>> Yeah. So one thing that I don't know that we have told the public is what does what does the 4.6 even mean? What I'm saying is you know the little thing that said a one is this, a two is this, a three is this? >> Um, can we had it next door? So >> it I I think you know >> what's one? >> Yes, exactly. And and that it is a point scale. So this we didn't even mention that, >> right? We didn't even say it's a five point scale. >> So >> while we're digging that out, though. Um >> are there only three categories? >> This was it. >> Okay. Thank you. It's just that we have three. We have it's on both sides. >> Everybody's scores. >> That's the individual anonymous individual that >> Yes. Thank you. >> But going back to number seven, um I know that it's you you've ranked it not as high as some other areas.
I will try to keep it uh brief and within my three minutes although uh that can be very difficult. But before we start I want to really extend my thanks to the tri board which consists of our select board our finance committee and our school committee. um the superintendent and his team a and also our finance team, our finance and management team. Um sitting to my right is treasurer collector um and CFO Cindy Sinata who took on the CFO role less than a year ago. Uh you heard from Miss Peton, our town accountant um who has also been in this uh less than a year and our two assistant town managers have been in their positions for less than a year. So, this has been a very u very challenging budget for them and I appreciate everybody's cooperation and coordination. The FY2027 general fund budget uh this year is $88 million.
For the teacher turnover, there was no new updates from that from last month. Uh and then what just one note on the special education out of district update. We noted uh that there's a potential emerging need that could result in an out-of district tuition between 40 and 75K uh which was not included in the April forecast. Anything else to note? Okay. Thank you. >> Excellent. >> All right. Uh real quick under new business in the finance committee, I think we have a motion later on in the agenda for us around uh the building base substitute pay rate. So I won't go through those details in our finance committee report. Um and then under unfinished business, we had no other specific comments around the 2026 27 adopted budget. So >> thank you. >> That was it.
Got it. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Thank you for bringing this together because it's just great for us to be able to see it all in one one spot of how the kids are doing. It's a great snapshot. So hopefully this all translates into our task scores. So questions. >> Okay, moving on. EB enrollment and ADA reports. Just a change of one since the previous month and I um because this meeting was a little earlier I had completed this at the end of April. So it says May update but this was uh before last Friday when I had to submit it. Any other comments, questions on that? 8C interistent transfer reports. So, it looks like um since April 8th, we've had two leave the district and one come into the district. >> All right. 8 D first reading of proposed board policy and administrative regulations.
Um >> I just want to tell you that there isn't a big the administrative team is not all that concerned about this. >> So and I feel like the administrative team also knows that if we feel and I'm gonna say we them telling me, "Hey, Greg, can you talk to Rebecca about X?" I talk to Rebecca about X. >> I mean, and that's >> totally okay. And when I say Rebecca, I'm just using her as an example, right? So, I mean, if if we feel like somebody's >> not in their lane, >> get not in their lane, that's a good way of putting it. Generally, I think I can tell you that without being offensive, >> and I would hope so. >> Yeah. And it's, you know, and I and everybody in here, I I will say that I think you're you're all doing okay.
It represents a $4 million increase over last year and as we mentioned before, it's a $2.75 million increase over the Proposition 2 and a half cap. Um the largest drivers of this uh expense are education um at $3,146,000 increase over FY26. Now that includes both the Ashlin public schools and also the KEF tech assessment. Now this gives me a good opportunity to point out that education is probably the largest cost driver in almost all municipal budgets here in the Commonwealth. And a lot of those cost drivers are based on fixed costs and contractual costs. And this also gives me an opportunity to just give a shout out to the superintendent, the school committee, and their team for the work that they've done on this budget. I when I told Jim, Jim, I don't think we're going to be able to just go to the stabilization fund or or find the one-time funds or have the revenue here to meet our expenditures.
>> Any questions? Anyone? >> Okay. >> Right. Thank you. >> Thank you. Special Policy Committee. >> Yes. So we met on um April 27th. >> [sighs] >> Um, sorry. Let me pull up my notes here. Where did they go? Okay, so the policy committee um finished working through language for policy 5144, which is the student discipline policy, and 6162.51, which is the student privacy PP policy. Both are on the consent agenda tonight for a first read. So um there are a few language changes based on board member feedback after it was sent back to both have been sent back to committee after votes in the previous year. Um so we took all of the feedback from previous uh board concerns and tried to incorporate what we could um without changing what is legislatively legally required. Um, I just want to say the objective and the conversation in the policy committee has never been to punish free speech.
