Um, this year I think it's going to be a little bit more, but you know, that is really um, if my opinion, just my opinion, if if um, literally, if the bottom falls out of our budget and the state cuts things across the board and we end up with some a situation that you know, could be a worst-case scenario, we would probably utilize the stabilization fund as much as we could um, while still protecting the the the town. So, just you know, putting that out there. And I and I think that's a good point. We hear about the stabilization fund and we talk about going to it and utilizing it. Um, and it is such a great tool for us. Um, you know, one of the things I talked about is the fact that we've gone from two and a half million in reserves now to 8.1.
Seen here you can see all six girls with them speaking German, Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Hindi and Korean. this their popularity has come a lot onto the younger generations and allowed for many little girls and little boys alike to like put their foot into the water of different types of music. Now I would like to talk about television. The recent hit um series Squid Games has been a lot of people's first introduction into Kdramas. Kdramas are a Korean drama that is heavily used as Korean and often not English at all. With this new found experience, especially with my own mother, I watched this and we now have bonded over the new Kdrama and it has influenced her to watch more and more. Another one I would like to talk about is Studio Gibli. Haya Miyazaki is from Japan and has come to America to show off Japanese culture during the 20th century.
Well, let's take the first one. And I I don't I don't know that we need to take a vote. I I guess I would ask for a show of hands on how many people think that we ought to ask the town for some additional money based on what we've learned about other departments. Um Okay, I'm Yes, I'm seeing hands that say yes should. So, the next question is what is that amount going to be? And we've had a suggestion of 30,000 20 to 20 28,000 1%. Anybody want to name a number? Could we do the other question first because that's gonna that's gonna I think that might dictate the number. >> Okay. >> Does that make does that make sense? >> Okay, that's fine. So about adding in keeping this the proposed 6,000 in the budget or not? William, >> I was just going to say for me, I would need to know more of a plan of how that 6,000 was going to benefit like what how it was going to look.
We've done that um, specifically, we've grown that for two reasons. Number one, we want the best Jim, you're talking about a a roof, right? Rainy roof. I think there's a quote like the best time to fix a roof is when the sun is shining, right? And so, when times were good, what we did is we tried to buttress that stabilization fund um, so when we did hit some rougher times, we were able to utilize that. Um the problem is is it's still one-time funds because you can't guarantee you're going to put money into it the next time. So, the more you withdraw out of it and the more you structure your budget around part of that, the more precarious it gets because you might not have that revenue source next year. Eventually, it gets drained down just like the balance in your bank account. And um we did have one more question about um our um our fire and police basically um in regards to potentially uh you know, increased need if once these apartments come online and what that looks like.
With his hits like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Todoro, Ponyo, and Grave of the Fireflies, he shows off Japanese culture and language, especially after a time of anti-Japanese rhetoric due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Now, I want to talk about some video games that offer a very nice cultural experience. Overwatch being one of those. It is a first-person shooter game that invokes strategy and team play with every single one of the 50 plus characters speaking a different language and having a different ethnic background. This is very important to see especially in video games that are so prevalent among our generation. Another game I would like to talk about is Genchin Impact. Ginchin Impact takes a lot of um takes a lot from other cultures for its charm with places in the game in the in-game world being based off China, India, Russia, France, and Germany to name a few with even the characters names such as Huttowo, Nouvlet, and Mavika being drawn from real world cultures.
Not maybe for this year, but like for the for the next year, you know, what what our investment of the 6,000 would look like. So for right now, without more information, I would say I would take that out and keep the outreach as is for this next budget cycle. >> So there would >> I had more information. >> So So that would mean keeping the process as it is this year. The process is starting that is starting now for registration and school choice stay as is and we look into this for the budget for the following year. >> Correct. Unless we can get more information like by our vote. >> So I guess I'm I'm on the fence I guess is what I'm saying right? You know. >> Okay. All right. Can I add one more question in this mix? Does anybody know has Ammer has Ammeris school committee voted whether they're accepting choice this coming year?
I think we kind of talked about that a bit. Um we really are not predicting yet [snorts] what what the impact is going to be and we're going to have to adjust to that. Yeah, and and I do think it's important to note because I think some people still think that because it's an apartment building, they wouldn't necessarily pay taxes. And no, the renters don't don't pay taxes to the town, but the owner of the property does. Okay. Um and there was one other question. I'm not quite sure about this, so maybe says, "Will any of the money be used for legal assistance for illegal immigrants similar to what Boston's trying to do?" And I would say I don't think that's applicable. No. So, I'm just Yeah. I think it's outlined how the money's going to be Yes. >> Yeah, I think it's I think Jim's been pretty clear.
