001Happy St. Patrick's Day. >> Nice. Nice. >> Or as my mother was fond of saying, Aaron Gabraovich. >> Oh, hello Ursula. Hi, guys. Okay, it is 5 o'clock and we have quorum. So, I'm going to call this meeting to order. Uh starting with uh our I'm going to call this meeting to order and share that this meeting is being livereamed on willynet.org and broadcast live on spectrum cable TV on channel 1303 in Williamstown. Meetings will be available as video on demand within 24 hours after this meeting on the MGRSD YouTube channel. With that, I will call the meeting to order with a roll call and start. Bowen here. >> Constantine here. Apologies. I had to think this through. Helenbine here. >> Green here. Malloy here. Okay. Excellent. Jose, now you are up. >> Thank you,
002Julie. I have the privilege of uh reading our mission statement. At Mount Greylock Regional School District, our mission is to create a community of learners working together in a safe and challenging learning environment that encourages restorativebased processes, respect, inclusive diversity, courtesy, integrity, and responsibility through high expectations and cooperation resulting in lifelong learning and personal growth. >> Thank you, Jose. uh super important way to start a meeting that we are talking about the budget in. So, thank you for that. Um, next on our agenda is public comment and I'm looking through and um is there anyone who wants to make public comment? Julia, I assume you responded to the one person who reached out about Okay, >> I did. I did. Um, okay. Hearing none, um, I am going to move us to the next agenda
003item for the FY27 budget development discussion. And Carrie, I assume you will lead us with that. Um well the finance committee has met uh well I don't know two or three times now to talk specifically about the FY27 budget and uh we've reviewed the uh we've reviewed the requests from the um from the uh through that we received through the principal uh from the elementary schools and from Mount Greylock. We've talked about the issues that Joe will go into detail. We've talked about the particular challenges this year um that we're facing which are not insignificant. Some of which may we may face next year as well and some we will absolutely not face next year in terms of our financial challenges. So that's something to keep in mind is what can we expect? This year
004is going to be particularly challenging. Will next year be as challenging? We don't think so. Um but no one has, you know, no one has a perfect lens on the future. Um we've thought through some options for how to reduce budget. We've thought through some options on how to increase revenue. Uh we've talked through some of the feedback we've received from the towns um in terms of some of it um through public officials and some of it kind of just hearsay. Um, but we know that things have always been more challenging financially for one of our towns than they have been for the other. And I'll just say that's continues to be the case this year for slightly different reasons, but the uh end result is relatively the same that um you know, Williamstown wasn't
005expecting 13%. No question, but Lansboro um wasn't expecting anywhere close to 10%. And we need to think carefully as a committee about whether we want to try to bring the budget that we have in our packet tonight to our towns or whether we want to take measures to reduce it um before bringing it to the towns. And I'll just say again, I said this last time we all met. If it goes to the towns and one town approves it and the other town doesn't, it comes back to us and we have the opportunity to revise it down and bring it back to the towns or town um that didn't approve it. Um that may be worth that may be a risk worth taking this particular year because reduction at this point in time is going
006to mean personnel. Um the administration has gone through every aspect of this budget and has actually found reductions to the town of Lansboro since we first looked at this budget. Um which is very helpful. It's come down I think a full percentage perhaps um to the town of Lansboro. So, uh, there are further reductions, but they would be quite painful and possibly not ones that we would want to take until we were told we absolutely had to. Um, so that's enough of a preface, I think. Joe, do you want to um go into the PowerPoint presentation? I don't know if you all have had a chance to look at. There's a presentation in the packet that I think will share at the budget hearing as well. Um there's a fair amount of detail in that
007about our thinking process and about the work that the administration has done. Um the school governance council requests are in the packet as Joe mentioned. Um, this is not going to be the year to cover all of them. Not to say that we've ever been able to cover all of the requests, but um, you know, we have been able to take some of them into account. >> Yeah. >> Any highlights, Joe, that I left out? I I I as usual, you did a better job of synthesizing all of the pertinent information than than I and I think anybody ever could. So, thank you for that. Um the some of the things over the last couple of weeks, we went to work at trying to find every way that wouldn't directly harm students in the coming
008year that we could. We we were finding textbook and software and other ways where we could decrease, we could do this, we could defer that. Um, and we were doing it within all three schools budgets. The numbers were coming down. And we have since had two things that were revised up that really undid a lot of that work. One is um we and I'm not sure if others who work for other places are seeing this too. Um, our staff have had a a rash of um, documents coming in from Mass Health saying we have identified that you have an employer available health insurance option that has better coverage than we through Mass Health are able to provide you. we will subsidize, we will pay for your portion of the of the share and you'll get
009access to better care. And so we're giving you 60 days and we're forcing an open enrollment window and you in some situations it's you need to do this. In other situations, the language looks like you should do this and if you don't there might be other consequences. Um and and we have a significant number of people who are in that position. Um that's causing us to revise up our estimates because these are people who are currently not on our insurance and are shifting on. Um that's been battle number one. Battle number two is we continue to see some of the outofd district tuition related things where we can't provide the services um and the programming in house and we're looking at costs that are being revised up as as we go as we look towards
010next year. So those two things have been they've outweighed at least for one of our two towns all the reductions that we've been able to find and that's been the story of the last couple of weeks. Um, but I would love to get into the to the to the FAQ that we've developed through the finance subcommittee. Um, unless people have questions prior to that, >> did we share with the full committee the tuition increase for one of the two schools that we send students to? >> I don't I don't think we did. >> I'm not sure. >> I think mentioning What one school received a a midyear approval to increase without really any notification the annual tuition from $67,000 a year to $123,000 a year. um which for a district of our size with the
011budget that is as tight as it is um that kind of a shift for a a couple a couple folks is it's it's a it's a big number. Um so that that's one of the contributors there. So we're we are actively working with that right now. Um, and and and I think one of my one of my greatest stressors with this budget is that by trying to make everything as pinpoint sharp as we can, that also just by its very nature makes you understand that you are walking more of a tight rope into and through next year than you otherwise might. Um and and so I think that's that's part of part of the anxiety that works into a budget like this where where you don't have the reserves to say, well, eight people took
012on health insurance who we weren't projecting. That's about $150,000 next year. We we don't really have the ability to absorb that terribly well. So, we're really trying to make sure that we are as accurate, but also understanding, eyes wide open what what could continue to be variable as we move into next year, too. And am I right that what reserves we did have going into this year have been accounted for let's say by the increase in tuition at this school and also teachers midyear switching or staff midyear switching health insurance. So >> we're yeah we're we are trying to figure out what the total impact will be. Some of those things are also still in flux. There's still some debates over transitions, changes, costs, timing, whether or not things are retroactive, or if we can
013push them out. Um, and and each of costs. So, um, that is not as accurate a picture as we oftentimes have by the time we're in March, moving towards the end of July. Okay. over there. >> Yeah. Thank Thank you uh Joe and thanks to Carrie um for that uh kind of summary of of kind of where we are and just just for for my sake and maybe for others. Joe, I was wondering if you could just remind us of what we have embedded in our regional agreement in terms of the ability to be flexible with respect to, you know, how towns might approach the situation. Um there's a lot for me to un unpack around, you know, if if if we move in the direction where our elementary schools are supported differently. Um and
014I have have concerns there, but we, you know, I think several of us are hearing from constituents in in Williamstown um about the desire to at least guarantee level staffing and level services at at Williamstown Elementary. So just just curious about what what's possible within our our regional agreement that that would allow for some flexibility. >> So I I can take that as a sort of the political question. Um it is possible to preserve uh staffing in one school and not in the other but only to a point. the the next school that would be affected would be Mount Greylock, right? So the budget of both elementary schools, well not elementary schools, both towns is affected by the Mount Greylock budget has been since 19 58 1960 when the you know the school was built.
