So when he came to campus, and she was Keaton Jones' teacher, so she is through and through a Spartan, and we appreciate all she does as a volunteer, as as an educator on our campus. Thank you for all you do, Soraya. >> [applause] >> And who did you bring I have to really quick I forgot this part. I really So the other day, Soraya and her son Colin, who's a who's a Spartan, were getting out of the car, and my favorite part of the day to start the day is doing traffic in the morning. They're getting out of the car. I greeted both, and I said, "Hey, Colin, did He's hiding over there embarrassed. I said, "Hey, Colin, did you hear the good news? Your mom has been selected as Points of Pride." And he like took like five different steps. I was like, "Wow, he ignored me.
>> Yeah best go ahead. >> Do you have a date for that? Yes, I believe I believe it's a week from Friday, but I I can send an email out and confirm that or or double check my email. >> Okay, thank you. >> Yeah. All right. Sorry, I'm trying to get back to my agenda. I just pulled it up. It's March 13th. Sarah, for your notes. >> Thank you, Rachel. Do we have a time yet? Okay. >> I I think there was a time in there, but I will confirm that with Tracy just to make sure on the time. >> Thanks. >> Yeah. All right. I have lost my agenda, but I think that the next item is um the Dr. disease um revised goals. >> It is. You are correct, Margaret. I'm ready to go. >> Okay. Thank you. And Megan is going to present these for us.
Um when we look at our significant assessment offsets. These offset separate from the budget. These offset the assessments to the town after the budget number is complete. So, there's two steps in this process. There's the budget process, then there's the resulting assessment process. So, the items with a star next to them are all based on the fiscal 2017 governor's budget. Uh those [clears throat] numbers could change, but not before March 1st. So, those are the numbers we have. Those are the num- the numbers we use. Last year, we received more chapter 78 than we had budgeted for and a bit more uh chapter 71 transportation reimbursement. That's where I'm comfortable putting that $200,000 of excess and deficiency back into the budget. It's money that the legislature funded us with to put into our budget, but we couldn't use it last year because we hadn't voted it into our budget.
Um those are also um zoned R1D but are not part of this request. It's just for the two that front on Wagner. [snorts] Um there are several similarly sized residential parcels north of here that are all also zoned R1D. Um the D nature area is immediately adjacent to these parcels to the south and east. Um that property is all zoned public land. And then on the west side of Wagner Road, that's Scio Township. So those parcels are all zoned for um limited industrial. Um the permitted primary special exception accessory temporary uses in the R1D and R2A zoning districts are exactly the same um except for two family dwellings which are prohibited in the R1D district. So, the approval of the requested reszoning to R2A would allow for the construction of one duplex building on each of these two lots. Um, the two new buildings would have direct direct access to South Wagner Road and be designed to the dimensional requirements of the R2-D R2A district which again are not significantly different from the dimensional requirements of R1D.
Because I know there's situations out there where you may need the calendar to overlap and that may affect some of our staff. >> I don't know if we have that information. And I do know 3 years ago when we put it out to all of our staff and all of our community that I think staff was at 75% in favor of this calendar and those three calendars that were put out there. So I would hope they would take that in consideration. Uh and then how much was it for our families? >> It was like almost 70%. >> Yeah. So okay. >> Yeah. Sorry. Again, that was three years ago. >> And to the point, not all the other calendars were out then as well, too. And I will say, I don't think always a lot of people look at the exact weeks, even when you're looking at a 222, but it's 3 to four years out.
That's super rude." And then he stops and goes, "Yeah, it's about time. What took so long?" So yeah. Wait no longer. So who did you bring with you? Well, I brought Colin over there hiding. And my son Parker is here, and my husband Chesley Sharp. And then hopefully my other sons are watching this streaming. I have one in Virginia and one at home. So. All right. Shout out to Ms. Sharp. Thank you, Ms. Sharp. Next up, we have our classified staff member, and this is Mr. Josh Acuña. Come on up, Josh. So, Josh is our classified staff of the Points of Pride, and one thing that Josh is is our campus safety monitor on campus. He is fairly new. We were actually just talking. He came in after spring break last year. And he has demonstrated such an integral part of our community as a whole.
