MGRSD School Committee Special Session 02/29/2024

001okay thank you so much for reminding me we are now recording and Ursula will not be joining us tonight so I think we're all here I would like to call the Mount Greylock Regional School District school committee to order it is Thursday February 29th 2024 and it is 5:31 p.m we're meeting remotely via Zoom uh the recording will be available within 24 hours on willly net and on Mount grock Regional School District's YouTube channel if we could call the role alphabetically by last name Bowen here conry here Constantine is here and acknowled acknowledging that Joe and I are missing perhaps the most consequential third and fourth grade girls basketball game on February 29th probably in history tonight but thank you Elfen Bine here and unaware of the impact green here and wondering if they're recording

002it for you Miller here and wondering why you're not zooming from there could you imagine that from the Armory here is our budget Workshop okay so we are here Ursula is absent tonight um I will read our mission 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 restorative based processes respect inclusive diversity courtesy integrity and responsibility through high expectation and cooperation resulting in lifelong learning and personal growth next up on the agenda is public comment we have not received any requests for public comment via email um I do see a couple members of the public here I don't know if they want to raise their hand virtually we will wait for a moment to see I think they're

003here for the budget Workshop okay so moving on approval of minutes would someone like to make a motion to approve the February 8th 2024 minutes so moved Curtis moves do I have a second second Julia second any discussion on those minutes okay hearing none all in favor B and I conry I uh Constantine I can't remember what it is when you don't say I or no so someone fill in the blank abstain thank you elf and by an ey green obstain Miller I okay thank you that motion passes with four um yes four eyes and two abstains okay school year calendar 2024 2025 anything that you wanted to not Jake I don't think so it's it's virtually the same as the draft that we shared with you the last time um it it fulfills our

004legal obligation to the Commonwealth for uh hours and minutes and numbers of days it does uh include a lengthy break at the end of December beginning of uh of January and um other than that is is pretty straightforward we did manage to get um Elementary conference dates in and end of orders for uh the middle in high school and the end of the trimesters for the elementary schools so it's uh really a complete calendar if we have a bunch of snow days next year next year may be a late get out um but still well within the the cushion that we like to keep uh as we approach July 1 at the end of the year so great y would someone like to make a motion to approve the school year calendar 2024 2025 I'll

005move it oh I'll second it I I do have some questions which I apologize because I wasn't at the last meeting these might have already been asked but the beginning of the year looks a little wonky to me especially with the prek kind Garten starting with a half day on Friday before a like a 4 Day weekend is there some explanation for that um we we do like to get in um a few days of school a day or two of school the prek and K is a little different those those teachers spend their first couple of days when when grades one through 12 are coming into school just they come in and school is started uh those grades are really spending time with families doing individual meetings and conferences pre school year with families

006um to make sure that thek staff so um we we have actually backed up and gotten prek and K Closer to the regular start of school than it is in lots of places and than it was here um but uh the the folks that that teach those grades feel really strongly that that time is a good investment and and those those grades unlike grades 1 through 12 do not have the 180 day requirement either um so it it does look very choppy and wonky at the beginning of the school year okay thank you you're welcome Steve yeah I'm just trying to remember I think we've actually had this conversation in the past and it's good to have it again to just keep this on the radar to keep this the minutes as to do we

007want one day do we want three days do we want five days talking to the teachers and the principles to figure out what's the right balance for for what for like the beginning of the year activities and how we you know welcome new people new children to the district yeah and that it's different needs for those classrooms yeah and I and I think this year is is is about as short as as it tends to be in in most places that that have prek and K and so we we will you know be having that conversation about you know did this work was it enough um do we need more when I started as superintendent in Pittsfield they had kindergarten and pre prek actually did not start until a full month into the school year

008interestingly enough right was and having you know three kids go into kindergarten I know what they did with they really spent about a half a day with each student in class um and uh I I think the the current thinking is that there's tremendous value in that but there's also tremendous value into getting kids started um there's value to families who are really many of whom are looking forward to losing that child care bill that that goes away when kindergarten starts if if you have um working Guardians and working parents but uh yeah Steve that's a good point and we'll we'll look into that to see if we've if we've managed to strike the right balance with with this short of a of a window hey any other discussion on the school year calendar okay

009all in favor Bowen I conry I Constantine I Elfen b i green eye Miller ey thank you that motion passes next up on the agenda the fiscal year 2025 budget draft workshop and discussion thank you Jake should I just jump right into some form of presentation might as well and then I would just be saying a lot of words to to introduce what everybody actually wants to see so with that's count that as the introduction and and please full steam ahead Joe oh I thank you and then um Jake just whenever I hit a point with with the state data where where you'd like to make a point just jump in and say and that'll be plenty all right so um without too much fanfare because we we've all been in our various ways and

010at various points in time looking through um the progress as we've been developing this over the last couple of months um we do have a couple of new bits of data that have come out over the last week or two um that be sharing tonight but uh I'm going to start off at a high level with a summary of kind of here's here's generally what's happening with this budget um I'm going to give you a a look at our end school choice and tuition um where they stood at the beginning of the year where we think they'll be at the end of the year and what that means for what we can use next year um we got new comparative data from the state which is great based on all school districts FY 23 end

011of year reporting so this is all of the data that school districts reported this year about last year um and I think it's really it's been really helpful for us in looking through it and trying to understand benchmarking against um both peer institutions as as well as just all of Berkshire County um and then I'll highlight the areas of the fy2 budget that have created some challenges and then I'll share the the current um draft I shouldn't say current fy2 budget proposals but draft draft because we we still have a couple weeks before these are considered true proposals so I don't want anybody going home thinking this is ready for a vote quite yet so the summary is um we'd be in good shape if it wasn't for some required expenses about $300,000 worth at

012Mount grock Regional School um these are additional expenses uh related to special education um if we were to take that 300K that that is newly created as a responsibility for us um out of the budget we'd we'd have a a fairly boring budget season potentially ahead of us um or we'd be in the midst of a fairly boring budget season but we're not um and so we're working within retirements and and already known departures at the end of this school year um at the moment at Leb Elementary School um we are within the budget that that you've got um within the packet and that I'll be talking through tonight um we're planning on not replacing a retiring teacher um same thing at williamtown elementary school for one retirement um at Mount Greylock Regional School we're

013planning on not replacing a retiring teacher um we're beginning to restructure how we schedule and potentially what electives we offer um and we're we're not quite ready um institutionally to talk details around that tonight but we'll certainly get into what we can um and then we're also talking about scaling back the summer program um within general education a bit um Steve yes um I don't know do you want questions as you go or do you want us to wait till the end um questions as I go would be great I might defer things you know if there's more detail but go ahead and ask away right now okay so the only question is um you you wrote if not for new required expenses of 300K how does that compare to new expenses from a typical

014year if there is such a thing as a typical year um well that there are many lines within the budget that just and actually I I will punt that one to the end because I'll I'll talk about that in in more fine these are this is an area of expense where there's no way we could have foreseen it um as as we were making the budget last year that hey an FY 25 here's something that's going to happen um it is relatively unprecedented for our district in terms of the scale um and it just it triggers responsibilities to shift um in many other areas of the budget as a result so that's kind of that's the that's the truth there um and then also within the draft that you're going to see tonight we're spending

015more than we'd like from revolving accounts um but we by the time we're adopting this um if we end up adopting it um we will um be ready to to talk about how this is probably a multiple-year plan around trying to make some gradual changes trying to restructure so that we can accommodate these increased expenses um more elegantly than than we might in this uh in this coming year um so that's the that's what we're up against and now I'll talk about how we're how we're dealing with that um one we're dealing with it using stability that we um the we are fortunate that the district has created and and really stuck by for a number of years now um within our three primary uh revolving slash asset type accounts um school choice uh we

