001I'd like to call to order the special meeting of the Fall River School Committee for March 25th, 2026. Deb, would you please call the roll? Mr. Aguiar? Here. Mr. Dias? >> Here. Mr. Corey? Here. Mr. Moniz? Here. Ms. Riley? Here. Ms. Stewart? Here. Mayor Coogan? Here. Salute to the flag. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Um pursuant to the open meeting law, any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium. Attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible. Do we have any citizens
002input? We do not. >> [gasps] >> Committee of the whole. Tonight's agenda consists of a presentation and discussion of >> Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see anybody else. Liar, liar, pants on fire. I'm sorry. We were confused cuz he filled it out and he was the only one. >> Left it right where it was supposed to be. >> [laughter] >> I hate when I do that. Uh all right, Keith Michon, Thayer Avenue. Uh 3 minutes, please, Keith. Thank you. Good evening. Thank you. I'm Keith Michon, president of the Fall River Educators Association. This is a meeting that I generally look forward to each year because beyond the spreadsheets and the numbers, the budget is a moral document. When we talk about funding, we're talking about opportunities for our students and investments for the future of
003this city. This is where the district's vision becomes real. FY27 marks the final year of the Student Opportunity Act. Adjusting for inflation, per pupil spending has increased by about 33% compared to pre-2020 levels. Chapter 70 is imperfect, but the Student Opportunity Act has made a real difference in public education for Fall River and that matters. I want to thank former Superintendent Dr. Curley, Acting Superintendent Mr. Rapoza, Mr. Almeida, Dr. Bronhard, Mrs. Opechian, and everyone who worked on this budget. I know the amount of time and effort it takes and it is appreciated. At the same time, we do not agree with everything in this proposal and we will be sharing our concerns after we've had time to review it fully. But that leads me to the main issue I want to share share tonight. The
004process. Receiving the budget now with a vote scheduled in just 1 week does not allow for the level of review, engagement, and public understanding that this deserves. In the past, the process has included more opportunities for detailed presentations, deeper discussion, and deeper discussion. In recent years, these those opportunities have been reduced and now this timeline represents another step in that direction. If we are serious about transparency, collaboration, and accountability, then the structure of this process has to reflect those values. Right now it falls short. The challenges facing this district is facing are significant. Meeting them will require more than a single presentation and a quick vote. It will require real engagement and shared understanding across the community. I look forward to tonight's presentation and the discussion ahead. Thank you. Mr. Chair? Thank you, Mr. Michon.
005Mr. Dias? Um just quickly on Mr. Michon's comments either through the um superintendent or Mr. Almeida, is some Last year was the first um time I went through the budget process myself as a new member. Is there anything different from last year into this year that's different in terms of the rollout of the budget? I think the timeline um you know, maybe condensed a bit. I know last year we did not have as many meetings. Years ago, I think Mr. Michon is referring to um you know, over the past several years we used to have uh several meetings by school and department. Um I know last year that was already condensed and so our timeline now is the presentation this evening, um a meeting Monday, um a discussion again Wednesday, and then I believe the
006vote is scheduled for the 15th, April 15th. So, a public hearing and vote April 15th. Okay, I think um we can't obviously go into the past, but if um we look into the future in the next year's timeline, if we can look into ways we can take in some of the the feedback. I yield. Thank you. The next uh 3.1 is a committee of the whole which is a presentation and discussion of the proposed fiscal year 2027 annual operating budget of the Fall River Public Schools as presented by Brian Rapoza, Acting Superintendent of Schools, and Kevin Almeida, um Chief Financial Officer. We're going to go down to the front row. Can people see that though with the lights? Okay. Okay, great. You have the clicker? Yes, sir. Okay, good evening. Um so today we'll provide
007an overview uh of the presentation which is really three parts. We'll talk about the process, the funding formula, and then um our local planning and proposed budget. So, this is really just a timeline. We're here in the middle where, you know, in March uh we have the budget presentation discussions. Those will continue as I mentioned um into next week where we have a meeting on Monday and next Wednesday um with the public hearing scheduled for April 15th, okay? And then um at the state level uh those are the pieces there that still need to take place. So, and I believe Mr. Michon referenced this as well, you know, our budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of values and aspirations, right? And so we look forward to presenting um what our