015Um and now in addition to the Mount Greylock budget and actually has always been they are also impacted by the budget at their elementary schools, right? It's just that it comes in one omnibus budget. So we can make reductions at one elementary school, but that's only going to get us so far. The next place we start making reductions is at Mount Greylock, which affects all of our students. So, we really are all in this together. And I think the town of Williamstown has always understood that the challenges for our for Lansboro, our other member town, are greater, but the town the challenges in the town of Williamstown are becoming greater in terms of lack of economic development. And you know, we've talked about those issues here. So, it's not like Well, I'll leave it at
016that. Leave it at that. >> The The things that our two towns have in common are far greater than than the differences. And and and I think that a budget year like this lays ever more bare that as we go through the the presentation or the FAQ, we continue to spend the second least per pupil of any district in Bergkshire County, but both of our towns say, and it's true, property tax rates are are very high. They're some of the highest in Bergkshire County, both both towns. Uh if the base related to commercial property being built, residential property being built or improved were to increase, that would help funding per pupil increase while also keeping um property tax rates lower. And I think that's a common message that both of our towns that the people
017who are trying to figure out long-term health for our towns are very focused on that challenge. Um and and I think one of the best things that we can do with this budget is to show that it that it does have quite reasonable backing and and foundational numbers and and and a and a history of being very responsible. But at a certain point, we need to be able to ask for more. Um, and and others within Bergkshire County will point to, well, the the needs of our student community are greater. We need more funding. And I think the answer to that can sometimes be yes. But it's also the rate of change that triggers the need for new resources. We're seeing that right now. And it comes from all corners of our of our region.
018Um, and we need to be able to respond to that. And so somehow that per people pupil expenditure needs to increase. And our towns, we need to work with them to try to get the right message around we either we grow together and we figure out how to address this issue or we're both going to be suffering. Yeah. There might be debates about who's suffering more, but we're both going to be suffering. Um and and so we we need to figure out how to have that be the the unifying message. Um and at the end of the day, our two elementary schools within within this budget, we preserve staffing and they they each have very different student bodies. just the the the the size of the student body, the ways that their schedule work because
019of the size of the school. Um the things that culturally are strengths are, you know, there are some shared things that are also some different things that they're two wonderful elementary schools. Um they're two leading within the county elementary schools. They they they sent robotics teams that that got to compete um and and do all kinds of amazing things this past weekend. and one of them came out on top and and and the other one the other one was there too right near um so there's so many things that these two schools are tied at the hip doing and trying to do that I'm thankful that we have one school committee trying to manage how to best make that work because everybody does end up at Mount Greylock too so however we can look at
020this and and the needs of the district in a way that is as common as possible will be to the benefit of all of our students um not not pockets and and not one or the other. Um and and I think that's something that we we can and should talk through here too. Should we bring up the the FAQ and do people want me to screen share it? Would that be okay? I wanted to bring this home so my husband can read it and talk to all his peeps who need to know this information. And I do think that, you know, if if we were to take um steps to reduce staff at one school and not the other, we would hear from the parents um of, you know, school children in either town, both
021towns. Um, I do think our families have a sense that we are a shared community and we as school committee members, we may be representing one town, but we are elected to represent both towns, right? We're represent we we have residents in one town, but we are elected to represent all of our families. So, we have to keep that in mind as well. All right. So, with the finance subcommittee, we've developed an FAQ around this budget as um what we foresee as being a really needed step to make sure that accurate information is as readily available over the next couple months as as possible. Um none of the first part of this should be at all surprising. It's really just repeating things that we've gradually learned and and done over the last uh couple of
022weeks and months. Um so I'm not going to treat this as a as a full presentation, but our our status and our values um they haven't changed. we've been consistent in terms of what we've talked about being priorities and and things that we need to improve over time um over the course of not just this year but over the last few years as as we've worked together. Um the the draft budget that we have um our our school councils came forward with very concrete asks that were grounded in data grounded in in needs that were very well expressed. Um despite that, as we look at both what's happening with state and federal funding and the way that we can't in a rough year draw an extra $750,000 from reserves to cover what we're going to
023talk about later as being probably momentary bumps, increases that will be different in future years. um we don't really have the ability to absorb some of the shocks that that we're seeing that we'll talk about in more detail. Um we also through that have said well if we have all of these things happening we can't look at aspirations around adding additional staff programs addressing need in more robust ways. We really need to make sure that we preserve everything that we are doing. Um, and so with all of that in mind, we've been looking over the last week, it it's been pretty stable as we've narrowed this down uh with the finance subcommittee, but a 10.99% increase for Lansboro and a 13.61% increase for Williamstown. Um and that is a maintenance of staffing budget with reduced
024supplies and services wherever we could find and maximizing the revenue expression that we think we can get from grants from the state um from school choice and from tuition. Uh so what's causing the increase? Um there are two big components. One is, as we talked about, this is the final year of the shift where we don't have reserves to lean on anymore and we need the towns to cover those costs that previously we were able to manage internally. Um that's $625,000 in the overall increase that that we're bringing um across our two towns. Federal and state support because uh the the governor has lower rural aid within their budget for this coming year. Um that's a decrease. And then Massachusetts as a state is seeing about a 10% decrease in federal federal funding um across