016started this year um $627,000 um in school choice um based on the the rest is in italics as you read to the right because all of it to some extent is is projected based on what what we have um and nothing here is guaranteed but um based on our current rate of Revenue into school choice you know students who are choicing in um we're looking at about $54,000 in Revenue this year um and our planned expenditures out of that account $525,000 so we're looking at ending the year with $66,000 um tuition similar story start of the year at 659 um Revenue based on um students that we have in District right now tuition in um from other towns uh Revenue right now looking at $715,000 planned expenditures based on the fy2 24 budget that was

017approved um last March of $800,000 so we're looking at ending the year with $574,000 um and then our fiscal year fiscal year 24 end um certified at a million 81 337 um it's important to um keep in mind that this is the number that's certified eligible for use in our fy2 budget so we could potentially safely say we're going to spend 1,813 37 um that's the money that is certified set aside there's no way for us to touch it this year um and it is not a part uh of our planned end use for this year which was I believe $350,000 so if it wasn't for our planned end use this year the the amount sitting in end would be a million uh 430,000 or so um so that's kind of that's what's there for

018use in fy2 and later uh and all of that is now post audit certification everything so all of that's pretty pretty set in stone um it's entirely possible that our yearend school choice in tuition um could be a little bit lower a little bit higher depending upon what we need to do to be able to close out the year and whether or not we finish the year with all the students um that we currently have uh Joe I sorry I think I I lost you on the end so the 400 or 300 something was certified in fy22 sorry in FY 23 for use in FY 24 is that right it's in our current budget the uh the $350,000 that we planned that we plan on using from meend in this year's budget meaning the 24

019budget um right that is not a part of this million 81,000 so when the state certifies your your excess and deficiency amount it it it wants to look at what is the amount of money that you based on your budget for this year based on whatever it it calculates as being your liabilities you know concerns that it has um it it removes all of that and then it says all right for fiscal year 24 we are certifying that you have 1,813 37 available for use in fy2 and does that leave what does that leave in the end account that that is the um another way to put it is let say well that's the that's the total less what has already been budgeted to be used or that might need to go out the door

020because we were planning on receiving an extra $2,500 from some Grant but it hadn't come in yet and the state wants to say we're not gonna have you bank on that coming in we're going to go in ahead and decrease the amount that you're able to spend from that account by $2500 right okay um Steve did you have another question or is that a residual hand uh sorry that's a residual hand um I forgot it doesn't automatically lower all right so now um the state just uh in the past week um they put out compilation numbers um based on every school district's end of year reporting um [Music] and they they break it down into a number of large buckets and they also give you your all funds per pupil expenditure um and so what

021I'm going to do here to set the stage for how how we're looking at this is I'll um I'll talk through the columns briefly and then let you know why Jake and I chose the district that that we're using here within the comparables um and then we'll actually I'll actually take it column by column pretty quickly um just to talk through how we compare to other school districts in the state um Lea that's that's just our ID number as far as the department of EDS concerned District that's the these are each School District here um I believe every single one is a k through2 District now um we used to have some challenges around some regionals were 7 through 12 and then there were towns that were their Elementary School is kind of like ours

022which made comparison very difficult back in the day um I think I think Joe not to interrupt I apologize for interrupting I mean I think with the exception Farmington River is I believe the lone one of these that's not a k through2 we we really tried to stick with with regionals that had a pretty good overlap on the ven Di with things about us but Farmington River is included as a Berkshire County comparable but not a overall comparable thanks Joe yep um and great Point thank you um in District FTE pupils um this column indicates these are this was the count as of because this is FY 23 data um this is the count as of October 1st of 2022 this is the total number of students um being educated in District by each one

023of these districts so for us that is our resident pupils it's also people who choice in or tuition in um and it would be the same for other districts but that's that's how the Apples to Apples um happen so it's every student that's in our classrooms um they they count as a uh FTE here um Administration um this is the bucket that covers um um for your purposes it's our district office staff and any any supplies and contracted services that we utilize um I have a footnote here because for regionals um Regional School Districts have their own payables payroll and HR functions internal to them so um when you're trying to do comparisons cities and towns often have their own and they are separate from School departments but they serve the roles for School departments

024so regionals almost by definition carry some additional expenditure there uh on a per pupil basis um than the non- Regionals instructional leadership um that's uh principal's offices along with um directors of curriculum uh special education directors um academic technology directors so that's that's that kind of like instructional leadership bucket both on a per building basis as well as at a district level um teachers plus par professionals is exactly what what you would think there it's all of the payroll related to teachers and Par professionals um professional development um this is all the money spent on PD for for staff instructional materials equipment and Technology um this is textbooks um computers uh lab equipment everything in that bucket um guidance uh counseling and test um these are the guidance offices social workers um that that world

025of um schools pupil Services would be Transportation Food Services um all of those supporting puple um services that that exists within school districts operations and maintenance um this is another one that can be a little bit tough to call Apples to Apples because Regional School Districts um tend to do more around building parking lot uh athletic fields things like that than than non- regionals um but that's everything that goes into that area of custodial operations um and so on insurance retirement programs another um fairly self-explanatory for us that would be primarily health insurance property insurance um and our contribution to Berkshire County Retirement System um and then all funds per pupil expenditure it is it is important to note that this is all funds so this is um the money that comes from our local

026towns it's the money that comes from the state uh state and federal grants um tuition Choice all sources of revenue that you can think of this is this is looking across every bit of money that that each of these school districts reported spending over the course of FY 23 uh so this right now is sorted by all funds per people expenditure um as you can see we are a little bit above the state average um but we're in kind of the bottom third amongst um amongst the districts that we've that we've got going here um the way that we chose these districts um first off we've got everybody in Brookshire County Brooker county has the privilege of um being highlighted in purple um the others uh are a mixture of um Regional School Districts that

027um we would use view as comparables both um relative to their size and in many situations academic performance um and Jake I don't know if there's anything else you want to add about how we chose comparables but uh no not really I do see Richmond is the other because they're a Berkshire County school that's not a through 12 but yeah Joe and I spent um you know the uh the the district analysis and review tool which is a a tool that desie makes available through its uh through its umbrella uh picks its own comparable so there's there's many or most of those comparables that desie sees and then we have some that just through our own experience we look at and tend to compare ourselves to um primarily out of just academic performance Community expectations

028things like that so we wanted to air on the side of more comparables versus fewer but but really stick with the ones outside of the burkers we we wanted to stick exclusively with uh with regional districts um just because the the the things that Regional districts are responsible for within their communities uh do often times look very different than than what how things look in a in a municipally uh organized District all right so now what I'm going to do is that this was the overview and then I'm pretty quickly going to go through column by column where we've just sorted sorted by that column so um looking first within Administration um so I think you this this shows that when when you look at per puple expenditure in terms of expenditures on on Administration

029we're doing pretty well relative to um all of these comparables here um we're we're below the state average um but we're also also below most schools that you would think of as being peers in terms of organizational structure size things like that um instructional leadership similarly you we're we're right around that same boat as far as percentages amongst all of our peers um within teachers and Par professionals we um begin to move up a little bit um which is a good thing um centering our um expenditures around those staff were closest to students um this is not at all adjusted for cost of living um so for instance places like conquer caral do Sherborne um you know those are school districts that in places where quite honestly the the cost of of navigating a living