>> I just want to say wow. >> Oh my goodness. 417 pages. >> Yeah, it's >> wow. Did you want to write you a copy? >> No, I I was surprised because No, no, I'm not surprised. I wasn't surprised because when I've looked at when policies have been adopted and we're in like the early 2000s or, you know, 2010, I'm like, uh, yeah, I would anticipate that some things need to be updated. Also glad we didn't have to update them if nothing had changed, but also it looks like we're um moving through them. So, >> can you can you what this CSBA mandated and conditional mandate sheet that came out? That's new or I I don't remember seeing that. Do >> you know anything about I don't >> Well, there's codes on the bottom. >> It's a required changes I think. >> Right. I just Okay.
And if if I feel like you're not, you're going to know, and that's okay. >> Yeah. >> And you can also disagree. >> I don't For me, >> it's okay, too. >> Yeah. >> I know it's in um I think it's there's information in the handbook on this, but I'm not clear on the distinction, you know, and then of course being a retired teacher from unified. I might get a little nutty. I don't know, you know. So, I would hope you know you and the administrative team would >> let us know that because we don't know. We don't know. >> Well, and if you start getting into the weeds, I'll gently guide you back to your path >> or directly. Yes. >> I prefer directly. I will guide you back to your I'm not I mean I appreciate that you all acknowledge that and I think that you had I think that you ranked yourselves where you felt you were but I will say that >> it's you're not bad and 3.6 6 isn't bad either, but I mean, you're not >> Yeah.
We might have to look at an override. Um he did not take um it's a report there are no points of order actually >> no you may not Julie point se I'd like to read this to you please town meeting time section 7.2 Two. On a point of order, a voter a voter may raise one or more of the following questions and no others. Is the speaker entitled to the floor? Is what the speaker is saying or proposing frivolous, irrelevant, illegal, or contrary to proper procedure? Is any pending action frivolous, irrelevant, illegal, or contrary to proper procedure? Are you alleging any of those three things exist? >> Yes. >> Oh, which one? >> Okay. We you said at the beginning that this there was no override on this budget and on this warrant and that no one could talk about the override. The town manager spent seven minutes talking about >> any of those things do not >> speaking about it now.
It's never been to silence the students. The policy simply is there to guide what behaviors can have consequences and that was what our discussion had centered around. Um the regulations are more specific on how these policies will be followed and those will of course be decided at the building level but as we've discussed in uh as a board before the process we've decided to follow is that they'll be decided upon at the building level reviewed by the superintendent and then brought to the sup by by the superintendent to the board for review. So we will still be looking at the regulations. um we won't necessarily be voting on them with the policy because those will be written after the policy is adopted, but the language that we had added was to essentially broaden the behavior and make sure that we weren't silencing students and we weren't punishing um walkouts and and things like that.
>> Otherwise, their status quo. >> Yeah. I think it was just a helpful way to look at >> which ones it had to >> summarize the state better laws that mandate districts adopt policies regulations. kind of goes through it. >> This is a Is this a new format, Lisa, that they >> Yeah, I just um it was recommended. It gives you guys more information like it gives you a template. If you have a question, it kind of gives you what? >> I loved it. >> I couldn't some of it didn't overlap. I don't know. But anyway, it's fine. It's great. I just I didn't know if you knew anything about it. So, >> there's a lot to read. Gamma Gamma is constantly updating and changing and then as you know like you can imagine this takes a lot of time, right? And so Lesa and I are trying to fine-tune like how to do this more effectively and efficiently, how to make sure that we're comparing a new draft to something old so that we're not accidentally like putting new information and forgetting what was on the old.
>> You're not in the weeds all the time. >> So, if he doesn't have to pull us from the weeds this year >> at all, then we can evaluate ourselves pretty high next year. >> Sure. >> Right. >> Did Did we find what like >> Oh, >> the scale. >> Yeah. So, >> Oh, you got it. Yeah. Um, >> it's on the I mean I just went back to the original >> to the original one >> where I was filling it out. But for the section a five listed as outstanding or strong agreement with the statement. A four is successfully completed or above average agreement. Three is dressing acceptably or average. Two is making little progress or improvement >> and one was unsatisfactory or strong disagreement with the statement. So the fact that our lows are the three means we're somewhere in between progressing acceptably and successful.