008our plans are to meet the needs of our students. So, our budget is a financial planning tool. Um it is a living document and I think that'll be seen um today in terms of the fact that we really need to adapt to changes in enrollment, um changes in funding, um and expenses, and really driven by uh student need. Um it's also a communication vehicle that conveys financial priorities. Um it aligns with our district planning and acknowledges the the challenges that we have in the work that we have to do. So, our budget priorities, which were already um you know, accepted approved by the committee, um really represent a focus on students in classrooms. And so um I just want to read this top statement. The most impactful investment we can make is in the people
009who work directly with our students every day, ensuring every child learns in a safe, welcoming environment with strong instruction, meaningful support for well-being, and the adult guidance needed for inclusion, social emotional learning, and rigorous learning so each student can find their path, right? And then we have some guiding principles there um as well that drive our budget decisions. Four main priorities, um which again have been seen before by the committee, uh strong teaching and learning, um so really protecting our existing investments in high-quality instructional materials, supporting teachers with coaching, and priority line professional learning, uh safe and healthy schools, uh so strengthening support for student well-being including social emotional learning, behavioral supports, and partnerships with organizations, recruitment and retention, focusing on really retaining uh great teachers and staff and supporting them through training, coaching, and
010partnerships, and then supporting um you know, historically marginalized groups including students with disabilities and multilingual learners. So, we want to continue to strengthen um our education for students with disabilities and multilingual learners um by improving our programming um and designing uh supports that meet their needs. So, um as was referenced, Student Opportunity Act, um signed into law in November 2019, um provided major uh funding to schools. Um I really want to note that, you know, the Student Opportunity Act addressed the real cost of education um specifically with a focus on low-income students, special education students, English learners, um providing opportunity to increase supports around social emotional learning services. Um You know, at the bottom, this is an important note. So, originally to be phased in over 7 years, year one was not funded. Um now
011intended to be funded over 6 years and FY27 represents year six, which is the final year of Student Opportunity Act funding. Okay, so that's an that's an important note. Net school spending, so required net school spending is referred to as the foundation but budget and this really is the minimum spending on cost directly educating uh related to directly educating students. Um the sum of this year's required local contribution Chapter 78, a district must spend that amount to be in in compliance. Um so 100% of legally required net school spending is the minimum amount a community must spend on education. Actual net school spending is what is reported at the end of the year. This includes municipal indirect costs um and operating expenditures. So the guiding principles around foundation budget is every school should have an
012adequate level of school funding based on size and needs. Local communities should contribute to their schools according to their ability to raise tax revenue and the state should provide enough funding to fill that gap. Um this really slide just uh dictates how um uh the um funding is calculated between the state aid and the local contribution. So you can see that we start with a foundation budget. There's 41% of state aid and 59% local contribution. Um and so you can click through this. I believe two additional Yeah, perfect. Go to the next one. Excellent. Um so our foundation formula um basically there's a foundation budget. We uh remove that um required local contribution and then that outlines what the Chapter 78 is um that is provided. Foundation budget includes six factors um enrollment, wage adjustment
013inflation, property values, income, and municipal revenue growth um are the the factors determining um the Chapter 78. As we know funding is based on pupil specific information um across categories of elementary enrollment middle school enrollment, and high school enrollment. And then our base funding also includes vocational, preschool, and kindergarten programming. We also receive incremental funding um based on um enrollment of English learners and uh low-income status is based on uh different eligibility categories. And so um those are listed there. Um I know that you all have this information, so I'm not going to read each each bullet right now. Do you want to speak to this, please? So as part of the foundation formula, we also receive money for special ed students. It's a factor and so it's a amount above the base and uh