025all of the all of the the big block grants that are received and then distributed. Um and so we are expecting to see a 10% reduction within our idea and title and title grants. Um it is important to note just from a I know that everything has a political uh tone right now. um that's actually based on demographic changes that um were identified and and put into place a couple of years ago within the within the process. So Massachusetts already knew that it was going to see um a decline of that sort just by nature of the data and how the the the all of the states within the country compare. Um, so those two things in combination, the 625 and the 60 create a $6885,000 swing in who can cover costs um just by
026itself. So that's that's even if we did not even if nothing costs more next year. Um, but things do cost more. Health insurance, we we've already talked about it being up by 8.75%. Um and and the other big challenge is that more employees need to take our insurance. Um that collectively is $750,000 in increases. Um the tuition and transportation cost for programs that that the district doesn't offer but that our students need um and that we are legally obligated to provide $550,000. All of the things in our world that are just costing more for like things. um from last year to this year, utilities, transportation, custodial and classroom supplies. That collectively is making it so that just in order for us to try to keep up as best we can, um we're looking at $100,000
027in increases across across the three buildings. Um we have required maintenance. Um we have a uh a fire hydrant at Mount Greylock that needs to be replaced. Fire hydrants are they are simple objects, but they are not inexpensive. Um that that is one item. We have two elementary school roofs where um we have not received any real positive news around state funding to be able to do um replacement of those roofs. So we need to aggressively maintain them. Um those are triggering additional costs. At Lansburg Elementary School, we have Univvent heaters. They're like the the the units that sit beneath windows that need to be maintained. um they are now over 20 years old and um many of them are starting to get to the point where they need overhauls. Um those are investments that
028are not um building anything new. They are preserving the integrity of what we do and and how our buildings are able to serve our people. Um, and then across the 325 people that we employ, full or part-time, um, our contractual our contractual obligations are increasing right around $840,000. Um, I put the 325 people there because within northern Berkshire County, we are one of those very large employers. when our world sees shocks and increases and challenges, um we are one of the employers that our community relies on to to both be stable and to bring um them forward and through. And that that's a that's a real challenge within a year like this too. So we have taken lots of steps. oftentimes they end up feeling somewhat feudal. Um to be honest in the face of
029increases like like those that I was just just talking about um not a single one of these reductions is in excess really of of $100,000. So, when you saw all those big numbers on the screen before, um, $500,000 here, $750,000 there, a lot of this work does not feel like it's really moving that needle back and fixing the that problem. Um, we are looking at uh reducing the number of staff that we have allocated within the district office by one FTE. We've talked about a lot of the groundwork there, so I'm not going to get into it right now, but we certainly can as needed. Um, we are reducing our textbook lines. Um, some of that is natural in that we're we're going into year two of a math curriculum implementation. Um, but we're also
030making sure that we're really pairing down all the textbook replacement type work that we can to get us through next year. Um, professional development. We've reduced all use of outside resources and and we're not starting any brand new initiatives um within software. We've identified every relatively low utilization piece of software that we can and we've paired it outside of outside of the budget. Um we are I think in response to the the whole world around us. While we are paying attention to AI, we're also trying to actively minimize the amount of time during school that our students are are spending on screens um where we can come up with any alternatives. That's a good part of this, but it's been a fine tooth comb bit of work. Um with our legal counsel, um we thankfully,
031and I'm knocking on a little bit of wood, we we have not um needed to utilize them nearly as much as many other districts. Um and so they have lowered their their annual um retainer for us. It's it's one of the few areas where actually like forlike things have have decreased in cost. Um our insurance as it relates to to property and liability. Um the non employee non-health insurance world. Um we've had a good record there and and and we got good numbers over the last month as far as what our rates are for next year. That was good news. um but only to the tune of about $10,000. Good news. So, you know, these are things that I'm trying to add up showing work. Um but I know that at the end of the
032day, they they aren't going to move the needle as much. And then with utilities, um, we have found some utility lines that that we have where due to all of the energy conservation projects that that we've been going through with national grid funding and things like that, um, we found some places where we say, well, even though that that fuel is going to cost 15% more per unit, we're showing that we can use less, so these lines are lower. Um there are some other areas where fuel costs are increasing so much that that those lines have gone up. So we've really been going point by point through trying to figure out what we can possibly do. Um >> do you know what the approximate ballpark total is of the savings represented on this slide? >>
033Uh I I would guess that they'd be around bullet point number one. They're reducing staffing in the district office by one FTE around $120,000 and then um reducing across the rest uh around 200 so a total of 300 >> okay >> $20,000. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. And then and then the question is okay that this budget is it's a nightmare from a percentage increase. Um is this the new normal? I've I've I've heard some people say, "Well, is this what it's going to look like?" And and I think the honest answer is no. Um greater than 85% of the increases on those previous slides are associated with things that either cannot meaning we cannot have any less in terms of reserves to use in in future years. So that thankfully that shift cannot happen.