030is significantly higher uh than we see out here um and Jake just stop me anytime you want to jump in but I'm just trying to give you all a a quick tour through here um and then we can we can then have a discussion with the original sheet backup um now um here looking at professional development um PD I mean we we we have been trying to um Place more of an emphasis on the PD that we need to be able to get done um I think gradually over the years that this is an area that that does e in flow um for various districts as they're making Transitions and and investing various ways um it's an area that I think we we want to see as full as as we can um and and

031I think it's something that we're we're going to continue to work on here in FY 25 26 and Beyond uh then instructional materials equipment and Technology um this I as I've looked a little bit more at the at the detail within this line um I think that there's a fair amount of variability here related to um how and when schools are needing to reinvest in technology or make significant replacements within within equipment um it does not speak as much to me as to whether or not we're under resourced in terms of textbooks um things like that so I I think this is a little bit of a tough one to say gosh why are we spending so little on these areas um and we quite honestly amongst our peers in berer County do tend to

032be better equipped than others in terms of making sure we've got all textbooks up Tod date consumable materials and enter Chromebook um status here W within the within the district which is a sizeable expense within that instructional technology um component of overall spending um guidance um this is an area that for me is it's it's kind of tough to speak to how and why um various schools are in the in the positions that they're in um I didn't see too much Rhyme or Reason as as I looked you know sometimes I think it's interesting to see where we stand relative to to North Adams and Pittsfield um because they are such larger districts with very different demographics um and then and then meanwhile we as a relatively small District although we chose comparables that are

033that are not too far off from us in size generally here um it this is kind of a tough one to to make too much sense of but we're right there near the state average in terms of expenditures um operations and maintenance um this is one where I was pleasantly surprised to see that we're we're holding our own as far as maintaining that bottom third uh territory not needing to spend too much this is wait a second this is pupil Services right oh sorry pupil Services um pupil services and oper operations and maintenance um are going to look relatively similar as far as our standing but um thank you Carrie um pupil Services um we you know as as regionals go um transportation not being an outsized part of our overall budget and not weighing

034us down um I I think is is a wonderful thing um outside of that I I think the story that's being told here is just that we're we're operating fairly efficiently um relative to uh the state and our peers um oper operations and maintenance um this year once again I think you know there isn't too much to glean in or to to pull out of this um just as far as where we stand relative to others something that then jumps out is you then look at Insurance retirement programs and other um between health insurance most likely and Berkshire County retirement system um you see all of a sudden this is the first instance where all of the purple moves up to the unfortunate top of the pack um so we are we're at the bottom

035of that top but um you can see how significant on a per puple basis Berkshire County is outpacing um much of the state right now um I think this is one that jumps out yeah it's it's interesting Joe when I when we started looking at this I was having Pittsfield flashbacks BEC and and going back to you know this variation of a slide for the seven years I was in Pittsfield it is what what you notice about this slide is not only you know when you get to like Richmond the line right above us um all of the Burkshire schools are there and all of the other schools that are included in that are Western Massachusetts they're in one of the four uh Western Massachusetts counties so and and if you if you did this

036for all of the 276 or 278 um public school districts that exist in the state and that doesn't even include our Charter School colleagues just the regular old k2s um this slide would hold true that um Health Care insurance retirement is a burden that is just by and large slightly greater than um for the for the four western Mass counties than it tends to be for eastern Mass I'm not sure I'm sure we could all come up with our own Notions for why that is but it's uh this slide to me on a on a on a regional level of of a Berkshire County 50,000 foot view is in a western Mass 50,000 Point View is very very telling thanks other some other facts to note um Pittsfield and North Adams are not a part

037of Berkshire health group so that's that gives you some sense of kind of what and I'm not suggesting it but what our health insurance picture would look like if we weren't a part of Berkshire health group and instead participated in one of the other groups that that we could conceivably be a part of um so what do you know what they do participate in um Pittsfield is through the um Massachusetts interlocal Insurance Agency the Maya and I believe that North Adams is as well yeah um and all of us in Berkshire County are a part of Bur County Retirement System for um all of our non- teing and and uh select administrative roles so Massachusetts teacher retirement system um serves everybody in Massachusetts for all teachers and some administrative positions um and then for anybody

038who's not a part of mtrs um Berkshire County Retirement is is our uh retirement system so that you know that that the story that's here it's it it it's the most color stacked one that one that we've got um and then we'll just turn back to the uh sorted by all funds per pupil expenditure and I think now would be a good time to open up to questions because I'm sure there were some questions knocking around during that quick tour Julia I not necessarily a question um or maybe I maybe an opening for a conversation um thank you for looking at this data at this level of granularity it's super helpful I have I have to say I'm looking at this and I think okay so we are a bargain you know our our we

039have pay you know use uh our per pupil rate is is lower how does that relate to outcomes um you know are we at a bargain and are we of value and I um my quick I just wanted to share that my quick look um especially if I look at schools with similar demographics and similar sizes so you get the same economies of scale our results are better so um I just think that that should be named I and there's it is the most complicated thing to understand how you know all of that fits together but I I think that's just important to name too because if this were all true and our students were doing really poorly I might say um well we need to I mean I would always say we need to

040invest more because we need to invest more but sorry Melissa and Fred um but I do think um I do think that's an important thing to note yeah I that's also something that jumps out at me within this data um it it it doesn't mean that we're happy with it at all and it also doesn't mean I mean we both of our member towns um have tax rates that are higher than um I think pretty much everybody in Brooker County I I can't recall if there's one why Melissa and Fred will would be able to tell all there but um you know it's it's not a reflection of our taxpayers commitment on a per household basis to our school district by any stretch because some of these other districts like when you look at um

041and and I and I don't call them out in in bad ways but just that g given we know um property tax rates in peers in Berkshire County better than we do other districts um there are plenty of other school districts on this list that are not contributing nearly as much on a property taxpayer um per household basis as as ours are um somehow between state and federal funds they are receiving far more on a per puple basis um than than our school district is and I think that's that's got to be noted as well and it should be a part of the drum beat around how education is funded and and how how these commitments happen um along with potentially um given that our tax rates in our two towns are as high as

042they are um that the the other way to grow Revenue that can go into a school district like ours is not by raising property tax rates but but by having uh a larger base cross with which to apply that um those property taxes and so I think that's got to be it's got to be something that we look at because we can't um I think part of the end story here is we cannot have the percentage increases that that we know we need to make in order to keep property tax rates from having to go up significantly um we cannot sustain that as many of these districts on this list are looking at four five six% increases um this year in terms of Assessments coming in from from their member towns um Jose thank you

043Joe my question is just a a slight followup from uh from Julia's and you know I think just to preface it with uh you know these data are and you're walk Walking us through these data um for folks who are able to to watch this whether in in real time or or later I think is really informative and I would hope would be a part of you know larger discussions or broader discussions around diversifying our tax base within our member towns or conversations around Economic Development you name it things that would help alleviate you know the burden that um that many of our you know residential taxpayers are are you know are giving us the question I have Joel um and I you I think you you highlighted that it was unclear why there was

044such a dispar it and the question I have is whether we suspect there's any impact in such a disparity and that you know the guidance counseling and testing you know that um our our support for for that area uh and it's it's you know it's quite V varied you know in terms of looking at how the numbers sway above and below that that state average um do you or does the district have any thoughts whether h that there might be some impacts on or or maybe another way to phrase it could there be an opportunity for us to to to add investment in this area to support students who you know in in all the ways that this this sort of this this type of programming and servicing would would would support students Jose I'm