014it's 1% for the in-district students that we receive and we receive uh four and five percent for students uh that are out of district. So this is just this a a rundown of how the low-income formula and how it changed sev- several years ago. Uh a big thing to point out here is that the low-income enrollment across the state dropped from 419,000 last year, nearly 420,000, down to just over 401,000 statewide. That was not the trend last year. We had an increase. This year is a Correct. And so the trend the last couple years uh has has been an increase and this is the first year we've seen a decline in this number. And so this number is actually this this number uh directly reflects uh Title I. And so because of this, we'll see
015a drop in Title I for next year as well. So these these are the foundation base base rates that are established within the foundation formula. As you can see, each each rate each each each budget has a specific dollar amount associated with it. Uh in particular, I wanted to point out uh the low-income category. So there are each each district falls within a group either one from one ranging from one through 12 and the amount of money that they receive from one is 4,287.89 uh to group 12, which is 10,719.79. Uh and the reason I just point that out is that um Fall River is in low-income group 12 and we and as part of the foundation formula, we receive quite substantial money in that category in that area. Uh this represents the last 3
016years um in the categories. So you can see essentially we've seen an increase in just about every category uh in our enrollment. Uh these numbers are reflective as for October 1 of this past year. And as you can see, there are 13,241 students that are accounted for. Just a reminder that um the charter schools are reflected in that number and so they make up nearly 2,000 students of that total. And this is what we've been talking about for the last several slides. And so this is the foundation budget for the Fall River Public Schools and you can see categories 1 through 13 across the top and each component to them. And so each one of these has a value based on the number what the enrollment is in each category. And in particular, I just
017you know, as I just mentioned that you know, nearly 112 million dollars of the 297 million foundation budget is the low-income portion that we just spoke about. And so I just wanted to point that out and the final piece I wanted to point out is that in this budget the foundation budget per pupil is 22,474 dollars for FY27. This slide is the last 5 years. It shows you what the Chapter 78 what the required district contribution and what the foundation budget have been over the last 5 years. You can see that in FY23 uh it was about two just over 200 million dollars to now where it's nearly 300 million dollars in FY27. So this is the comparison from FY26 through FY27. This information is provided by DESE when they provide the files to us
018every year. Um so the enrollment in we we increased enrollment by 135 students. Um we actually make up uh 95 in district, but it's slightly over 100 when you include everyone for us. So the remainder is the charter schools. Um and so our required net school spending number for FY27 is 297,582,870 which is an increase of 23.6 million dollars from last year or nearly uh an eight point It's an 8.62% increase. And so of that, Chapter 70 is 250,549,046. That went up nearly 19.8 million from last year. And the required district contribution from the city has increased by 3.8 million dollars to 47,338,24. So this is just you know, essentially what I just said, but just a recap. State aid for Chapter 70 is nearly 251 million. City contribution is 47 million. And that and
019the required the appropriation is 290 just about 298 million for a 23.6 million dollar increase over FY26 required net school spending. So our proposed budget at this time is um what is the minimum, which is the 297 582,870. It's an increase of the 23.6 million dollars over last year. So I know we talk about um the indirect costs often and so we are in the process of um in the process of essentially rewriting the indirect cost agreement. I know we've talked about it, but it will take a bigger focus after we're done with this budget. Um and so um we refer to the indirect costs as the chargebacks or the write-offs or the costs that are um from the city. And so the indirect costs as we see them, they're all all outlined in the
020indirect cost agreement as we currently have them. And so it's an agreement between the schools and the city and it's what's in place currently. So >> [snorts] >> Again, this is the number 297,582,870. It's our 100% net school spending number for FY27. Go to this one. Um and so just to talk about our local process, um we really met with um schools and departments. Uh we wanted folks to really focus on what will you prioritize, um offer an overview of you know, how how that uh will show up in your school, um ensure that what you're prioritizing aligns with district priorities and fiscal responsibility. Um individual school context is really important, right? So I I would just want to name that um the same thing in every place is not always um what is needed,