034Um, and then there are things that are unlikely to all happen at the same time again. And and we'll we'll talk about those here in a second. Um, without those, this would be a 1.78% budget increase because we found so many different items that we could save on and and the contractual increases are um are manageable uh and normal within a typical budget year. Um so the things that are unlikely to all happen in one year that are happening in this one year. Um we talked about the reserves, the health insurance premium increases. If health insurance premiums continue to increase at the same rate that they have last year and this year, um there's going to be a lot of a lot more pain all across all types of economies and and and and all
035types of of areas. Um so I really hope for all of us that 10% 15% per year does not become the new normal. um the the tuition and transportation cost increases. Um those typically go up and down as as needs and availability and and and how that works changes. Um we've had years where we've also decreased by hundreds of thousands of dollars relative. Um and so that that's an area where it is cyclical in for us in terms of in terms of how it shifts. And then goods and utilities. um those those types of increases that we're seeing this year and that we're that we're absorbing um hopefully the the way the economy and and cost of things has been going will not become a a norm. Um so when you look at that pie
036chart that's the that's the percentage of the total increase that each of these different things accounts for. Um so when you look at reserves there um that's that's a little bit less than a third of the total. Um health insurance right around a third. Um the tuition and transportation costs right a little bit less than a quarter. Um and then and then the other two um being the the goods and utilities cost increases um being a whole lot smaller but but still represented there. Um and then the empty part of the pie chart is what within a year that didn't see significant increases we um we would have been able to bring forward. That's that 1.78% budget increase. Whereas our our total across I if you look at it as the total um even though
037one town is seeing a 10.99 within this draft budget and the other town seeing a 13.61 61. It's a 12.7 total increase. It's just shared in ways that that are um that are distributed based on which elementary school is seeing the specific type of increase. Um and then based on the percentage sharing that happens at at Mount Greylock um with the 5-year trailing average of stu student enrollment. Um so then that gets us into a conversation around what is less or more predictable. The things that are less predictable, the things that we can't control directly really over the course of a year um are the health insurance rate increases and the the extraordinary adoption rates that that we've seen. Um the tuition and transportation costs we we cannot directly control in any given year. Um,
038and then something that thankfully has has not happened aside from the fire hydrant, which is which is not not extraordinary. Um, but if calamities happen related to our roofs, our boilers, things like that, those are extreme things that that sometimes through careful maintenance and planning, um, you can minimize the probability that something like that happens, but you can't always just make it so that it won't happen. Um, so those three areas tend to be the least predictable areas of our budget on on any in any given year. Um, and in this year, two out of those three have been have been pretty horrifically bad for us. Um, and then the more predictable things that that have multi-year, three to fiveyear type um, contracts and cycles um, our commitments to our staff uh, via collective bargaining
039and and other contracts. um those are typically three-year type contracts. Um and then our long-term vendor contracts like like transportation are are also 3 to 5 years. Um so those are the things where we can forecast out pretty accurately as we um as we look out into FY28 and FY29. Um the question, why does our district spend so much? Um the the the short answer is it doesn't. Um we still are the second lowest spending per pupil district in Bergkshire County. Um Central Birkshire is is the one that as of the latest uh numbers released by um the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education um Central Birkshire is is the one that is less than us and and I believe that gap has has closed over the last year or two. So we're really
040neck andneck um with the rest. There are there are a lot of um reasons why per pupil expenditure would be different. Um, I think just looking at it without seeing all the detailed numbers, a school district like Southern Bergkshire, when you look at the right hand side at at their number of students within their district, when you have smaller districts, smaller schools, the cost per pupil tends to be higher because you need in many situations one of each thing in order to satisfy student needs. Your cost per pupil tends to be higher. um when you have when you offer more services um like a North Adams or a Pittsfield. Um both of those school districts have um dinner service and and things like that that create additional cost per pupil um that that we do
041not currently have. Um, and then there are other districts that that that just spend more per pupil. And people might say that the services and the overall scale are are more comparable. Um, and and that's why it's also then helpful to look over at the the total in district FTE. So that's the number of students who are enrolled in district within each each of these school districts. Um, Mount Greylock is is now the third largest district by enrollment in Bergkshire County, which is another thing that people people are shocked to hear that we spend um next to the lowest amount per pupil. They're also shocked to hear that we are now the third largest. Um, and and these are important numbers to have um a as we look at things. Sometimes people then say, well,
042what about school choice and tuition? the percentage of students out of that 1206 that are school choice or tuition are nine to 10% in any given year. Um when you look at many other school districts in Bergkshire County that that are net receiving districts within school choice and tuition um many of them are 25 30 35 40% um school choice or tuition. So, we are we are definitely very much a our residents comprise the vast majority of our student population. Um, and that's an important thing to to be able to know and relate. Um, haven't we had big increases often? Um, we we went back as a finance subcommittee um back through to FY20. Um, FY20 through FY22, our numbers were extremely low. um relative to everything that was happening in the world and the
043ways that services needed to increase and that um and that our our student needs were were evolving. Um those were years where we were leaning very heavily on either additional state and federal funding or on reserves that we had built up over the course of years. Um, as we look into FY23, FY24, FY25, FY26, we started to very publicly with our town say, "Okay, we're being asked to spend these reserves down. We're we're doing that. We're going to try to land this plane as gradually as we can." But there also are things like last year's 16% health insurance increase. And then this year, unfortunately, we've been rocked by every form of increase midyear and for next year that I think we could possibly hit other than the capital expenditure one. Um, and so that's why
044we've seen the big year in FY26 and this massive year in FY27 in order for us to carry forward um with all the strong points that we've had for our students. Um, so that's that's the story over the last bunch of years and I expect us when we go into conversation to come back to all these slides and and and they are in the packet both for the public um right alongside the agenda as well as for all the school committee members um and then as appendices um because oftentimes these numbers I think it's good to know them um but there's a lot of de detail here that generally boils down to when we look back at um at recent years. As recently as 5 years ago, our reserves were far greater than what we
045have now. A lot of that is very intentional spending down of those funds. Um, but we need to be able to work with that information with our towns moving forward. So the the three different big buckets of of funds that we always talk about excess and deficiency that's where general fund revenue that does not need to be spent or that cannot be spent in a given year. Say because the state revises upward its state aid um or we're able to not spend some money that that was provided because of unforeseen abilities to to to hold that back. Um that at the end of the year gets closed to our excess the excess portion of the excess and deficiency and in years where we um we have and I'll pop back to that slide. In years
046where we have um extraordinary expenditures and we need to lean on it, school committee can turn to that and then the towns have a say but the school committee takes its vote first and then the towns either can oppose it through a vote or can allow the use of those funds. Um that's excess and deficiency. This compares us that the state publishes these numbers. So these are all publicly available numbers just straight off the the DESIE website. Um but here is how our END fund over the years compares to that of other regional school districts uh close by um within school choice. School choice revenue is the per pupil um tuition that other towns pay um into our district as a result of us having school choice students within our district. Um the expenditures we