>> Yeah. So, good evening everyone. Give me one moment and I'm going to pull up the attached document. I'm not going to go through that document as a whole, but I did um work with Dr. Z so that we were both prepared to present her goals this evening. She is on leave so she unfortunately is not available but I am very happy to do so on her behalf. Um so I'm just sharing just a section of the attached document which is just a section that shows what her original goal was and what the suggested revised goal is at this time. Um, I am not going to go through that entire document. I have something else that I'm going to share with you guys. But if you do have questions about that document specifically, please let me know.
This year, through the excess and deficiency process, I am comfortable putting that $200,000 back into the budget. Does that make sense? So, we put some money into savings. I'm I'm comfortable taking it back out. Um it in in I'm hoping we can hover around that um from time to time through normal savings. So, we will skip ahead through some of the um onerous calculations from the regional agreement. And that brings us to slide 19 for those following at home. So, uh this breaks down the budget a little further. You will see district-wide costs. You will see an explanation of why that percent increase is fairly significant. Uh particularly why Tantasqua is a little lower. Uh the curriculum director um and those small amount of transportation services, or translation services, I'm sorry, as well as a bit of an overlap in the superintendent are in that line item.
I think the only difference is the side setback is slightly larger for R2A. Um, as far as the future land use plan goes, um, the current West area future land use map designates these parcels as single and two family residential, um, the future land use map from the current draft of the comprehensive plan identifies these parcels as residential. And as I'm sure you are all very well aware, um, the residential land use category is intended to provide a variety of housing options to accommodate diverse household incomes and types. Um the preferred building forms include duplexes and triplexes as primary uses under the new comprehensive plan. And additionally, the requested resoning supports the goals and strategies of both the current master plan land use element and the draft comprehensive plan by providing a range of housing choices that meets the existing and anticipated needs of city residents and increasing the supply and diversity of housing types [clears throat] for households of different sizes, abilities, and income levels.
I mean, those are just things that some people don't pay attention to at that time. And now it's a year ahead. >> People's radar. Now, when when you say they looked at three different calendars, >> the three years that were presented, >> oh, but but was one of those the option to have the spring break the 8th to the 19th and one was the 15 to 26 or was it the two week versus the one week? >> Two week versus one week. >> Okay. >> Was was about the two week, not necessarily the Yeah, >> I think it was more about Yeah. about the the 222 and not the two weeks being those specific dates. >> Well, I we do go through a very rigorous community process when we do our calendar. We present it to the uh parent superintendent counsel, the teacher superintendent counsel, the staff member superintendent counsel and the administrator superintendent counsel and we do send out a survey.
He's built into the respect and accountability and being there for anything, whether it's a hurt student or let me help our plant foreman put umbrellas up, or let me make sure a staff member gets to the car. Uh one of our favorites right now is Josh treats us to um different cookies. He loves to bake. Um and so his cookies go like wildfire, but Josh is definitely one of those standout people on our campus every single day that just goes above and beyond, and we are so grateful that he fits so well into the puzzle at Osmond. Um we're so proud of his efforts, his work, and ultimately he is well deserving of this award. So, congratulations. >> [applause] >> We don't normally see Josh dressed up in this. He uh I think Mr. Lots of noise here today saw him in his full uh campus security gear, and so looking so sharp and dapper.
Um, additionally, I'll do my best to answer any questions that you do have. But I would like to, if possible, have those held for the end just so I can get through what I have to say. And then if I can answer your questions, I'll let you know. If it's something that I don't feel as though I can answer and would be more appropriate for Dr. Z, I will make note of it and ask her um for you. Um so she asked that I share an overview of the revision that she has to her goal three on her superintendent evaluation plan. Um she would like me specifically to begin by grounding this in the broader structure of her goals. So um framing it around those other goals that she does have. Each of her goals this year is specifically tied to the work and direction of how things are going in the districts.
Um, next year, once the transition of superintendents is complete, um, and the other items that will sort of return to sort of a normal budget, um, item. Uh, Berlin Memorial, uh, 9.74. That is down from 11.04 the last time we met. So, significant drops. Uh, Boylston Elementary is down from 14.86%. Wachusett Regional is down by from 7.32%. So, those are pretty solid drops. The, um, driving forces between, uh, the driving forces to that drop are health insurance. So, my prior iteration had us at 15%. Uh, our health insurance came in at 7.42%. That was a pretty solid win for us this year. Uh, a couple things impacted that. Um, some costs normalized and stabilized. Um, our utilization also, uh, leveled off. So, we were a high utilization, uh, partner with our health care provider. Uh, now we're a little more in the normal range. So, that's come down.