021right? And so I think student need should drive decisions that we make um that may be uh specific to schools. And so academic needs, social emotional needs, operational needs, um enrollment trends. And um it was important for us to stop and look at progress and impact to date. Um so what has been working, um where are there areas gaps in that and it has not been working, and then really um think about the alignment of staffing with identified needs of students, right? And so in some cases you'll see that, you know, we may be proposing reallocation of resources based on student needs. Um so really this is just a breakdown of the different categories on the left salary, contractual services, material supplies, and and other that make up the um proposed uh budget. So I'm
022capturing um our positions in this way across sort of um different categories. And so our proposed um budget uh on the operating side includes an addition of five positions in FREA unit A, um 13 positions in unit B, um it does propose a reduction in um paraprofessionals by 11. Uh I do want to name that we we also have many unfilled paraprofessional positions currently, so that's an important thing to to mention there. Um an increase of five positions in FREA, four positions in AFSCME, and um one a decrease of one position in SNN. So there's a net increase of 15 positions um that we're proposing in the budget. This is also broken down by grants. Um uh decrease of one position in unit A, increase of two positions in unit B, and a decrease of
023one FRAA position. So there's really a net zero change there in terms of the the grants related to those um those four positions. And then in the revolving budget which is nutrition, um a net increase of four positions specifically in that budget. Um so in terms of consideration, student enrollment, transportation, out of district tuitions, health insurance, utilities, um and then capital infrastructure. You want to speak to this one? So this year uh for the FY27 budget, we are proposing a transportation budget of 17 million 66,700 of which a portion of that will be funded through the McKinney-Vento reimbursement and through the circuit breaker fund. Um so from circuit breaker 1 million 816 652 will be reimbursed. Uh a million 400,000 from McKinney-Vento reimbursement. And so the net effect of that to the operating budget, so
024the appropriation for transportation in the operating budget will be 13 million 850,048 dollars. So um I think this is an important slide. So this is our enrollment and this is really October 1 to October 1. Um last year uh there were increases at all levels in this slide and I believe last year the number was around 435 five of an increase um pre-K to 12. This year we're at 95 of an increase. That's an important note, right? So I know that um and we've heard, you know, across the state um enrollment is sort of decreasing while that hasn't impacted Fall River yet in terms of a decline, we're also not seeing um new students at the rate we were last year, right? So that's an important note here and you can see that's just broken
025down by pre-K, K to 5, middle school, and then 9 to 12. Um and so as Kevin referenced, the discrepancy here is 95 students because this is FRPS specific. On the other slide I believe is 135, a gain of 135 students, but some of those being non-FRPS. So and as we've done um the last, you know, as we did last year, uh we provided this slide. So we have what, you know, the quote unquote wish list and so and provided in your documents which total about 2.1 million dollars. And here is the breakdown of, you know, the positions and the requests that have been provided. Um again we've we've got the unassigned school budget that uh we had last year that we started with for 500,000 dollars which is the pot of money available um
026for these type of requests these types of positions. There you go. Um and I just want to name that this wish list includes all positions that school leaders or departments proposed, okay? And then included with your documents as well are whatever presentations um school leaders had uh with, you know, with central office around their requests. And uh really just recognition. Um so thank you to Mr. Almeida Mr. Almeida um for all of his work, um Mr. Sobenchain, Dr. Bronhard, all of our principals and leadership teams, Mr. Pacheco, Mr. Cabral, our directors, um Mr. Machon and Mr. Rackley, uh the school committee, Ms. Cabral, Ms. Soares, and and Mr. Furtado. Yes. So we'll go to questions. Uh I I'd like to uh thank the entire staff for that presentation, especially our acting superintendent Brian Raposa and
027Kevin Almeida and anybody that contributed in any way, shape, or form to putting this together. Um we appreciate your efforts. And uh now we can have any questions. Uh Mr. Dias. Thank you and um thank you both um Mr. Raposa and yourself for the presentation. Um so I have a just so I know this is a introductory um we just got the budget just now. Just an introductory meeting. Just a few questions um I have in terms of um not just the budget but like planning for the future. And I'll start with um and I emailed Mr. Raposa and yourself and I appreciate you providing information on um fiscal forecasting. So we're working currently working on a strategic plan and and I'm not sure this is a five-year or seven-year or or 10-year strategic plan.
