um >> that's who would be doing it. >> Okay. So, the $6,000 is to supplement that position. >> It's not to supplement the regional. It's not to supplement the Ammerst person doing it. >> The 6,000 is to um have one of the Pelum employees take on more responsibilities. >> Correct. >> Okay. So I guess for me I would want to know I know Margaret said that that's for next year not this year but to me this like we are today starting registration and I understand that this budget cycle doesn't start paying for things until July. Mhm. >> Um, what would like I I I guess I'm just I'm just concerned that will we get I I I feel like we need more on the choice to get to to beef it up. And so will this bring us that do you think by spending the 6,000 uh for our clerical staff to do it in Pelum?
There's 17 more students, um, that is part of the budget process for Keefe than than we had in previous years. So, 17 more students equates to the $396,000 at 4 and 1/2% increase, uh, on the Keefe budget. Uh, it will stabilize. Uh, so, with the the passage of of the law last year, um, we we will not see we should not see another bump like this in the future. And I'm going to put a caveat on this, if if Keefe, uh, as they go through the building process of looking at a new building, uh, over at Keefe, that certainly will have an impact on on the Ashland community and other communities who send students to Keefe Tech. Thank you. Uh, the next question is, "Are proposed 40B developments projected to be revenue positive for the town's annual budget?" Um, and they said, "Please answer yes or no only." And I would say, um, depends.
And that is worth every bit of effort. And this is how how I make waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Ila, for that wonderful presentation on child psychology. All right, our third presentation for period 2 is Finding Your Rosetta Stone by Kaden Ramos. Kaden is a senior here at DHS who is a firsttime member of the TEDex DHS club and we are so happy to have him. Kaden loves to travel and is fascinated by foreign languages. Kaden plans to attend attend Bridgewwater State University in the fall to double major in secondary education and history. He wants my job. Uh Kaden will be a wonderful future educator. No doubt about it. Please welcome Kaden Ramos uniovita. This is a quote by Italian screenwriter and film director Fedrico Fellini and it roughly translates to a different language is a different version of life. I felt this quote was important to start my TED talk with due to its simplicity and its truth.
Any member abstain? We're going to do the other one, too. Which one? The backside. The 4231. 4231. You want to do one step? One step. Okay. We're also going to table policy number 4231. Any member abstain? I'll make a motion to accept the agenda with just those two strikes, Mr. Palumbo, please. I'll second. Okay, that was Mr. Terhune, thank you for that. And that was Mr. Garcia on the second. >> It's okay. I'm sorry. You have to vote on table. I'll make a motion to vote on I'll prefer a vote. Okay. We're going to vote specifically on policy. Am I understanding them, Mr. Palumbo, on 3231 and 4231? To table. To to table. That that's what the vote is about, to table, right? So, the vote is to table and revisit it and make maybe fine-tune it. Okay. I believe so. Just I wanted to just clarify that before I vote.
Do you think that will be helpful um >> in terms Oh >> yeah, that's all >> in terms of helpful in getting more choice students. Is that the question? >> Yeah, for this coming for this budget cycle like I know the budget doesn't start paying till July, but >> yeah. right now it's my understanding that the current registration process um that it's not changing for the registration that's happening right now is not changing um to the clerical person at Pelum at this moment it would stay um with that person however do I believe that um it solely being in Pelum will increase school choice I think this person will be able to do more like outreach and that'll be part of their description in order to do that. Um, but I it is also separating Pelum from the Amherst application piece which has been asked um and so in the past the if students choose to attend Amherst for school choice um and they could pick options you know Pelum was listed as one of those options with doing this.
So, >> [laughter] >> I know. I know. Some days. So, just, um, in very brief cuz we're not talking about sort of future and growth and things here tonight, but, um, there is tax revenue that comes in when a when a, um, development comes online, we it's added into what's called new growth on our budget. Um, so, we do get tax revenue from those developments, um, but there is a trade-off. So, there is services that we then need to provide as a community and we need to be able to adjust to those needs. So, um, again, it depends. Um, the question is, "When do we get to vote yay or nay?" Again, the dates are May 6th at the town meeting and May 19th at the ballot, uh, town election. Um, they were also There was also a question about, um, uh, absentee ballots. So, what is the process for completing an absentee ballot, um, if they are not going to be here for the election?