Um we did have a community participation meeting um a couple weeks ago on February 19th. Um postcards were sent out um up to 69 I think postcards were sent out. Only one of them came back as undeliverable. So that was a win. Um I think we had eight attendees at the meeting um that asked a few questions and overall it was pretty pretty short meeting. Um but copies of the the meeting summary and the notification, the presentation, all that should have been included with your packet.
So, I feel like um that's a lot of engagement and the decision was made and I feel like it's not fair to change the decision and and put aside all that community engagement for some um people who want something different without weighing in with everyone. The we made the process, we made the best decision at the time and it's not going to suit everyone. There's going to be if we change it a week, there's going to be issues or problems for people that are currently planning on this calendar the way it is that maybe have already established travel plans or something. But I I we went through that process and we got the community engagement. So I feel like we should stay with the decision that the community wanted us to make >> and settled on. So, I don't know if I' if I'd classify it as fair versus not fair.
Who did you bring tonight? That would be my wife right there, uh Brittany Acuña, and my two sons, Thomas and Joshua. >> [applause] >> Josh was also helping out Friday night at our band dinner concert. He was grilling, and I don't know if you want me to share this, but he will be in a commercial that will be coming out very soon. So, yeah, he's he's he's a bit famous, right? Uh and and so, congratulations, Josh. And so, as we finalize here, definitely last, but definitely not least, uh the most important people we have on our campus, right? Is the students. And so, we'd like to at this time to call up um our student Spartan Points of Pride, which is Kaylin Selvy. Kaylin, come on up. >> [applause and cheering] >> That's for you. Thank you. The downside of being a middle school educator is we only get them for 2 years, right?
They're not abstract goals. Um, while there is one that's a little more unique to Pelum, they are supposed to tie all of the work that she's doing together. They reflect all of the major projects and issues that require prioritization of leadership time, district capacity, and alignment amongst our team. Um, so I'm going to review some of the other goals that she has just briefly for you. Goal one is overarching and primarily focuses on strengthening employee evaluation systems um with the intent of supporting clarity, accountability, and alignment across leadership and across our staff as a whole. Goal two centers on the Ammerst K through6 restructuring effort, which is a major district-wide initiative that requires significant coordination and planning from all of our teams. Goal four focuses on updating the bullying prevention and intervention plan. Um something which is currently underway to ensure policy alignment, compliance, and consistent implementation across the districts.
The overall range this year for, uh, members of MIIA was from around 4%, I want to say to about 15%. So, we were right in the middle, maybe in the low end of middle. So, I feel relatively good about that. What is MIIA? Hm? What do you mean MIIA? The who? Oh, MIIA. MIIA, MIIA. Massachusetts Interlocal Governmental Insurance Agency Association. Yeah. So, you're using using with the MIAA. Yeah, yeah. Sorry, yes, that's confusing. Uh, they are a basically a non-profit entity that that helps provide insurance to um uh municipalities around the state. Um, uh additionally, our dental insurance, which I had at 15% as well, uh went to 5.66% Uh, as I shared before in the last meeting, I did under budget a bit for health insurance. You'll see there's still a relatively significant increase. The reality is we're going to cover it this year.
Um, with that, we're happy to answer any questions. For the most part, it's pretty straightforward. So, >> great. Thank you. >> Planner Bennett, we'll have your staff presentation. You all can sit down while u planner Bennett gives their presentation and then we'll call you up if we have questions. >> Um, I don't have much to add. I think it's pretty straightforward. um resoning request as um the applicant mentioned it aligns with our current um future land use map and the one that we are hoping to adopt soon. Um there have been no other concerns from staff um that reviewed this and um you can see in your packet that we have recommended approval. >> Great. Thank you. I will now um open the public hearing.
I think this is just a situation where the board made a decision and now things other things have changed or or have have carried out. And so, I I don't know if changing these dates would necessarily be going against a decision the board made. it would just be updating to accommodate, you know, to accommodate the reality of the situation. I did want to put on uh Dr. McCord's radar and your radar that I want to have a discussion about um any kind of survey that goes out before we send it out. Um I'll just end that right there. Um but I Yeah, I I get it. I get it. We made a decision and you know, but I don't know if I fall in the camp of by golly, we made a decision. We're going to stick by it no matter what because things change and I think that we would be it wouldn't be wise to consider those changes and and because those changes carry weight to um to what we're dealing with right now.