028Um I think you would agree it's important that if we have um like a fiscal forecast, we have the most accurate up-to-date numbers in terms of plan. You would agree that's very important in planning purposes. Yes. Um do we have an internal fiscal forecast? Currently? Yes. I I have a rough idea but not like a fully detailed >> No document like document with So um I know the city has their own fiscal forecast which which has um Well, I guess I'll go back and say I think it's important that we should have our own internal document for planning purposes that can go into strategic plan. Agreed. Um so that's something we could work on report back out. I also know that the city has their own strategic I mean not strategic plan. Oh, they probably
029do but they'll they have their own financial fiscal five-year fiscal forecast. And um there's information in terms of chapter 70 and other information on the school department. Who provides them that information? Do Is there a communication between yourself and the city to I know I know that in years past I've provided information but I haven't I haven't provided information in a while. On that. Interesting. So the I guess the concern I have and I I went today just to crunch up all the numbers the best I could and I understand we have the student opportunity act. And from 2016 it was two we were received increases I believe um and correct me if I'm wrong, 2.7 1.3% and 2019 we received an increase in chapter 70 for 4.9% so nearly five in 2019 nearly 6
030and a half percent increases. Then 2020 we have the student opportunity act so we get the additional money so we're going into the 10% 16% range in double digits. I understand this is the last year so where we're receiving this year a 8.6% increase. I'm just trying to understand where did the city or the CFO get that we're going to be receiving only 2% increases from 2028 until 2031. Do you Do you believe we're just going to receive 2% after student opportunity act ends? I would I would imagine that we're not going to receive anything more than 3% moving forward as would be my best my best guess at this time. Given where given where we are and where we're moving forward. And given the fact that enrollment is essentially like level and I'm concerned
031that it is going down. And so with all those things coming into play, I don't see a huge increase moving forward. Was enrollment and I wasn't on the committee back in um late the 2010s, was it was enrollment different than it was? >> Yes. So like in the last in the last several years, we've we've grown nearly a thousand students um in the last several years. A lot of that is to do with what's happened in pre-K, but in not just pre-K, we've seen a a grow a growth in students district-wide and this year uh we've begun we've begun to see a a dip in enrollment. And so since the October 1 figures the the it leveled off as through the end of the year in 2025 and we've seen you know, a decrease as
032the as you know, I've been monitoring the enrollment since, you know, January essentially and we've been seeing a decrease ever since. Okay, so you would say 2% for those years is accurate. I It's conservatively, yes. Conservatively, yes. Um I guess I would say just on the city side just uh go back and look at the look at that again because um or if we can just have our own document because if we're going to have a strategic plan and have um different projects and different um positions and things we want to do to help the students, it's important that we have the most accurate numbers that we can. Um second question, I understand I'll go through the book. I know we were provided um a not a one-pager, but like a three-four pager on um
033position changes in our um not uh like three on Well, not one-on-one meetings, but the private the meetings that we had in the budget. If we can just get a um or if you can present it now, is there anything different that changed in that document that's in the budget today? There there have been a couple changes that um I will I for Monday I'll have ready for you as to what all the changes were. So indeed. Just to be clear, you're just asking to highlight anything that shifted in the last, you know, week or or so. Which which we can do. Yep. Yes, and um last question I have just for now is um I know on RPA, I know we're doing um a lot of different things here. We can just um I
034did ask for some information on RPA um like on the budget and like what positions are changing, what's happening um which staff will be um affected there. If we can get some information on that. I yield for now. Any further questions? Uh Ms. Riley. Thank you for this. This is a lot of homework, so I appreciate it. >> Um I I guess one of the things that's a priority for me and one of the reasons that I ran for school committee is I never want to see a minimum net school budget again. Um that is the basement. It is literally the minimum minimum. And quite frankly, I don't think our kids deserve the basement. Our staff doesn't deserve the basement. And so I think we really need to think about what it is we need
035to be successful and make sure that our budget reflects that. So I appreciate this is kind of traditionally what's happened, but I hope that moving forward we can start to think about this differently, particularly with a strategic plan that's going to push us into the future and really think about where we want the district to be. I don't think that's ever going to happen with a minimum budget. So while I appreciate all this, I hope it's the last time we see a minimum net school budget. >> Sounds good. Uh anything further? Uh Mr. Diaz. Two quick follow-up questions. Um if for information is there an itemized list of the city I know the city when they um submit their when we submit our end of year reports, certain things the city can write off. Is