Learning a new language allows you to unlock new perspectives that you might have not known otherwise. It allows you to see a new version of yourself and the world and often allows you to see different ideas, emotions, and even humor. Each language carries its own values, traditions, expressions, and perspectives that reflect the people who speak it. But its culture, identity, and perspective are also seen throughout. It is the foundation of how we understand the world around us. And this newfound perspective is often found during childhood. Have you ever wondered why little kids seem to unlock language learning so much quicker than adults? This is actually something that linguists and scientists have been uh studying for years. The parts of the brain responsible for language processes include the Brocus area and the workey's area. The Brocus area is found in the left frontal lobe and is responsible for speech production and articulation.
>> I don't want to speak for you, Mr. Capano. Yes. That's what it is. Mr. Spada? That's what you're looking to Okay. Okay, I'm going to take a vote now to table, revisit policy number 3231 and 4231. Correct? Okay. Uh Mrs. Abreu? Yes. I've got to got to write down here, so I apologize. Let's say yes. Mr. Capano? Yes. It's a yes for Mr. Capano. Mr. Spada? Yes. Okay. Uh Mr. Garcia? Yes. Uh Mr. Nedrow? Yes. Uh Dr. Pantaleona? Yes. And uh Mr. Terhune? Yes. And then I'll make a motion to accept the agenda, please. Second. And that was Mr. Capano was the second. Okay. Okay. Mrs. Abreu? Yes. Okay. Mr. Capano? Yes. Guys, don't forget the picture. Mr. Spada? Yes. Mr. Garcia? Yes. I don't have my coat. >> Mr. Nedrow? Mr. Nedrow? Yes. Okay. Dr. Pantaleona? Yes. And Mr. Terhune. Before before we close, I would like to thank everybody that came out to the meeting.
So then we're separating that out. So then families and parents have to go directly to Pelum and not it won't be on Amherst they'll have to go to Pelum to and want to apply to Pelum to go to be school choice. Um so that's a difference that we'll see and I guess I don't know 100%. Um but the idea would that be that this person would be doing the registration and doing the more bigger outreach um for school choice. >> Then one last clarifying question. I understand that this budget starts in July. Is that correct? >> July one. So then could we expect that July one the registration will be separated starting July 1? >> I think so. I think there'll be some transitioning. Um but yes. >> Thank you >> Rachel. Um, my question wasn't about this, but I Shannon, how I don't mean to put you on the spot and you can say you really don't know.
And they can go on the town clerk's website and, um, and apply for a, uh, an absentee ballot. There is also early voting. Thank you. Uh, which will be having happening in town hall. Um, I don't have the dates. I should have the dates. But, it's also on the clerk's website. Thank you, Paul. Um, I would say that one of the other things in this in this, um, question re- regarded, um, the May 6th date and I just wanted to make sure people are aware, town meeting is an in-person only, um, event. So, we have, um, open town meeting here in Ashland, not representative town meeting, which means, um, every voter can come to town meeting and vote with a If you haven't been to town meeting, um, you literally you raise a card to vote. Uh, but it is in-person. There is no virtual or hybrid option for for folks and there's no absentee ballots for for town meeting.
And the workey's area is found in the left temporal lobe and is responsible for language development and comprehension which is found here. When we are young, our brains are far more flexible and adaptable. Children have a much easier time unlocking new language skills such as um accents and stuff like that. When we grow older, those things become much more challenging, especially for new-time language learners who only know English as their first language. Seen here is a Japanese sentence that comprises of I like Japanese. Different languages have much different language patterns than English with this one following the uh order subject, verb, object. I'm subject, object, verb with English following subject, verb, object. If this seems a little confusing, you can think of it as Yoda, where his sentences are a little bit more mitchmacked than English is. Another problem that is commonly faced with English speakers is accent troubles such as pronunciation.
And can you please come out more often cuz we need more attendance and more brainstorming ideas. Thank you for all that came out. So moved. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, guys. >> I'll make a motion to close the meeting. Thank you. >> [applause]
I'm confused how the registration could change midcycle and answer in like follow up to William's last question. So, at that point, I guess what I'm saying is right now for fiscal year 26, we are continuing as is. And there were I think you already had your school choice vote if I remember or maybe your it's upcoming. >> Yeah. Y >> um >> I'm not firm into the logistics of registration. I really don't touch it. I know some about school choice and I know a little bit about what this plan is, but to speak to all of the specifics is not my forte. Um I don't know if Tanya if you have anything you would like to add that could be helpful. Sure. Um so currently the way it works is Ammerst has uh Ammeris and Pelum are school choice together on one application in order left if a parent wanted to school choice into Ammeris they would not be able to submit their application unless they choose Pella.