045gonna jump in on this one and that's an excellent question and we we ask ourselves that question when we see this uh annually I I would make a couple of observations one is that interestingly enough this I I would say that we are one of the lone districts in the burkers that each one of our three schools have their own school psychologist um so each school has one full-time School Cy P olist who who are primarily um you know they're psychometricians they they are doing the special ed testing the testing to see if students qualify for special ed to try to put a finer point on um what might be going on with the students uh with with with the way they're learning uh and the speed at which they're learning and I although it

046might fly in the face of of conventional wisdom that that would lean to toward Outsourcing that kind of work uh a I think we have a much better product and a product that's much more available to families and can also do some more traditional counseling um but but I also think we save money because we are we are not paying three or four or five or six uh outside um psychometricians at two or three times the hourly rate that these folks um that that these folks as part of the Union contract come to us for so I think that is a piece of it once upon a time somebody in this District or a group of somebody's made the choice that that was a wise investment um the other piece when when you you know

047knowing knowing the way the other schools in the in at least Berkshire County and I'm far less familiar with anywhere outside of the burkers I I don't believe on a per pupil basis we have any fewer um I I don't believe we have any fewer guidance counselors and our proportion of of counselor to students uh would would hang with any of our neighboring districts including Lennox including um Berkshire Hills uh we do have some of our some of the things that that I would kind of consider as maybe a type of counseling which are our our oural classes at the elementary school and at the at the middle and high school would actually fall under the the teaching um umbrella so those employees while they they might be uh you know thinking of Lanesboro in

048particular that's an employee that could be in that school social worker mix but but would be becoming under teer because they are a full-time class instructor um primarily so some of it is how different districts approach the work of serving students some of it's how we opt to have our own inhouse staff versus um going to to out of outside of our own employee staff and and some of it is just um some of it I I think is just and and one of the challenges of all of this is as Joe and I have discussed at length is how places tend to categorize the different things and services they provide so I say all of that by way of saying I I don't think we're we're underprovided those services at all um and that

049doesn't include when we need to going to um outside Psych matrician School psychologists if we think that that is going to best serve a family best serve a student and also going to outside um counseling and help resources for students so I I would have a hard time um I would have a hard time putting a putting a label on that that we need to step up and do better because I I I think we I think we well serve our students there I think if you if you had a if you looked at this differently and instead of looking at dollars spent you looked at FTE per FTE pupil we we would look very much like like most of our comparable districts thank you Jake Jo I got I got the word we we

050we lost by one unfortunately that was that was the word I got thank you apies Jake apologies car um wondering about uh special education um costs is that included under pupil services and if so does that also include out of District placements and things like that that would I within within this way that the state reports the data special education would be spread across instructional leadership teachers and Par professionals guidance counseling and testing um it would really be across and instructional materials equipment and technology so that the um like our special education director and that office is under instructional leadership our special education teachers and our and our special education par professionals are within teachers and Par professionals so that this does not separate those out um there are other ways that we could potentially

051dig into this data that would do special education and regular education per pupil but this does not serve that purpose and does the state provide data on out of District placements versus in District kind of that the state actually admits that the way that it has school districts report data um that there is no great way right now to do good comparisons within the world of out of District placements um and so that's that's an area that yeah where we can't get great comparative data right now any other questions on this before we move on to getting past where we fit in and just going to what we need to do all right um all right so uh our FY 25 budget challenges all of the and Steve this speaks directly to what what you

052had asked before um we've got all the usual things the salary increases that that are determined by contracts uh We've we've got a healthy not so healthy health insurance bump um our retirement contribution is is much um we've got a much smaller increase this year than we've seen in recent re recent years we have property insurance increases you know all all of that stuff all of the usual um we do reflect some supplies and services cost increases but we've also got some within for instance energy um heating uh other other um energy costs um we're seeing some some decreases and and our lock-ins within contracts have us um decreasing those lines by a bit um it's also been yet another mild winter um so we're trying not to temper our excitement just as around costs

053too much um um so it's not as though we're just basing next year's heating bills on this year's um but but there is some realization that as as we look at the trends and as we look at also our our energy cost decreasing a bit between this year and next year that um we feel comfortable decreasing those lines of touch um and then there are some challenges that are less usual um at Mount Greylock we have significant $300,000 right there in outof District tuition increases between what we knew we were budgeting for for FY 24 and now what we know we are budgeting for FY 25 um and there are some Associated transportation and and services costs that come along with those um at lboro elementary school um we do within the budget have um

054some plans embedded within that for plan teacher retirements at the end of next year that come with per our collective bargaining agreement and it and it has been a part of the lanb elementary school um teacher contract for for many years before um upon retirement there are uh there is for instance a sick day um buyback um provision which is in that contract so we need to make sure to budget for that um within our f25 budget so you'll see that there is a line that that is increased by $225,000 there just to handle um that kind of Separation cost um and then at Williamstown Elementary School we continue to have um a greater need for one-on-one assignments within par professionals um then then we um then we would want and um that's reflected within

055the fy2 budget um but at the end of the day with all the usual and the and the less usual if it wasn't for 300K and expenditure increases that we need to cover um this would be a year where we could pretty comfortably um just as long as we weren't adding positions adding scope of what we're trying to do um we could we could live pretty comfortably within um where our towns have requested that we come so that's um that's the picture and we can start to go through the budget here in a sec but Steve is your hand yes um so thanks for the uh details I'll see if I can try to phrase this in a normal year instead of 300K would you expect this to be more in the say 50k range

056and then the other thing which is you know extremely hard to answer for a small District a small number of events can really Drive massive changes like this and there's going to be you know fluctuations this is why a lot of things we do fiveyear rolling averages do you expect that we're going to continue to see additional expenses like this more demands for oneon-one more needs for one-on-one and that we might have similar uh you know needed increases like this next year and the year after or do you think this year might be a bit more of an anomaly I if you can't answer that completely fine y I can I I I think that we are we are definitely planning on some of these increases that are embedded within the FY 25 budget not

057going away in FY 26 and FY 27 um whether or not we will see similar jumps as we move from fy2 to FY 26 there is no reason for us to believe that that we're going to have another jump like this um and and there's no reason given demographics enrollment things like that um that that it's something that that people should really be planning for right now that's my that's my take okay so roughly it's a hit now some of these expenses will continue but we're not expecting similarly sized new hits in the future that's that's what I'm saying right now and I really hope that I'm not wrong as we look at next year very easily be wrong but there's no reason it's extremely tough to make predictions with stuff like this but this

058helps put these costs in perspective thank you yep all right so now uh within your packet and and I don't know if the best way to do this is for me to switch the screen share or to um think I probably well just so that our eyes are all trained on the same documents but but you have the same three types of files that you have grown accustomed to over the last few years um it it is good to note that as if you do end up going and looking back at the comparative data um and this is something that we've worked hard on over the last few years and and we're able to say if you look at the leftand column the the rolled up categories for expenses um you'll see a pretty much

059direct link between the columns that you were seeing within that comparative data for instance instructional leadership that was something that that you saw within um that sheet and this ties that ties directly to expenses you see here now this is the non-staff side so this is everything outside of payroll um but if you were to take the two PDFs and also look at the comparative data you could say oh you know here's here is how that um portion of the data is built up within our system within our budgeting um so as we scroll down through here I don't think it's helpful tonight to um to go line by line um I think that as school committee members go through this and as you have questions just reach out to Jake and me um directly