036that itemized? Can we see what they're specifically writing off? Yes, I can give you a breakdown of that. Yes. Okay. And um I'll just say this on transportation cuz I know it's going to come up when we go to our joint meeting. And just to walk the committee through this process, um this committee last year around this time voted to send to the city council a basically an unfunded It's called an unfunded mandate petition you file through the auditor. And long story short, it's a low risk, high reward way that the city can receive more funding from the state on unfunded mandates. My understanding was it was referred to the city council. The city council referred it to corporation council and I'm not sure where that process went since, so city can look into that
037and pass that back down to the council to get some action on that cuz I know it'll be something that'll be brought up at the joint meeting. Thank you. I yield. Uh any other further questions? Mr. Aguiar. Thank you. Thank [clears throat] you. Just uh a few questions and comments. So the um in the report there the infamous DESE report from May of last year, it talks about the development of new budget book template that includes more narrative explanations, graphics, other elements that is that what this is or is that in process or I I just got it now, so I'm just trying to fish through it real quick. >> it's it's a couple things. So what we tried to do was provide you with all the information from the principal / department heads so
038that they would make their voice known and that's what their requests are. And so we we we put all that information into the binder, so we tried to give you the narrative as to what everybody was looking for. And so that information is in the book. Uh in addition to that, um I'm actually looking at uh in conjunction with Mr. Cabral a uh a different platform or something else to use that's cheap and cost effective to the district to try to remove some of the manual work that is involved in doing all this. And so there's been a lot you know, in in getting this book to you, there is a lot of work that I do manually to to make this work to make this work happen. And so in looking to go into
039some sort of platform or an electronic another electronic method, it's it will be to make things more, you know, better to understand, more compliant and all that kind of stuff. So I guess my concern and I raised this in the in the briefing that we had. The report comes out from the DESE June of 2025 that indicated the recommendation was the district should develop a new budget book template that includes more narrative explanations, graphics, and other elements that will make it more accessible to the general audience. When I go home and look at this, tell can you take me through how this is meeting those recommendations? >> Sure. Different than last year. Just trying to figure it out. >> So you've got within the book you have um the dashboard that we've had historically. In
040addition to that, we have each each school's org chart. We have the presentations that the principals have provided and the department heads. Um we also have we've put in the book um all grant funded positions on one document. We've put all revolving fund positions on one document, something that we haven't done in the past. Um so it it there's been some enhancements. And then by school, if I could just jump in, um the uh structure of the slides is the same. So you'll see there's a budget overview with an executive summary. Um each school will have submitted an academic needs assessment, social emotional behavioral needs assessment, operations and facilities, um current staffing, enrollment trends, um effectiveness of current staffing, and then anticipated staffing changes. In addition to that, there's an org chart included for each
041school as well. And so I think just having the consistency around the structure of the slides with those bucket categories for every single school will be helpful rather than having um you know, different different layouts and templates and and different schools and departments focusing on different areas. Yeah, I I just got to be honest, I don't necessarily think that's a new template. Um but then again, this report was never acted on anyway when it came out from the DESE, so I'm not surprised that this one didn't because we didn't act on the other pieces of it either. But all of a sudden the school committee's under the heat for governance from the DESE. At the end of the day, I I encourage anybody to look at the governance part of this that report and you
042will not see a lot of criticisms of the school committee, but for some reason the DESE is coming down here to worry about that. They're not worried about the other pieces like we haven't done a strategic plan in two and a half years even though we were promised that things like that. So I think some of the criticisms are misguided, but that's just a clear one that I don't see this as a necessarily a new template. The book's actually bigger than it was before, so therefore there's maybe more information, but I took this as we were going to do something totally different, but maybe I'm maybe it's just me. The um a question on circuit breaker transportation, how does that get accounted for? How what what is the mechanism that they count that? So that