So, you do have to show up in person. Okay, the next question is, um, regarding a pen- pension fund lag, is it underperforming investments, underfunding, why, or open that a optimistic actuarial assumptions? Um, Let me Yeah. Take Yeah. So, real quickly, Ashland, like many communities that are a little smaller, belong to a county retirement system. So, we don't administer our own pension fund. Um, and, uh, so, we don't have control over that and everything. We do that to save money, save on administrative costs. But, I believe, uh, in 2024, the last audit on the Middlesex County Retirement System, I think they had estimated 7.2% return. I believe they ended up with like a 9.4% return. Um, so, and their actuarial assumptions show that they're going to be funded, um, what I looked at today was actually 2036, fully funded at 2036. Okay. Thank you, Michael.
In English, we do not have the same sound of R as in Italian or Spanish. In Spanish, the tongue is forward and lifts to the front of the mouth, while in English, the tongue is pulled back and braces against the teeth. I've collected some data from DHS community students and some of the hardest parts about learning new languages would be the grammar rules as seen as the top quote and at the bottom quote it shows the different tonality that is very confusing when new or learners are learning a different language. Some learning pains that always interrupt new town learners are the time it takes which you need more patient for. you need to become more patient for or just the overall stress of learning a entirely new language. When we think of the global language, we often think of English because of how much it is prevalent in society.
So whether they want to um >> submit to PEM when people are talking >> so yes Sarah best I just want to make sure you know you're on unmuted um but whether they wanted to school choice to Pelum or not they would have to select Pelum in order to complete their Ammeris application because it's all together so what happens now is there like this is the time once you vote the applications start and then in I'm looking at the and then in Um, the lottery happens, the school choice lottery happens and they get notifications the first week of July, but school choice doesn't actually officially close until October 1st. So people could keep applying if there were spaces. Now again, this is if there are spaces, >> but the process is available. And so when Shannon says July 1, it could still happen, you know, because you would still be school choicing.
Mhm. Um, there was a question about the benefits for seniors. Um, we had kind of talked about that with the um, this is about the the trash breaks and also the property tax break, which we discussed. Uh, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Um, there's a question about appendix one in your budget book, Jim. It says it it's a challenge to understand the table. Are the items listed here projects that are unplanned for? Is this table a list of projects already funded? Or are these items that would be covered with an override? If so, are they listed in priority order? I'll go backwards. No, they're not listed in priority order. Uh, these are estimated uh, projects that we need to have done at some point uh, in the future. Uh, and the the challenge is how do we fund them? So, sometimes at our meeting, we do debt service uh, to fund capital projects.
It is found very um prevalent in media influence with over half the languages in the world or in the web being comprised of English as the default language option. Even though only 20% of English speakers are native English are native to English with much of the other ones being Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish and standard Arabic but still not being as nearly as close as English. When we see English, we see it in the world, the apps we use, and even the business we use with most things being centered around English as the prominent language. But the reality is a little bit more complicated than that. When we think of English, we again think of it as the global language. But the reality is it's not for native speakers that actually belongs to Mandarin Chinese. As you can see behind me, you can see how language evolves, especially from places such as England, China, and even Portugal with places we all know such as Brazil, Cape Verde, Korea, Australia, and the US.
What would happen is it would be a separate pelum school choice so it would no longer be on Ammeris and so that choice application continues until October. >> Yeah, I think Tanya I think the question was more if if we if it's transitions from the person who currently does it to the clerical in Pelum in July. Is that if I'm understanding Rachel was that the question? Yeah, I'm just just like mid process transition seems complex. I think was maybe part of William's question as well. >> Well, and that's my point. So, it would be that you would have to have your process set up in time >> for it to be July 1, but that's what I'm saying. Right now, it's still on Ammer, so it's still pushed into that. So, if they change it, it would be basically starting another process. So, you would have to then let families know that to school choice you have to go to the PELMS for if you do it in July.
Uh, and the process of the override is to allow us to have the school choice funds and building rental funds to be able to actually subsidize our capital program at the town level. So, that's the the the process. If we don't have an override and we don't have the flexibility to use those revolving funds, then we have to look to the town as a debt exclusion at some point. Okay. Thank you. Um, so question, if responsibility for fields and grounds maintenance is being shifted from the town to the schools, will the town also be providing funding to cover these added costs? And when school facilities are rented out, who gets that revenue? Want to talk a little bit about that? >> No, no, great question. So, there are two components to this. So, if someone currently rents the inside of of our facilities, the building themselves, uh, then the funding currently comes to the Ashland public schools, which helps offset the costs of custodial staff, um, maintenance staff, anyone who's in the building uh, for those um, events.