060over the course of the next couple weeks if you just want to know exactly what what a specific line is um so I'm just going to give you the the super high level and then I think it's probably just helpful for us then to dive into discussion of of what does this all mean and how comfortable do we feel with it and um where where do we go from here um but same as we've been talking about as I scroll down through this um we have um some increases uh related to supplies and services some some decreases relate related to supplies and services um we have health insurance um increasing um school choice and um Charter uh depending upon the school building you're seeing some Elementary School costs particularly at lboro elementary um those are

061students who are aging out of the lanb elementary school age group moving up into the mount grock GAE group if they continue being Choice out that $30,000 it isn't as though um here all of a sudden uh six students are returning to lbur elementary school it's actually that those students are graduating from sixth grade moving up to seventh grade so as I scroll down you see that that there is an increase there at Mount Greylock so that that contributes to a sizable just transition of costs transfer of costs from one Center to another um at Mount Greylock as we continue scrolling down um same story around there are um some supplies and services increases some supplies and services decreases health insurance is an an increase without a doubt um and then you've got the the

062big jump here with intuition to non-public schools which is that outof District tuition um line at Williams toown Elementary School all of the same pictures some some increases some decreases um and the health insurance line um District level generally the same story some some increases some some decreases um and you've got uh the Burkshire County Retirement System contribution here along with um health insurance and property insurance um so those are three areas we are still trying to zero in on exactly whether or not we can enter into a series of leases for some student transportation uh Vans um that's what that motor vehicles line is um we're going to have that hopefully pin down here uh ahead of the public hearing but um that's that's where that increas is uh is being seen and then

063within uh Capital costs which are exclusively at Mount Greylock Regional School related to the school building project um all borrowing is now longterm there is no shortterm related to that um and you just see a fairly stable year as far as the way the debt schedule um that is laid out based on a borrowing proceeds over the course of the next many years um so that's that's now very stable um within the district so that's the non-staff side um then going to need to stop this share and share another on the staff side try to make it larger um is this legible for folks now okay um Lan's realary school um as I said within the um within the summary um we are planning on working without replacing uh a teacher who is retiring um

064we can speak more to that uh as we as we go um and then the other big story aside from aside from just um natural increases and changes um is that employee separation cost line which is um based on planned retirements at the end of next school year um we need to budget for costs associated um with those separations so that's that's what um that $25,000 increase is um at Mount Greylock Regional School um similar story right now um planning on um not replacing a teacher's departing um that uh is the is the biggest story along with um we're going to be restructuring how we're handling Summers a bit um changing the ways we do some staffing but we are seeing a jump in par professional um FTE so um it is not the case

065that when you increase by five people payroll only increases by 63,000 by any stretch but that reflects um some of that supplemental pay um that that we will not be planning for summer um and other areas of the school year that that does add up there along with we've had some um very Senior People retire and we've um hired at at much lower steps um so that's the cumulative impact there within our par professional group um and then aside from that all contractual obligations changes um impact of retirements and and younger uh younger folks coming in um so there's there's really a non non story there at Williamstown Elementary School um similarly um senior senior teacher uh retiring um not replacing um that teaching position um but we are um seeing the need to in

066increase our um number of par professionals um within those one-on-one roles um and that's what is is leading to this um significantly higher cost there within the par professional line um at the district level um the two notable changes aside from um just projected increases based on contracts um a sizable chunk of the increase here is um now that the building project is over we need to um manage having a uh treasur position that is fully accounted for by the school district outside of the building project outside of that line of funding um we need to have that role um within the district so that's a chunk of this along with the other um three FTS related to me payables and pay Ro um within department heads um this is just a change in structuring

067within the special education office and and the contractual obligations there um so that's special education Direction and payroll costs there so that's our staffing side are there any questions there before I just jump up to the high level of what that means for revenue and apportionment yeah I have a question about um impact of not replacing a teacher at each of the schools could you speak to that yeah how about I think that would be a good just place for us then to have all of our conversation once we kind of get through here so let's let's talk about that in a few minutes if that's all right okay okay uh then now the final walk through door um and this is is in definitely in draft form right now um what you see rolled

068up are all of those staff and non-staff expenses to to be top level um we are to try to absorb the shock associated with the significant increases at Mount Greylock Regional School um we are spending within this draft we are spending far more out of our tuition revolving account than uh than we would like to um our Revenue expectations for next year just as we think about trying to equalize between um revenue and expenditure in any given Year we're probably looking at about $725,000 in in Revenue next year um so we'll be spending down this account by about $130,000 or so decreasing the balance um which still does not put us into a a dangerous spot at all um but it's not sustainable um so if we look out three four five years um this

069is not something that we could keep on doing um forever um a little bit less So within School Choice um we're currently projecting right around $510,000 in school choice related Revenue next year um so we're spending down that account but not um not quite at the same rate um Williams college fund we're we're hopeful that that's stable um as we move into next year um but we actually don't have an update from Williams College as to whether or not that number might might need to um decrease or or increase as we as we look at next year um within Grant spending um this takes into account the um the rural aid grant that the state um has been increasing year-over-year um they increased it in a in a significant way between last year and this

070year um so far we're not hearing any indication that they're about to um decrease it but this this Revenue number of $720,000 across the district um is contingent upon um that panning out um and federal and and other state grants um not bottoming out so um you know this is one where I think we feel pretty good about it based on recent history and based on everything that we know um but it's not as though that's a contractual obligation um within circuit breaker um our ability to circuit breaker is special education f funding within the state of Massachusetts where um expenses that you um eligible expenses that you incur within one year are reimbursed or a portion of those are reimbursed by the state the following year um that sounds good in a situation where

071you've got rapidly increasing special education expenses from one year into the next but the number of qualifiers that are placed on that program before any bit of spend is eligible or before each bit of spending is eligible um are significant so for instance um and this might not be the rule for this year but in in recent years um you need to spend $75,000 of certain types of money um on certain services for a single student before the amount over that is eligible for reimbursement through the circuit breaker program so conceivably if you had 10 students and each of them needed services that cost 70 thou $70,000 a piece and you had $700,000 in expenses you could be in a situation where even though it sounds like circuit breakers a wonderful program that's going to

072save you and you just need to weather one year um that's not necessarily how the program works because none of those expenses might actually be eligible for reimbursement with in the program um so this is an area where we're all going to be putting our heads together working on it we think that the $200,000 number um is reasonable for what we will see in in Revenue through the program uh for next year um and and so we're we're trying to be somewhat conservative and and realistic here you know but it's possible that that we'll end up seeing more um so that's that's why we've got the 200,000 um chapter 7 this is based on the governor's numbers and you this is the same as what we looked at over the last uh month or so

073um same thing with chap chapter 71 and and Charter tuition so these being three big state um programs um within Medicaid reimbursement um this is an area where based on expenditures that we incur um we go through a process of our special education office goes through a process of um of uh categorizing filing documenting sending it off and receiving reimbursement um our special education office has done a fantastic job of of ramping up how it's able to they're kind of like itemized deductions on your taxes you you need to go through and and and you know make sure you check off every everything and keep every receipt and documented and every proper way um and then be prepared to account for it um and our office has done a wonderful job of that and I

074think we can comfortably um Bank on um this increase there you know it's it's modest but uh but in a year like this any anything where we can say we've been doing a great job and we have no reason to to think that we will not continue um that's that's what we're looking at here in terms of the $85,000 um Regional Transportation revolving that was for FY 24 um that was not necessarily a one-time thing but um but what we had seen in uh FY over the course of FY 23 was that our regional transportation reimbursement was significantly larger than um than what we had expected it to be um so those funds ended up going into the regional transportation revolving account and they are being spent as a part of the fy2 24 budget

