet.

Parking, first of all, will continue to be limited, and there will not be enough spots for every senior, likely leading to a lot of carpooling. This, in my own opinion, will in fact nullify many of the boons of having a parking spot. You can’t sleep through morning free period if you’re responsible for driving others who have a first block class. And if I have first lunch and my carpool buddy has second lunch, he’s not going to let me drive his car to go out to lunch.

And how about the safety issues? Statistically teens are much more likely to be involved in an accident with a passenger in the car. According to Allstate, nearly half of all teen accidents involve vehicles carrying one or more teen passengers.  Furthermore, do the parents of Wayland really trust next year’s seniors (yes, me included) to equitably split up parking spots and set up a fair, functional system of carpooling?

The town’s budget faces much more serious – and potentially much more dire – problems. While some of the original budget cuts were restored, many cuts still remain, a fact that should not be forgotten.

More importantly, the town’s budget crisis is not over yet. If you thought this year was bad, just wait for next year. Tax revenue is still low, likely shrinking the local aid Wayland will receive from the State House.

“‘’10-’11 is going to be very bad,” Tutwiler told the School Committee in January. “We’re not out of the woods yet. This is actually going to get worse.” Superintendent Gary Burton echoed this point, telling the Committee “We’re going to be back at this table with a list of things” to cut next year.

We should be thankful for the good news that has emerged since January, but we should keep in mind that the two problems have not been solved in their entireties. Trouble could still lie ahead.

For more information on the budget cuts see our Budget Cuts series.

For more information on parking and the new building construction project see our Road to the New Wayland High School series.