047budget for and utilize the funds that are deposited into that school choice account to pay for all kinds of educational opportunities across across our three schools. Um similarly for tuition, tuition is primarily the towns of Hancock and New Asheford um that pay on a tuition basis um the cost associated with educating their students. We have an agreement that says here is how that tuition rate per student is um is set. um it's based on the the actual cost and um that gets deposited into a tuition account and then the expenditures are once again able to be used for for all of the educational expenditures that the school committee budgets for annually. Um of special note there, the revenue line there, the sending population from Hancock into Ashford has declined significantly over the last um five
048years. and that that has been a a a contributing factor here too. Um, so that that's where we are right now. And then that was the last slide. >> Joe, would it be worth adding a 2027 proposed column to these? >> Sure. >> We just complete that picture. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> All right. So that was the FAQ that that was based on all the things that the finance subcommittee has been talking about the questions the what if or I heard or can we make sure to share. Um I would love to just open it up to conversation. Carrie, you can lead the way and I'll I'll be quiet as much as possible. >> All right. Uh Julia, >> um I have a quick question then a longer question that I think it's a
049quick question. Um Joe, you referenced that the sending populations from Hancock and New Ashford are down. Um do you know what's driving that? >> Uh I I think there are probably a couple things. One, uh residents of of K through 12 school age definitely down. Um, it's possible, although we don't have direct access to this data, that a greater percentage of students might head to McCann or across the border to to Berlin. Um, because I know that Hancock has a tuition agreement with Berlin as well. Um, >> I thought it was New Lebanon that they had a tuition agree. Maybe they have both. >> It's possible. I I had always thought it was, but you could you could definitely be right. >> Yeah. And some of that is geographic. Depending on where families live, they
050right want to send >> a long town. Yeah. Okay. >> Um the longer I mean maybe it's not a longer question, but um this school year we've had um hits to the budget. What did those total that are just and and I can see in the graphs of where we're pulling money from. uh both in school choice and tuition may that reserve it looks like may not be there at all at the end of the year if we have to use that money. um >> the the the snapshot number right now if if if we were allowed to close our books, I think it was at some point last week, right around $665,000 in costs that we had not projected around. The vast majority of that is the tuition and transportation y >> number. Um
051and then the remainder is is health insurance. People taking our health insurance midyear that we had not um planned on. >> Um okay. So I'm just wondering if I'm seeing this correctly on the slides where you have the um the various reserves on school choice and tuition. There's a note that says all of the originally projected ending balance may be used by the end of the year for both of those. Right. And some of the um we may need to vote to use some of our END as well. >> That is correct. >> Okay. If next year we're the same same thing happened next year that happened this year, what happens mid year if we have no more reserves? We would have two options. One would be to find enough reductions elsewhere to cover those
052those increased costs >> or to bring a revised set of numbers back for special town meetings um to our to our two towns. Both are things that regional school districts do. >> Okay. And and I I just want to to that point also uh say that we discussed in the finance subcommittee that it is perhaps worth asking the question again. You know you have asked us to drain our reserves and just come to the towns with the real cost. Do you still want us to do that or should we start building our reserves back up because they were really useful in keeping the cost down to the town? So, I think it's worth the school committee thinking about whether we want to come back to our towns, our member towns with that question of whether
053we should resume our um standard operating procedure of building up our reserves in case um in case of need mid year. Um and uh this the budget as proposed does not use any reserves. >> Right. >> The the budget as proposed does not use it it it is conservative. So it does not use any school choice or tuition reserves. >> Right. and it is conservative in terms of the revenue that we will receive. So that's that's part one in terms of END. >> Wait, stay there just for a second. That means that what we expect to get in from choice next year, we are spending from choice. And we're being conservative about what we expect. So we're not going to say we expect more students. We expect either the same or or fewer. But it
054is worth again asking or thinking about as a committee, do we want to increase the number of school choice students we take in in order to build up just a bit more of that revenue. It's not going to add up to a lot because we're not going to like open the floodgates. >> It's one strategy we can employ. And same with tuition. We know tuition students are declining. So, we're not going to budget the same. We may budget less to use for this coming year. So, then END, go ahead. >> And then with END, currently we're projecting using 210,000 from that. Um, and part of the part of the math behind that is um all of the state related numbers that we have um are they are they are highly unlikely to decrease the there's
055a good chance that we will end up seeing additional state aid going into that END account. Um and in addition to that um we do see us closing out this year not needing to use all of that END account. >> I'm knocking really hard on my desk. Oh, and >> which is made of wood. Um I so um this might be because the there isn't an FY27 column at present, but I'm trying to sort through what you both have just said to understand what is the level of reserves we will walk into FY what is the projected amount of reserves that we walk into FY27 with and that we end projected 2027 with um to both answer Car's question. Should we be trying to build them up? But I'm actually like are we even going
056to we have another year next year like this year are we in that position where we have to go to the towns or cut people and once you the year starts you have to cut a lot more people as the year goes on to make up the same amount of money. So >> we we right now are looking at incorporating all of this information in. We're looking at starting the year with about $300,000 in reserves. Now, that is if all of the things that have been fully negative this year actually pan out that way. So we we have we have one bill for instance included in um in that total where we've been asked to pay uh we did not foresee having it at all. There was no way to project having it $320,000 this
057year. that one bill. We believe per legal wrangling and and technicalities that we should actually only be on the hook for $190,000 of it. So, we're working through that. So, it's entirely possible that we'll see that shift come back in our favor. Um, but that is speaking to Carrie's point, that is the kind of variability. Um, there aren't that many people I I would put it this way. People don't typically think that school districts have a high amount of variability within within what they experience. >> Um that it's typically just as long as you know who your staff are and you're accurate and how much your textbooks cost and how much your classroom supply cost >> that you should be okay. And maybe it's your maybe it's your salt and plowing budget that that you
058blow through. Um but we are in a world where um it is entirely possible. It does not happen frequently, but it's entirely possible. It's happened twice in the last five years where we get a bill midy year related to something and and I think that it is like this is always such a sensitive topic because it's difficult when you're talking about things that human beings need and are experiencing and putting numbers to them to to do it in a way that I think everybody feels is sensitive and appropriate. But th this one astronomical bill that I'm talking about is related to to to somebody in this world who we have never met. >> Our staff and our schools have never had an opportunity to work with them. And we are but we are as dictated
059by the state on the financial hook. and the state just realized that this winter. And so based on the way the laws work, here is the bill and you now owe it. That is a reality. Uh the other thing that we're dealing with here this year in terms of people shifting onto our health insurance mid year, um we talked about how greater than 70% of our employees are now on our health insurance. There are some folks that I've bumped into on the street who said, "How how could you not have budgeted for that?" >> If let's look at what our health insurance projections are, what's budgeted for and then that's for 70% of our of our staff. If the remaining 30% were to go onto our health insurance, all of those lines would need to