075we're not seeing that kind of a surplus this year so we have nothing to put forward towards fy2 in that regard so this is really an area where if the state's budget comes out and if it's a lot better than than what we had planned um that is that is why you would see this line for instance pop back up in FY 26 um but it's but it's not an area that that will be able to utilize for fy2 um and then and then the big one um transfer from end I had started off the presentation with we've got a million 80,000 something within end that's eligible for use next year um this budget right now is utilizing more than half of that and I'll leave that there you know that that's a that's a

076sizable commitment I and I would and I think it's it needs to be looked at in concert with school choice and with tuition and what it means for us projecting ending this year with $2 million across the three of them and saying how much are we decreasing that um that overall um bank roll but um this right now within this draft look um we we've got this this number in place which once again you see it's it's leaning heavily towards Mount Greylock Regional School trying to trying to lessen the um the impact of the expenses that are that have ramped up there significantly um with all of that taking into account um you we we jumped down into the capital portion of the apportionment um that as we talked about it's it's going to stay

077fairly level uh as far as Debt Service um the apportionment it's um gone through the calculator here it is for for the Two Towns pretty steady and then when you get down to the to what everybody um within town finance and town meeting really care about um in terms of finances that bottom right hand corner um currently within this draft within the set that you're looking at tonight um we're showing a 3.01% increase on lanbo's assessment um operating plus Capital combined and a 3.54% increase for the town of Williamstown um I will note that and I'm very appreciative of um Williamstown uh Town Administration I you might have seen it in I Burkshire um when they took a draft budget to the Williamstown uh to the Williamstown finance committee um last week they had a

078placeholder in for us of 4% which I think was just you know planning for the worst saying well here's here's what happens to property taxes if the school district does not listen to what um was requested by by Town officials um we are not fully utilizing all of that uh plan for the worst um but uh quite honestly because of the way a portion works and because of the portion of Mount Greylock Regional School that Williamstown um is is covering annually within this budget trying to get Williamstown down to 3% um would would lead to additional Staffing cuts um of some sort uh within within this budget and so um we've kind of within what we have here for discussion tonight we have leaned perhaps more heavily on our reserves than anybody would or will

079feel comfortable doing um but we've done so in a way that we feel is um is our best current step forward in draft form um and is open for open for discussion and Carrie we can jump back in into into your you your question here in a second um unless we want to try to answer some more because I think that will be that will be the the bulk of the discussion but I don't know if Julie and Jose if you have other kind of like specific about this questions or if you just want to open it up to broader discussion I I actually um let's put we can wait on my question and go to Julie and Jose because I I have a another question about the reserves as well so I'll go after

080them um Julia this may be a really hard question to ask um but given how Reliant we are on the reserves in this budget in this proposed budget um and that's not something we can do every year what do you anticipate will be the solution in future years are there costs that you anticipate may go away or reduce um is this you know how how are we going to make this work in future years the the quick answer there and and Jake will have something far more far more thoughtful but the quick answer here is that given given the shock associated with these new expenses um Jake and I have been talking internally about this is the warning shot that means we need to spend the next year and a bit potentially significantly restructuring how

081we think about scheduling and potentially electives um at Mount Greylock Regional School if this is the picture that we need to be living within if if we cannot see larger increases um in terms of assessment if more money does not come from state and federal sources and if our outof district costs continue to be as high as they are we are going to need to to make more significant changes than um not replacing um staff who are departing one of the things that I think you mentioned last year was um that you were going to try to figure out if you could bring some of the out of District placements in house um and I just wondered where that that process was there are two two quick answers there um one is uh we have

082spent a fair amount of time looking at the at the Spectrum of needs that that we would need to address in order to significantly reduce this number that you're seeing here tonight um the answer is we would need a number of very specialized very expensive to operate programs in order for us to um make a make a sizable dent in this the other thing is that um we are and this is lesser because I I think that honestly the the first answer is primary the secondary is anytime we would want to consider opening up a specialized program um within our district um we are at this point actually somewhat space constrained um we we do not um at Mount Greylock or at Williamstown Elementary School um and kind of also not at L Elementary School

083we don't have any spare classroom space or dedicated areas within our buildings that somehow unlike some other schools within burer County for instance um we are very healthy in terms of our enrollment we're seeing increases in enrollment our classrooms are fairly full um so we we don't have empty wings or empty empty rooms where we could say well what could we do with this space we we need to dig dig harder in order to come up with any space within our buildings right now um that can be repurposed or that can be used in a different way but again that's not um that's not the blocking Factor here but it is something that is is challenging to think about too and Jake I did I was there something I missed there or is that no

084I I think you got it uh I you know ultim is is we as a team assess could could we serve the students that are in need of outof District placements to an adequate level um for the same or or less Financial inputs the deeper we we go down that uh that rabbit hole the more we see that that no we we could not adequately let alone serve them as well as they're being served in highly specialized settings um we we do know what of those students will be sunsetting from our care and into the the care and financial responsibility of another agency uh so that gives us some some uh notion of where we'll be a year two years three years down the road um to Steve's question from much much earlier in the

085evening it's it's really hard to tell Will there be other students coming in and coming up that that take those students places but but for right now even even with uh nearly doubling or out of District placement costs those students are where they need to be and uh and so we have to find other ways to to to make those uh make the rest of the budget work Jose is your your question on this very topic or is it on a different subject um I don't know it's on on this topic I guess okay go ahead a general a general question but I'm I'm happy to to hold it um if you have something more specific to ask harrie well yeah I guess my my question on this topic is um what happens if we

086have uh a family or multiple families move in mid year um that's where we really would be relying on our school choice and tuition if we had special education obligations and that makes me really nervous um spending them down because if we see this as and I I don't know what's behind a sudden increase um whether it's it's one family or a few families or Williams town has become an attractive uh place for people to move to and so this is just a you know so if if that's the case if there's a a trend that that depends on something that is rather constant then um we do need to be prepared for midyear increases as well and the funds that we can use midyear our um tuition and choice right um as opposed to

087end yeah and that's end spend down is another issue and that also makes me really nervous but I'll yeah and I'll also say that part of part of why within this draft we we're using we're spending down end at a rate that is more drastic than what we're spending from choice in tuition are that if we need to respond to a midyear situation tuition and choice are the funds that we can easily use with end we would actually need to revote the entire budget and kind of and send that back to the towns for revote to to have them support that as well um and end is an area where uh if for instance the state somehow increases chapter 7071 Charter tuition or if there is additional funding that comes through the state through those

088related programs anything in excess of what you're seeing within the the budgeted Revenue here would go to decrease the negative impact of spending more endd because it would be going into that general fund and it would go to to become the end for for the following year um so that's all in some why we're saying this is a year to spend end down more aggressively um than tuition and choice but that's that's just one take Jose yeah um thank you Joe and and uh um lower my hand here um I think the I think the question that I'm going to try to phrase is to maybe ask you to address a potential narrative that might arise in Our member towns so um you know last year in the budget that we proposed to Our member

089towns you know relative to inflation one could argue and I think you know quite uh seriously that you know we effectively saw a decrease in our our the what we asked Our member towns in terms of um financial support you know um because of the the impacts of inflation this year the budget asks are you know comparable to what our you know our inflation rates seem to be um except for that increases you know resulting from from cost due to healthcare right so that's well in advanced and well well higher than than um what we're seeing inflation rates across the board um so over the course of you know the budget that we're looking at here in inflation adjusted dollars one might argue that this is less than what our budget the budgets that we