0431.8 million is the amount of money that we are getting reimbursed this year uh as part of the circuit breaker reimbursement and that's the amount I'm applying to it. >> Yeah, but what How do they come up with the 1.8 million, I guess is the point. So we submit we submit the cost to the state and um as part of the circuit breaker process, the audit, uh we then get reimbursed for whatever the determined percent. So it was it was just over 61%. For the transportation. Yes. So it's safe to say circuit breaker is not funded 100%. Yes. And transportation's funded even less. Yes. Well, circuit breaker is funded at 75% over the foundation. That's just to give you a >> that we spend, right? >> Correct. Correct. Uh when we look at uh our
044budgets and how much money we have to, you know, to do various things and the state has come down with much more money relative to the student opportunity act and those things. When those things go away, circuit breaker is still not funded at 100%. So, we're going to start getting funding peeled away when we're just barely at the minimum as Ms. Riley just said. They're going to peel that away, but we're not going to we're still not at 100%. So, with all the funds that they gave to us and other districts, circuit breaker is still not funded 100%. I'm assuming McKinney-Vento is, but we get different answers that whatever month it is. >> haven't received McKinney-Vento reimbursement this year yet, but when we do, I'll let you know what that reimburse what how much what
045the percentage was. >> But I would assume that it's 100%. It's supposed to be 100%. >> to be, yes. And I guess it just to me it We appreciate what the state gives us for resources, but if you're not fully funding 100% of special education, out of district, all that stuff, why why are we spending E-marks? Why is there E-marks for 200,000 here, 600,000 there, depending upon what state route that you uh where you are from or what drag you have at the state house? When we're not funding the basic structure of circuit breaker, I think we need to advocate for 100% of those funds uh in in my opinion. Um class size, I've said all along that class sizes were in crisis. I've said that uh ad nauseam over the last year. Can someone
046at some point give us a slide on how does this budget, if approved, affect class size, uh especially at the younger grades, because that's the slide that would I think make somewhat of a difference. Um The other question I would have is uh and I know it's it's a it's a more complicated answer, but I'm sure Mr. Rapoza can come up with something. How is uh any of the budget moves that we're making going to assist us going to assist us in academic achievement? Like, for instance, a a goal of all students will be able to be proficient readers by the end of grade three, something like that. How does this budget actually tie in to making that happen? And I know we could say, "Oh, we're doing all this stuff. We have our curriculums
047and a a one-pager on how we think that if we pass this budget, we're going to get somewhere uh related to that." Somewhere on here, I think you said this going to how we're going to hire 14 custodians? No. No, so that was it was it was it was it was part of their request. So, the request is to over 3 years to hire 14 full-time custodians and eliminate the 16 part-time custodians. And that's we're not doing any of that? No. So, w- why? Why are we not doing that? >> Yeah. Um It's one of the larger numbers on the slide that's and I I haven't dig Uh They were just Somewhere in it says it's over 3 years. I don't know what that means. Uh we're going to add people over 3 years. We're
048going to get rid of uh um part-timers. I'm assuming that they're not needed. I I just don't understand where that number even comes from. Is that in in the backup some Yes. that says It is. uh why it's needed? It's in the backup, yes. And we don't know exactly why. Like we don't have a other than to dig through. Um Like I said, I'm going to I'm going to go through the the budget obviously a little bit more. Um We have complexities with kids. The slide that Mr. Rapoza highlighted with the students that are coming in, we know, we've heard it already. I'd like to one-pager if it's not in here on how what changes are we making in order to address the more complex needs of the kids that are coming into the school
049district. Has to be a a one-pager of focus, because that across the whole budget in a variety of different areas, it that's affecting where we can do what we can do. Uh I don't know if it's here if it's already here. I'll I'm sure I'll see it, but uh I know I did see from Ms. Open Chain solid rationale for looking at data to make improvements on uh priorities where we're moving and shifting. Uh with that backup, I did see that backup already and um I support that because the backup is there. It's it's we just can't keep doing the same thing year over year and want a different result. We have to do something different and that's why I think I applaud the some of the moves that you're trying to make and doing
050something different is where we need to be. We can't keep doing the same thing. The results just aren't not there. Everybody can say all they want that the school district is is uh prospering and all that. We have some serious issues that we still have. With all the hard work that's going on, with all the things that people are doing. So, I just think we need to really focus on what are we going to make for priorities in this budget uh to change those things. Mr. Diaz mentioned the um trajectory. Is there a slide in here related to that? Um like a 3-year uh forecast of budgets or anything like that? >> There is not, but I can provide something. That's one of my biggest concerns is that the student opportunity act is going to