And lastly, another video game I'd like to talk about is Valerant. Valerin is very similar to Overwatch with how it involves language and culture into the game, whether that be talking to teammates or talking to enemy teams, but it also allows for in-game I mean real life experiences with the um allowing people from different countries to come and play together for to represent their own country and win. Okay. After all the media I've talked about, I want to talk about physical media. such as fashion and makeup. With the rising trend of the Chinese bonsu knot jacket, it allows for a lot of people to become more familiar with Chinese culture. The bondu knots are traditional Chinese knot that were found over a thousand years ago. And then with more Japanese apparel and Korean skincare, the names of these products allow you to physically feel and see the culture and the language.
>> My I asked my understanding was they were going to do that in April. >> They didn't vote. They are going to take it or they they're going to vote >> that they're going to vote. I can double I can con, you know, >> sure on that, but but when I asked Deb a couple weeks ago, she told me they were they would do the vote in April. I Tanya, do you by any chance know whether they did that? >> They didn't do it last um the night after the last meeting. They did not do it, but that was um up for the next agenda. When they did agenda planning at the end, they did mention it. >> Okay. Okay. So, no, we don't know. >> We don't know. We won't know that in time for this because I I am curious if they might not be taking choice in their transition year.
No. Okay. Um and that is all the questions that we had received in advance. So, um if folks want to um ask a question here tonight or make a comment, what we do ask is that folks online use the raise hand function. Um anybody that is here in the room that would like to speak, uh please feel free to come up to the to the podium and the microphone. Just introduce yourself and ask your question or or um comment. So. Is there anybody that would like to So, at my last job before I retired, Can you introduce yourself? >> Yeah, I'm sorry. Fred Shalhoub, live at Tidman Road. Um we we came up with a theme, which was make it visible, make it better. I applaud you for pulling the 1.1 million out and making it visible because it's been buried. I'm challenging the town for the same thing.
Now, I bet we've all heard of Duolingo before. We've probably either downloaded it or just seen it in Tik Tok or social media. But is it really good or bad? Well, Duolingo, I bet we've all had a streak of about 5, 10, 50, or maybe even 100 days. But have you ever actually learned something? Dolingo is not the right app for language learning, at least in terms of long-term language learning. Duolingo puts you into a payw wall uh puts up a payw wall for language learning offering many subscriptions and inapp purchases to trigger advanced learning. Now these advanced learnings are not actually well they do not they do not show proper technique or conjugation or even characters for non- Roman languages. So now I will recommend some apps of my own that I personally have used for language learning with them being Airlearn, Hello Talk and Bonfo.
Um, and if that would impact our situation. I'm sorry though to interrupt. >> That's that's a good question, William. >> I was just going to say that like when I look at other districts, say Beluretown, Northampton, they already have choice open. Um, and I know that we don't. So, like Ammerst hasn't voted on it. So, I feel like on one hand, our hands are tied by keeping it tied to Ammerst because then we're going to be on the Amoris timeline. Um, which I think historically been in like July. Um, >> May. They open in May. >> They open in May, but they don't you don't find anything out until July. If we did it on our own, we would I hope with more clarification from the from staff, like could we start the timeline more similar to what Northampton or Beluretown does, which I think they opened it up like last week or the week before.
You're going to burn 750 grand out of the uh basically what's a rainy day fund to fund operator. I expect that that 750 grand is a baseline you're going to build on next year also. So, at some point you're just kicking the can down the road. So, we're not making that visible. I mean, you are in a certain respect, but taking it off the agenda on the override is really kicking the can down the road and kind of um lessening its impact. So, that's a general comment. But, in turn along the lines of make it visible, make it better, I would challenge a few things where I think the town can do better in managing its budget. Okay. Number one, leaf and refuse pickup. We do it eight times in the spring, eight times in the fall. I see the waste management trucks spinning around our cul-de-sac and picking up nothing.
Airlearn is very similar in Dualingo to its interface meaning it is very simple to use and it offers a lot of different studying techniques and even when you're learning the language in the lessons, it offers cultural experiences that may influence why the language was created. Another one I personally love is Hello Talk. It allows you to talk with people from around the world for a language matters. So let's say you want to learn German very badly. You could go onto the app and set your preference for German and you will find a bunch of German people who want to learn English. There are inapp translation features that allow you to talk with one another and provide a cultural exchange. And then Bono is also another app I like due to its video learning style and it having in-app tutors that you can also pay for it but it mostly focuses on East Asian languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Korean and Japanese.