090proposed three years ago right because of the impact of inflation and our um sincere efforts to you know address the concerns of of Our member towns regarding you know what we might what what we might be asking for support so so that said um in hearing from Julia and Carrie I think there there's this worry that you know we um that that's spending down on school choice funds and and end um could come across as irresponsible in that context es especially because of um particularly in Williamstown as you you shared with this Joe you know their preparation for being asked for a little bit of a higher percentage on the order of 4% so you know given I'm not sure if I'm making any sense please tell me if I'm Mak any sense at all

091but if if I am and that narrative that could be out there that we just aren't asking for enough um given the challenges that we have faced as a district because of everything that we know has transpired over the past two years or so uh what would you say to folks who might be concerned about that and maybe to add to that question is the question about the impact in terms of teachers um not replacing teachers exactly exactly yeah I think in you know in that context last year when we were having this conversation you know there was this aspiration to um you know we were members of our community were you know thinking quite I think aspirationally about supporting the Arts in the middle school and about you know the U the potential staff

092position you know the director of diversity equity and inclusion and belonging and and this this budget doesn't seem to be aspirational in those ways and and I don't think it needs to be but I think there's there's that outstanding concern that um we're perhaps being too too cautious in terms of you know what we're the support that we're asking from from our member towns uh and Jake I'll turn it over to to you in a second but um I think that the partnership that this district has with its two member towns and in trying to hear each other I I think that this is a year where we we again we are hearing what what they are saying and we are responding to that um but we are also adding that in comparison to other

093school districts across the state and as we look at the expenses that we need to incur in order to maintain or improve what we are offering right now that we're going to need to look to somehow expanding what we're able to do and spend as we look at the next number of years and and so I think that this message is one of We Are All in This Together We we appreciate the partnership and we are also saying we don't have a lot more Runway before we need to cut into what we do and so we we need to work together to make it so that we can we can do more um I I think that's that's what this is saying and and that's what I hope people walk down the street tomorrow if

094they are seeing this that they are saying that the school district is saying that it's going to need help in the form of Revenue in order for it to be the school district that people know and love and hopefully that improves what it's able to do over time um as opposed to needing to figure out how to how to make cuts um within what it's able to do or against what it's able to do and so I think that that's got to be the story it isn't one of uh anything other it's it's a it's a good partnership and we're we are putting out a call for help here saying that we we're going to need help and and I would jump in and and and then you know it looks like you maybe have

095a followup Jose and I'll try to address your question as well Carrie you know part part of the agreement and being in that that honest partnership with our two member towns and the folks that are um good enough to to to run for their elected offices or appointed to serve the town on various boards is that we're being really 100% clear and transparent that we are running as efficiently as we think we can run um and you know to that end as Joe and I continue our tenure together here in this District um not last year we opted not to replace a a retiree from m Greylock uh I think the solutions that came forward to um to to fill what looked like it would be a massive Gap were very appropriate and I I

096think now halfway more than halfway through this current year uh very successful Solutions we while we were not able to hire a uh an additional art teacher last year the the way that the middle and high school administration worked this schedule and and used the the existing three positions that that we had uh again I think we we did increase the offerings to the students who who were most looking to have their offerings increased which were at the Middle School uh thinking about the folks that we're not looking to replace uh moving into next year as we as we thank these individuals for years and in some cases is Decades of excellent service to kids in these two towns um just because of the specifics of what these folks do and just the the organic

097lining up of uh particularly in a school like Lanesboro but it's also true at Williamstown too the need for what an individual person does next year and and the number of students in grade levels the number of students need specific services that were provided um we will be fine with with treating these reductions of employees through attrition this this will not result in a lessening of uh service to to the young people that we all here to to serve on a daily basis uh H however you know we we feel like we have worked really hard I we don't feel we have worked very very hard to to do to be as effective and as efficient as we can be uh and and maybe murdering a phrase that Julia used earlier being a bargain but

098also being a value uh we have worked very hard at that I I do think this current year and and also in the back of my mind thinking through the the growing list of districts that the the Massachusetts superintendent Association is collecting the number of districts looking at overrides this year um I would say is is likely close to an all-time high uh Chapter 70 did did just did not seem to be the priority in the Statewide budget that it has been in over really the past previous half of a decade um the way that the monies collected through the the newly approved millionaires tax are being distributed um I I think there's some folks who who would who would make a case that there was a a bit of a bait and switch with

099how those funds which were really schools and public education were one of the areas where it was very specifically delineated uh that that's where the money would be going the proportion of the money that is actually going to that I think is is disappointingly small to those of us that advocated really vifer asly for that for that new tax in the Commonwealth um so will we be able to provide our kids with what they need next year in spite of these reductions that we're looking at absolutely and and we can say that very honestly with with our heads and our hearts speak speaking together and yes we will um is is it sustainable um at at the rates of growth that we're looking at from year to year uh and and I I would say

100that even our contractual rates of increase when compared to other contractual rates of increase across the state shows a a spirit of community in this school district that other communities would be envious of uh e even with those modest increases I don't know that we're sustainable if this is a stalemate that's going to be expected to to repeat year after year after year particularly as the one thing that that grows for sure uh is seems to be that the needs of our students were at large but also the very specific nuan to needs of of some families that are um you know that we're welcoming into our community so what we will we will be fine and we can be proud of what we're able to do next year uh we do need to work

101together to find more Sustainable Solutions to to to remain who we want to be and who we feel we owe the students of this community uh as as we enter into future years Harry thank you Jake a a little bit more granular question when you say that we will be able to meet the needs of our kids um are we meeting those needs with larger class sizes in certain grades that we're gonna hear about interestingly enough uh I don't believe so I don't believe either of the the um either of the very strategic uses of attrition at the element schools are not going to increase class sizes it it will definitely impact particularly at Lanesboro more than Williamstown Elementary uh I would foresee a a use of school choice next year that is between almost

102no new incoming students to very few but at incredibly laser focused grade areas where it works um and and this this one grade that we happen to be talking about right now there will be zero openings in that grade level uh for students because we're we're still going to have class sizes uh as those students move on to the their new grade next year our class sizes will be very reasonable and not a family nor a student will recognize an appre appreciable difference in class size because of these these choices were made thank you Jose thank you Jake and thank you Joe um I'm going to try to summarize what I think I heard because I think it might be one way that um you know members of our our our member towns might hear

103this um this would be the second year now and I think we should be proud of this and our member Town should be proud of the efforts that you know both you and Jake have have have made to you know minimize our asks to Our member towns and in the context of all the challenges that we faced coming out of the pandemic because of the you know impacts of inflation you name it I think we've been and you both have been incredibly sensitive um and resourceful in in um you know minimizing these asks but what I'm hearing is that to minimize them yet again um we are drawing down reserves in such a way as to make our ability to be responsive to unmitigated circumstances this upcoming year we're we're we're challenging that ability we

104are then making it perhaps more difficult on ourselves to um continue offering the same quality or same kinds of services curricular and co-curricular in years to come you know uh I would expect and I think we would all expect you know teachers to to see improved compensation in years to come we can imagine all of the costs that um are going to arise in in the near term to to help maintain the you know the quality of what we deliver um and for for I think for many of us in our member towns you know our school district is a a real gem you know the the hills are lovely the Clean Air is is great um you know the one wonderful people we live alongside uh you know always to be treasured but our