060have increased by almost 50%. And in a normal year, if they don't go on our health insurance, we just would have appropriated a a lot of money that we would not need to spend. And I think that's partly been one of the arguments that our towns have used over the years is like we are the folks who end up paying these bills anyway. >> Allow us to raise and provide the funds as needed. Don't store it away. >> Yeah. >> Just so that you can deal with when these things happen. Like that's what we're here for. And and I think I heard from some finance committee members and select board members from from both towns like that's our like that's our job is is to have them your job is not to keep the money
061on hand for all of these things. And I think bringing that conversation back and and just figuring out what what those levels what sensible levels are um will be a productive conversation and we've got some of this data in hand um the bad experience data to to also be able to live it a little bit with them. >> Yeah. I and I I hope you heard in my question not um I I absolutely understand the school has I believe we have budgeted responsibly and there are things that you can't predict um and I um am happy to sound that you know message out in the community if there's anyone who thinks that we've been irresponsible um and I also am deeply uh I respect the the question or the the um request from the towns
062that we don't hold money not to use it. Um I'm just anticipating like last year we had a big debate around how much should be in our reserves. Um and it it it feels so thin right now. It feels painfully thin. Um and I don't you know the number of times we have to go through um communication campaigns to try to educate the public. not our not our select boards, not our finance committees, but if we have to go back to the towns and explain again, it's just how many times can we do that, I guess, is um is is where my head is at. So, I it feels so so razor thin to have this small of >> Joe. Can you um tell us what our limit is for END? Like if if we
063were to build our END back up, how much are we permitted to hold in END? >> 1.5% of our net operating budget. >> Okay, other questions, comments. I will say, Julia, you mentioned we we may not have to um educate our um town officials, but I um had a a pretty long conversation with Gina at uh Lansboro Town Hall. It was a really good conversation. And she did um note that the longest serving member that they have on either the select board or the finance committee is perhaps two years and a lot of their members are new this year on both committees. And so, um, they they aren't coming in with a lot of knowledge about the schools and how we budget. They're not coming in with a lot of the history, which is why
064we've included those five-year um, you know, historical perspectives on on her reserves. Um, we did talk about perhaps meeting with the two boards in Lansboro because we haven't seen any attendance at our meetings from those boards and and no one has reached out to us and it was really difficult to kind of get a read. Um, and uh, Gina really liked that idea and proposed it, but their agenda was was quite full. Uh this would have been for last night. They've had a number of issues come up in the town of Lansboro. The mall is the obvious one. Um but they've also had a number of other issues and um pretty high attendance at their meetings uh really focusing on other topics that the town is dealing with. So, um, the first chance we will
065have to present to town officials will be in April after we vote our budget. >> Yeah, >> Carrie, just before we get too far past it, I I don't know what I was think. It's 5%. >> 5%. I was going to say it's like >> I'm sorry. I thought maybe the launch >> I just never do numbers on the fly and I'm that was not so right around 1.35 million is what >> would be our maximum right now and right now we're our approved END um as of this past October >> was right around 575. >> Yep. Okay. Thanks. So, uh, we won't, not much will change most likely between now and Thursday, um, when we have our public hearing on the budget, which is at 6 PM on Thursday. um wondering if there is
066anything um that you would like us sort of the same question posed last time. anything you would like us to think about, look into, specifically consider, um whether it has to do with things that you're hearing from your neighbors or things that you've read on social media or, you know, things that you've heard tonight in terms of how we're presenting this information. um because you're the folks who are out talking to people and hearing concerns. And the thing to I think the other thing to kind of keep in mind is that even though we may not have the percentage increases next year that we have that we're proposing this year, we're still going to be increasing the amount of money we spend, right? So those percentages translate into real dollars and those real dollars will
067be in our budget moving forward unless we present a budget reduction. Right? So it's very reasonable for town officials to be concerned about those numbers, not just the percentages, but the dollar numbers. And all we can do is say, as Julia said, we've been responsible and this is the best we can come up with. This is what it costs to educate our kids right now. >> Curtis, uh, I two two things rolling around in my head. One is that I've heard and when making the unfortunate choice of spending any time on social media read many people uh calling for level funding without understanding what that phrase actually means. Uh there are several people who I've had exchanges with or observed exchanges with uh who think level funding means we're just going to pay for the
068same things and nothing new. Uh, but level funding is actually paying the same amount no matter how much things cost. And so I have some people in my town who are saying, "I want you to just pay for the same things and nothing new." And other people in my town saying, "I want you to spend the exact same amount as last year and nothing more." And differentiating between those two things seems to be a challenge for some. Uh and so that's something I find myself having to speak to or about or think about uh more often than I would care to. Uh just saying that the other thing again rolling around in the dome is I feel like an abnormally large driver of increase for us last year and this year going into next year
069is insurance. And I know we've talked about this before and I've asked this question before. I know I have the answer somewhere but not here. >> Um, in terms of the dollar increase in what our insurance for our district uh health insurance offering for the faculty and staff employees of our district. uh how much that has increased as a dollar amount over say the last three fiscal what does that number look like and what percentage of the overall increase over the last three two to three years uh does that number represent because I feel in a lot of ways that many people are of course frustrated with the increasing costs and expenses of every aspect aspect of life uh and in particular the expenditures made by our our towns uh whether for the district or
070for various things. Um I I think it's important to understand the the scope the magnitude of the impact of the increase in that one specific area. uh in particular uh particularly in light of what we're hearing tonight and have talked about uh very recently uh in regards to the push by Mass Health etc to put more of our employees on our insurance and have Mass Health uh pay their portionment which I imagine is an overall savings for Mass Health. Otherwise, why would they push for it? Uh so to wrap all that up in a bow, um how hard are we being hit by insurance? Um what what percentage what total dollar increase uh and and and what portion of the overall increase that is seems to be information that the the members of my town
071at least uh should know. Blah. So getting into this uh so level level funding versus level staffing versus level service. Um the budget that we're proposing right now is level staffing and we believe that it can be level service as well even though supplies and services and other things are decreasing. Um a level funding budget would be uh absolutely debilitating. I mean, we we would be looking at at 15 or 20 people not working for our district anymore who currently work for our district. Um, so it's it's in many ways it's it's not even a it isn't even a worst case that we would consider and and and so I think that's that's something that we need to try to try to work with communication around. um in terms of health insurance the the details
072between individual and family and and you know the different types of plans there's a lot of variability there but let's just look at the family plans um the the rate in FY25 so not prior to the 16% so so yes prior to the 16% increase that we that we got into this year. Um that rate was uh 22.84 in total, $2,284 of which um the employee pays 20%. So the employee pays annually $457. Um we um sorry that what am I trying to >> it makes me cry too >> that that um that that has increased by 16% from last year to this year and then it will increase by another 8.75% from this year to next year such that the the total health insurance cost um will end up being for next year $2,882.