>> Julie, none of those things. You can ask >> double standard. >> Thank you, >> Julie. None of those things fall under a port of order. You make welcome to make any of those comments you want when it's your turn to speak. >> Mr. Herbert. Um, just continuing, I really want to acknowledge the the work the school department did on going after and planning for this budget. It really um is a solid plan given what they had to work with. As I mentioned before, benefits and insurance represent a $1.2 million increase um over last year and public safety is a $400,000 increase over the previous year. So I mentioned before the Ashland public schools um appropriation is 47,236,000 under this budget. The KEF tech appropriation is 1.6 uh which is again is a pretty large increase from a percentage standpoint and that is based on enrollment um and also how the uh budget increase for KEFtech as well.
Of course, since it's a first read, we are open for feedback and discussion. We want to know what you guys think about that. If someone has, you know, interpreted what we had come up with differently, we want to know what you think. Um, if you have something, you know, to add right now, great. If not, and you want to think about it, let us know. The next policy meeting is, uh, May 20th. So, anything you have, well, that's when we'll review it again. And again, doesn't mean that it has to go to the board for a second read at that point. We can continue to discuss it. So, um you know that our our objective is to make sure that our students know that there are consequences for their actions. And that's really all that we're trying to accomplish with this policy. Um our current policy does not really say anything other than three sentences.
Because when they give us this, they don't like side by side it. So like the current one and the new one. So then we have to like figure out how to put those side by side and make sure we're not changing things that we don't want to change, but updating things that we in some cases have to change or consider changing. So it's it's a work in progress, >> but sometimes there's language in there that um it's exclusive to us, you know, like there it might not apply to us. So we might have rewritten it a certain way in the past, you know, to match our practices. So that's kind of what she's saying, but if we do the update, it could it could erase that. So, um, Marica was spending a lot of time on this and showing me how you can look at them side by side and comparing and we were talking about doing like a monthly meeting before the board meeting to kind of look through the policies because there might be some that we don't even need to have on here if they're not mandated.
>> Average and above average. >> Yeah, >> I will disagree with that. And I will say this, I you as a board function pretty smoothly. I mean, you're when I hear from other districts and superintendent and things, there are some kooky boards out there. I mean, you are not in that realm. You are. I mean, we're all we have a good governance team. We can talk to each other. We're respectful. I mean, and it's not like that everywhere. So, you know, we can we can pat yourselves on the back a little bit for doing the right thing. my shoulder. >> Patt yourself on the back. >> But in any case, I mean, really true. Sometimes I hear stories. >> Yeah. >> And if we go to CSBA, you should ask around. Just see what they say. >> Yeah. >> Um I don't know if I'm feeling I mean certainly on number seven, I don't feel like there needs to be a goal on that.
And again, I will say that Superintendent Evans does a marvelous job over at Keith Tech. So, benefits and insurance, uh, 15 million, almost 16 million this year, a little bit over $1.2 million. Uh you'll see on the right what makes that up is uh health insurance, employee retirement, which again is assessed to us by the Middle Sex County retirement system, um unemployment increases, uh increases in our property and liability insurance as well as our workers comp insurance. And getting a little bit more into the departments, um, under public safety, our police department, there's a $100,000 increase, um, in order to hire one additional police officer. Chief Rossi, Deputy Chief Inula, and the entire department really should be commended for the work that they've done recently in re um reestablishing a culture within that department of customer service and um and and and really they always give a tremendous effort, but they've done a really good job from an organizational standpoint u bringing in really good officers now that we got out of civil service um in order to fill out that department.
And so we're really starting from scratch. So everything is going to be, you know, uh, different and the policy manual that the district is trying to update and make sure is ready for all three schools. We've reviewed it before. um that will make sure like when we when we update all these policies we will of course go through the policies as we have with prior policies and there will be no contradictory policies like we're sometimes when we adopt a policy it means it eliminates you know I think we elim we eliminated like seven policies when we adopted um one of the wellness policies so those kinds of things we are always looking at and we are very mindful of so I just wanted to make sure um that I said that Can I add something? >> Yeah, of course. >> So, I I think we meant um for number nine not to have the ore in there.
>> Right. Right. Which one we'll talk about that we actually figured that out earlier today, but we didn't want to like pull it off because if you guys had questions about it, then that would like look weird. Right. So yeah, we're trying to streamline that. An example for for what um Tara just mentioned is like um like a fee schedule for facilities use, right? So like when that new update comes up, if we forget to look back at the old one, we might put something new in there and not include or carry over what we would want to keep from the old one because it doesn't automatically pop up side by side. So we're trying to figure out an efficient workflow for that. um because they don't really give that to us. So, we're we're figuring that out. So, I will say though when you see all this because there was a time when um they we were so bare boned, you know, that we they didn't have a membership with CSBA.