105school district is a true true Gem and what is what brings many families in to to Our member towns you know to um you know and I think it's something that I am incredibly proud of you know to be a parent of kids who are in our school district and I know I'm one of many um and so just to bring it back um I wonder why I'm trying to phrase this in a way that um could we can we expect to see a different version of this budget that might ask a little bit more from our member towns one that you know reflects how hard we have tried in the past you know to be sensitive to their their concerns and one that really reflects the challenges that we face as a district to

106kind of meet our obligations and to to you know providing Health Care uh and and insurance cost for our our employees I mean can we is it possible for us to expect an amended budget that might expect a little bit more thereby allowing us to keep more in reserve to be more you know to improve our responsiveness during this upcoming year and to help us prepare for for years to come my quick response on the on the finance side I think is that um this budget that you see here tonight is one where both towns Finance committees I would expect that their eyebrows will raise when they see what what we're doing and they'll say this is not sustainable and if we say back to them well would you prefer that we either increase percentages

107this year or give everybody a year to plan for more increases next year I think I think they would say I I would rather you spend the money that you have rather than raising property tax rates this year but we appreciate that we're all a part of the conversation around what this means for future years because I I think it's it's very difficult to walk up to any town finance committee and say let's go on ahead and start taxing at higher rates now but keep money in the bank I think that's the that's the top line thing and and with the funds that we're leaving with intuition and choice within this plan we still do have the capacity to respond to midyear challenges increases changes um it's just that we cannot continue in this way

108for for many years to come so I think that's like it isn't as though all of a sudden next year people should plan on having a midyear um set of special Town meetings if if anything happens but but this is an indication that we're going to need to see some some changes for next year Joe how far below the 5% um cap on endd will we be if we go with this plan um well we we would end up seeing ourselves go from 4% down to 2% roughly just given the given the increase and would be the net School spending which would increase the the top line of which you're calculating 5% as being your cap I don't remember ever being that low I mean in the time that I've been on the committee if

109if I could carry apologies for asking you a question but it's helpful to me is that I think I hear concern are you concerned by maybe that's what I'm yeah no I really am I really am yeah the and and I can pull back I can pull up historical numbers part of the part of the challenge there is that until um we would have been looking at end for only Mount Greylock Regional School um so the building up to 5% of the total was actually in just pure dollar terms a pretty significant increase um to to to jump up to to about the million two being the cap million one million two being the cap that that we would have right now um but I can definitely pull up the last few years and we

110had made an effort I also we had made an effort to Peg ourselves to that 5% because it was the only thing that in terms of U ratings for borrowing that that did matter um so that's that's the other the other side here that I think is important to note is that there is nothing that we have in our future right now that that means um outside firms agencies will will will give us better better treatment better pricing if we work closer to the 5% I I'll just put that I I share your discomfort Carri but I'm just kind of giving some other data points and I also I'll I think I said this earlier but it can't be repeated enough this is definitely giving us a year to either figure out how to more

111thoroughly restructure a number of things about Mount Greylock Regional School for the most part um but but it gives us that Runway to to do it so that so this is not a moment for us to say here are all the different changes that the program to study into the way that we schedule um you know that that is not what we're doing here um but if we're in a position like we're in next year we're giving ourselves a Year's notice to to say like that's that's the kind of stuff that we'd be in if if we were cutting two or $300,000 in um in in teaching positions and I take it there really isn't any reason to believe we'll have opportunity to build our reserves back up in the next couple of years probably

112I mean they the if for instance there are significant changes within the way the state is funding education like if all of a sudden the House and Senate come through with their budgets and they say actually Governor respectfully we feel as though we need to put more into education because of all the towns that are going to be put in override situations right now you know there are plenty of towns right now where they're saying do you want a big override or a small override but either way it's an override uh but if if that were to happen then all of a sudden we wouldn't need to eat into the the end balance for end D next year nearly as much because more would be flowing into that so we would still be spending but

113more would be flowing in by way of Revenue into the J so that that would be the way that that would get built back up yeah I mean the the counter point Jose is that we want to be able to pass a budget right that's the that's how we that's the political thinking around giving the towns a budget that they can defend right and that won't push them into a position of having a cut Town Services um you know it we are caught between a rock and a hard place and while it is our job to advocate for our kids we're hearing from our Administration that we are not um diminishing what we can offer this coming year but we would be diminishing the following year if we had to do this again so I'll

114just leave there can I I I would love to share my like what's going on in my head my concerns that um I with the caveat that I am not in the conversations you're having with the town um and I know when Jose started speaking um I share the same sentiment he shared about um how the wonderful relationship that you have built with our towns um and how grateful um I am for that as well and I wonder um how those relationships actually work because predicated in what you are saying is we're you know and I get like let's spend the money we have rather than um increase the tax base I understand that um but there's an assumption that in a year if we are in trouble or can't make this balance that the

115town will help out that who's the who's the town right the town is the people who are working on behalf of the town and they could be different or what has to go to the um if it has to go for an override or for a a you know um it obviously does have to be voted by the towns um are we in a worse position if the Gap is even bigger next year than if it were spread out over two years right so like it feels to me like we have to understand how we would who the town is and how we spread out you know our asks to ensure we have um what we need so the the when I refer to relationship with town of Hall I'm typically referring to the the

116Town Administrator for each Town um the finance committee and the select board um mostly the Town Administrator and the finance committees tell Fred and Melissa they can't get off the finance committee and whoever's at Lanesboro I mean you know what I mean you you build Goodwill with people and then different people are in those seats and now you're do they have the same history that that kind of thing so I and I I totally get it and I and I think um yeah I I I don't want them to depart the finance committee but at the same time if if they all disappeared and there are new people next year and we needed to go with an increase that is and it and it has been I mean I've I've been on school committees in

117the past where we where we went and we said we're we're going to take it to town meeting and request a much larger percentage than than some people people on some committees and in some Town Halls want um because it it does end up at the end of the day it's it's up to annual Town meetings for each of the two towns to determine what what happens or doesn't happen um I I just think that I'm trying to appreciate the very free flow of information and and conversation that we have right now um and if if we were in a different position where in order for us to maneuver through next year and do all of the things that we need to do in order to continue improving and we needed to ask for a

118larger percentage I think that's the conversation that that's where we would be right now um but I'm I'm saying that I think we've got a year before that's the conversation like before that's the point that we're that we're at um that this is not moving us so far away from that that that we cannot get there um so I that's that's my two cents and I'm I'm I'm planning on being here next year so I'll I I'll be in the hot seat again and believe me this is the we we've had some not so fun budget years this one has had me feeling like I wanted to call in sick more often than than the others um so for what it's worth any other questions for Joe and Jake all right thank you Joe for

119that and thank you everyone for your questions um sorry Christina one question related to is something that Jose asked earlier about um can we expect any changes so do you expect any um new information prior to the point that we need to vote on this budget information from the state or any other information that could change what we're looking at tonight I don't foresee anything right now we we we tried to we were like cisus we're trying to push the ball as far up the mountain as we could so that um so I I I don't foresee I think that this is the good conversation point to have within our towns right now as we go through the next couple of weeks prior to having a we tried to get it to the point where

120we're not planning major changes okay y good yours yeah thanks all right um the um upcoming FY 2025 budget public hearing and uh the school committee meeting is March 14th at 6m and we are meeting via Zoom I do not have any other items for discussion any agenda requests okay would someone like to make a motion to adjourn so moved Curtis moves do I have a second a second Julia seconds all in favor Owen I conry I Constantin I Elfin B ey green ey Milla I thank you is 728 and we are adjourned thank you everyone for taking the time tonight really appreciate it yeah big