073Um so that that's just over the last two years. Prior to that, we we had a number of years where um where we were seeing zeros or 1% something like that. >> So So these last two years for us have been traumatic >> as they have been for the towns facing the same increases. Would it be accurate roughly to say that it's a 25% increase in the insurance cost over the two years back to back a 16 point and then an 8 point you know >> roughly yeah I mean it it it is compounding but but we can >> right >> yeah which is also related to you know and one of the things within the finance subcommittee we did last week was was we looked at Um, we we had years in FY20, FY21,
074and FY22 where our percentage increases were were one year they were in they were negative and two of those years they were below 1%. At least for Lansboro, for Williamtown, I think it was 1.85. um one of those three years. Um if we had increased assessments by three or 4% each of those years, the base funding that we would be talking about building upon would have been a lot larger to begin with, which also would have led to this year and last year being a whole lot smaller. So being able to talk about the fact that the total cost to the towns over the course of the last 5 years has been kept a lot lower when you look at what would have happened if we' done 3% and 4% or 5% type increases in
075each of those years. Um once you factor all of the things that have happened here um we were looking at slightly below 4% per year would be our our smoothing out place over the last uh six years. So, if we take FY20 through FY27 with this proposed with this massive increase, um if each of our towns had had like a 3.9 something% increase each of those years, that would have yielded the same total funding that that we're looking at um trying to have for for this coming year for FY27. Um but the towns also would have spent a whole lot more in each of those years prior because that would have been funding that we would have been receiving rather than either spending reserves or building up reserves for being able to to deal with
076this. Uh so that's an analysis that we had done for last Thursday as well because that's an open question of would we have been better off just bringing bigger percentage numbers earlier that that would have in some ways been fought but they also would have kept to reasonable asks in some in many ways. >> Yeah. At that point, the the towns weren't questioning our buildup of reserves because we were doing it methodically for the building project and for the bond issues and all of that. So, it made sense at the time. One last uh question uh uh insurance adjacent or no insurancebased um if again a ballpark because as you said it is compounding so it's actually more than 25% after an 8.6 six on top of a 16. But uh if just for conversational
077sake we say it's 25%. Is there any other line item that comes even close to that level of increase in terms of overall percentage over that same two-year window? >> No. Um the the the the closest would would have been our combined tuition and transportation costs related to programs that we we can't and don't don't have in-house right now. Uh that would be number two on a percentage basis. Curtis, do you think it's uh worth having a slide um talking about the distinctions between the different kinds of funding? >> I I do think for all of our stakeholders to have as solid an understanding as possible. Uh it would be beneficial to have and it's just as simple as you explain the differentiation between uh level funding level staffing and level services. Yeah. Uh, and
078I I I will admit I have never worked in the insurance field. Uh, I've only worked in education in the arts pretty much most of my adult life. Um, but I do find it mind mindscratching to to make up a phrase uh how all of our spiking uh materials costs and food costs and fuel costs and energy costs uh over that same window can be so dwarfed in comparison to insurance costs when I have a a better brickandmortar understanding of why all those other things have gone up >> uh because we don't import our insurance from another country. There's no tariff on our insurance. There's no uh potentially ill-advised military campaigns driving up the costs of our insurance as I understand it. So, I I would love to sit in a room and ask someone
079who knows more about insurance than I do, which is a lot of people, uh how they justify a over 25% increase over two years uh in in that. And again when we talk about the the increase based on the growing number of people taking part in the insurance that I can understand obviously uh if you buy more widgets you will spend more money but uh it's such a dramatic increase. I would very much like to see some kind of explanation of that. I just don't know where to look or who to ask. Well, it it's a it is a very complicated world that I I I definitely do not understand fully. And the the the more I learn about health insurance here in the United States, the less knowledgeable I feel like I actually am
080about how to how to deal with it as somebody who can't actively change any of the things on the inside of it. um the ways that that we have extraordinarily high costs with small numbers of individuals, you know, like that's a really challenging reality. Um the the ways that procedures and and and drugs are are priced and how that ends up passing through the chain of different people who are either benefiting or not benefiting from from them. you know, it's it it's a very complex chain of events and trying to figure out what's actually right um I think probably drives a lot of people crazy already. >> Thank you, >> Jose. I know you need to step out. I just want to give you space if there's anything before you. >> No, no. Thank you,
081Julian. And thank you uh Carrie and Joe for um leading this discussion. Um you know I know we'll continue this on on Thursday. Um so just want to express gratitude. >> Thank you. I I have a um request Carrie to your point. Um is there anything else? Um, I'm trying to think in my mind what what are the under understanding there's no way we're going to be able to mount a campaign where both of our communities all collectively completely understand what's driving our budget. Um, I health insurance is a big one. So, I appreciate that that push there, Curtis. Obviously, um I'm I'm really still thinking about the risk um of where we're at with our reserves and I'm just wondering if we could get the maybe both the FY27 projected columns added, but also