Um, you know, so like I think investing the 6,000 because we opened up our choice seats two weeks ago would be a I would much I I I could vote for that more so than we're going to pay the 6,000, but we're still going to be be on the same really late timeline of opening up choice compared to other districts. >> So So I guess I have a question. Um, part of this is I guess I wonder if we open up school choice now, is it really going to make a difference? Because school choice stays open and the lottery doesn't happen till the summer. >> Well, other schools do lotteryies like now before school gets out. Like there's not a deadline for the state to say when we have to have the lottery. So, like in the long run, if we paid this, if we paid the 6,000 and controlled it ourselves, could we marry ours more on what Beluretown or Northampton does, which is they open it up now and before school is out, they've already had like I think theirs theirs is in like May, I think, their their lotteryies.
Marlborough, because I pick up my sister-in-law's um leaves, you have one day to get it out there. One day in the spring, one day in the fall. And that's not people, that's something you've been negotiated with with waste management, right? So, that's that's it. I would also hope that the town takes a little bit more critical view with its road plowing. I know every You got accolades over these last storms, but I'm sorry. There are some things that were done that I just Maybe I spend too much time in my office working on the computer looking out the window. But, one of those storms, the um salt truck came by. It was 7° on my thermometer, which by the way, salt doesn't work under 10°. And then a half an hour later, the plows came by and plowed it all off. And the plows circled around.
Now I the reason for my TED talk today was to promote cultural togetherness. I think during this time of div division, we should all love everyone, no matter their race, their ethnicity, their language, or their accent. And I want everyone to learn the universal language of love. And this is how I'm making waves for a better tomorrow. Thank you, Kaden, for that wonderful reminder that we need to be culturally respectful and hopefully learn a new language. I think I'm going to try one of those apps. All right, our final presenter for period 2 will be presenting the shifting tides on women's rights and that is Reese Alves Ford. Ree is a senior here at DHS who is participating in her second TED TEDx DHS conference. Reese is a member of our field hockey team and is also on both the winter and spring track teams.
Um, they have multiple rounds of them, but they have their first ones very early. >> Okay. I Anybody else have a comment? I I'm a little concerned. I think we need to take into consideration um what Mickey's thoughts might be on this because she's going to be involved as the principal deciding how many slots will be open in what grades. and she may have some input for us since she's had some experience with the process. It Mickey, is that something you'd be willing to speak to? >> Sure. Um I I I don't see a problem with um opening it sooner um if I'm thinking of as many things as I should be thinking of. Um, we haven't because we haven't, as was mentioned, we've been doing it at the timeline that Ammerst has done theirs. Um, I agree with what Rachel said about outreach being done with some by someone who knows what they're doing.
That was the one of the first big storm, probably plowing an inch inch and a half at a time. I know that plowing's very tough on trucks, so you would think the number of times you plow could reduce it all. So, I challenge you. Mhm. You say you're doing an awesome job managing to really ask your staff if they really digging in and understanding where their costs are and getting down to the bottom of it. Certainly, the waste pickup is just something that compare with other towns. See what else they do and benchmark that and align with them. Okay. I I think that's great feedback, sir, and I think um actually it your comment about the 750 and making it visible, uh I very much appreciate that because um that was a choice that we were kind of balancing. You know, I had initially, you know, put forward maybe a way we could build it into the operating budget and I think collectively the choice was made just looking at the burden that the tax burden to try to not make it as bad this year.
She is a member of black student union and the women's empower empowerment club, excuse me. Upon graduation, Reese is planning to attend university to study international politics with the glo the goal of becoming an international lawyer. I think she'll do it. She chose her topic because she wants to spread awareness about how various women around the world are not given the same opportunities and rights as women here in the United States. Please welcome Ree Alves Ford. What is women's empowerment? Women's empowerment, the process of providing women with agency tools and equal opportunities to make life decisions, participate in society, and achieve economic independence. As you can see with this map, the blue nations are more developed countries. They're primarily in North America and Europe as the red nations are less developed countries primarily in south in subsaharan Africa and Southeast Asia. This stems from longlasting imperialism and colonialism in these areas.