082um something about how much we have had to dip into reserves during the school year over the last few years. Um so that we know this year was especially high, but what has it been? Um, and I also, um, if we could have something like that, a slide in the deck. >> That makes a lot of sense. Thanks, Julia. >> Yeah. And and just a short, this is the first year of the six years that I've been around where we are where no matter what we do, we see ourselves dipping into those reserves in this way. Last year it was less than $100,000 in total where we were over what we had originally projected. Um >> I mean often there are savings unanticipated savings in a year that offset unanticipated expenditures. So you hope >>
083having the data might just allow me to sleep at night. Maybe that's what you're going to do. >> So um I want to I guess I want to understand how big that risk is. Um, and the data will just be helpful. I think that's it for the budget then. Thank you, Joe. >> Thank you all. >> Yes. Thank you. Thank you finance committee for your work and for turning this finance committee meeting into a full school committee meeting so those of us not on the finance committee could participate. Um and I need to now go back and find our agenda. Um, we have our upcoming meetings as we keep referencing Thursday our public budget hearing and meeting at six o'clock back here on Google Meet. Um, and I think we can anticipate based on our
084um our public our comments that have been coming into the school committee um that we probably will have public comment there. So, just be prepared for that. Um, and then I do not have any other items for discussion that were not reasonably anticipated by me 48 hours in advance. Joe, you don't have anything, right? Okay. Um, are there any other agenda requests? Hearing none, I will look for a motion to adjurnn. >> Oh, um, sorry, one last thing. Could we uh on the agenda for ne for the upcoming meeting put the town meeting dates on the upcoming meeting list though they are not school committee specific. Uh I think it's good information for people who are tuning in or or uh hearing about it after the fact. I cannot modify the agenda but at this
085point because we're after 6 PM but what I can do is I can drop into the packet um and I think it's important for all committee members to hear the next dates that are important after this are after this Thursday are um so next Wednesday March 25th that's our date with the Williamstown Finance uh committee then April 6th is with the Williamsboro Finance Committee and Select Board. And then Williams, >> I'm sorry, Joe. I hate to interrupt. Did you say Wednesday the 25th at is that at 5? >> Uh, no. That is at I believe >> is anybody going to be able to make the Northern Berkshire meeting? I guess >> the the meeting is not at 5. It is at >> the Northern Berkshire meeting is at >> 5:30. Yeah. >> Yeah. So, so
086I think that we will we will need to split up at least for the for the first part of the finance committee meeting. Um >> are we do you know if we're presenting with the same night as Macan again? I feel like >> usually is in other years if we go second it buys a little bit of time. So >> yeah, >> if only somebody like the chair of the finance committee um were >> and I believe they typically meet at Does the finance committee typically meet at seven or >> Yes, 7 o'clock. We we can arrange the schedule however you want. >> I didn't want to call you out. I was I was hoping that you might magically unmute but no worries. >> Thank you. >> And then Thank you. And then uh the
087April 6th Lansboro meeting, I believe they typically start at 6. Um the finance committee and select board there. Um and then after that, the two town meetings, Williamstown's town meeting, is it May 19th? No. Yes. But I'll I I'll make sure that that is within the packet. And then Lanes Rosetown meeting is June 9th. and worth announcing the location of the Williamstown town meeting if it is moving back to the elementary school, which is what I heard. >> It it is going to be at Williamstown Elementary School. Yes. >> Okay. Right. Um Julia, I will be out of town on March 25th, so I don't know if you're planning. >> I can be there. >> Okay. >> I'll be there. >> All right. Thanks. And Fred, thank you for attending uh several of our budget
088meetings. It's it's helpful to know that you're well informed. >> Yes. >> Um this is the most the highest functioning board we have in Williamstown and I I enjoy listening to you meet all the time. >> Thank you. >> And and Curtis Williamstown annual town meeting. I'm making sure I I didn't just lose it off the top of my head. It it is May 19th. So So that's May 19th. um at 7 p.m. at Williamstown Elementary School. Lanes Rowtown meeting is June 9th at I think it might be earlier um at Lanes Elementary School. >> I think it usually starts at 6. >> Yeah. uh we there had been I can't remember but it was around the time of the building project uh some group had taken on uh the onus of providing some free
089of cost child care in the cafeteria during a very important town meeting where we wanted all of our stakeholders to have the opportunity to be present and to participate. Uh, and I'm wondering if anyone remembers what the group was or can maybe start marshalling forces to do the same for the Lansboro Town meeting. uh as >> I so I would um propose that on a soon upcoming future agenda we discuss our kind of um complete strategy around ensuring that we uh make it as easy as possible for families to understand and show up to vote. Um so let's get back to you on that. Um but I think that we should be discussing that as a whole committee. >> Thank you. Yeah. >> Okay. So, lots of upcoming meetings. Um, and I'm looking for a
090motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Thank you, Curtis. Is there a second? >> Oreo. >> Second. >> Thanks, Carrie. Thank you, Carrie. Um, Bowen, I we're going to roll call out. Bowen i. >> Constantine. Elen by an eye. >> Oops. I'm sorry. Malloy. >> Um, and we are adjourned, but I notice it's Ursula Allen. And maybe I will be bumped as the first person in the order. >> Yeah, I'm sorry about that. Uh, my Gmail is this is an old Gmail and that was my >> Okay. Oh, I thought I was going to get out of being the first one. All right. No, I have a Curtis Ash email somewhere as well. And you're not you're not getting away with it. >> All of you all of you changing your names. >> Listen, when
091you've changed your names a few times, you never know what you're going to be logging in. >> You are correct. >> It's like a little uh it's a little question. >> Good night, everybody. Thank you. Bye, guys. Thank you. >> Thank you.