051be gone after this year. And um I think he was referring to a a city council meeting with that I watched or the joint meeting maybe where the CFO said something like instead of 20 million that they had to put in we're going to get next year it's 2 million or the numbers were just totally drastically different. Uh I'm concerned that if we don't get the resources that we currently getting, how are we going to make sure that we don't have mass layoffs or cuts in the future years? I think you understand that. >> Yes. Um if we if we can get something to um at least make um make us feel better relative to um to that. My last comment is I did email um Mr. Rapoza on this and I just want to
052say it for the record. We've I've supported and this committee has supported a lot of counseling, SEL positions, administrative positions, and the like. Earlier on in this budget process, but I think it might have been in February or thereabouts, we as a body said that we would like to have a zero-based budget, basically meaning every single position would be looked at for their effectiveness and whether it's something that we should continue or not. Not just roll over the same thing year upon year upon year. I don't see this as a zero-based budget in any way. Uh that but that doesn't take away the request and the consideration of every position. I've asked for and I hope that we're going to be getting it soon for the uh a review of all the SEL positions that
053we've been supporting to understand how long those positions are working with children or they doing other tasks that are not necessarily counseling related. I've asked for that and I'm hoping that's coming soon. Yeah, I I met with Dr. Bernhard and we actually started working on what would be the most efficient way to collect that data. We met this week. >> Sounds good. And the reason why I say that is because I've committed that I am not going to vote for any positions in this budget until somebody proves to us all the positions that we have that they're actually doing what they're supposed to be doing and that they're effective. And if that's not effective and we have to make moves, the suggestion is to make the moves. Don't just keep doing the same thing year
054upon year. So, hopefully with some of those uh pieces that we will um we will get there. Um My last comment is about the um Mr. Rapoza, is this the full binder of thing are you sending us something else or is relative to what people ask for are they it's in here? >> Everything So, what we did is every school, which is probably why it's more information, has all their requests in their presentations. So, even if it was something that we weren't proposing to fund, it's still in their presentations along with their org charts. So, everything is in there. And then um Mr. Almeida created just a a wish list, so you could see that as a one-pager, but those same items on the wish list will be reflected in each school and department's um
055presentations. And the original survey from the that we just talked about earlier, We can but is that different potentially different than this or because the surveys came out in January or February. The results >> else. So, if we can get something just so we can kind of track it. Uh I do think that we um And I I just want to lastly say thank you to Mr. Rapoza coming in in a tough spot uh filling in. I think you're doing an admirable job. And uh you're answering the questions uh and you're making decisions. So, that's what I personally been waiting for for a long time is somebody that can actually make a decision around here and and do the right thing. Whether we agree with it or not, we have to be have leaders that
056can make decisions and you've shown that over the last week. So, kudos to you, sir. I yield. Thank you. Stewart I have one question. Paras paras are such huge huge pieces in the school. How are we losing 11? That's just a big number to me. Yeah, so right now, I mean, I can say, which I referenced, we have several unfilled paraprofessionals uh positions. And I think at the same time that we may be losing um or reducing unfilled positions, we're also proposing to increase um special education positions. Um you know, maybe through teachers that are certified and have, you know, a higher level of training. Um and so we're really looking at, I think, you know, to the point that was just raised, what is the effectiveness of the structure we have right now? And
057is there a way for us to consider reallocating? Um in addition to our unfilled positions, um you know, many of our paraprofessional positions are currently filled by agency um agency folks as well, right? And so, um I think this does present an opportunity for us to think about what is the exact um type of service that our kids actually need. So, um while I can understand seeing that uh proposed reduction, there's also um other supports that are um we're looking to increase. Okay. Mr. Chairman I yield. You're done? Mr. Correia? And so, um Mr. Reposa, um this entire document is not a rigid document yet, right? It's still of um open to some adaptability and change. It's It's proposed. It's proposed. So, with that in mind, um I was uh listening to Mr. Mishaan's uh
058uh input and uh curious as to what you might not be happy with. So, are you Are you willing to talk about that with us to try to see what we can do to uh Were you at the table when they were drafting this? Tom. Tom. Tom. Kevin was. Kevin? Kev- Kevin Almeida. Kevin. So, Kevin, um as far as his statement, we can [clears throat] still add to the wish list, right? Yeah, we have so we have a meeting on Monday and then again, I think we'll we'll have an opportunity on Wednesday and so that's the reason, you know, that we have the process in this way. So, I'm sure that, you know, after Mr. Mishaan has the opportunity to review everything, um he can certainly, you know, come in and let us know his
059thoughts. So, there'll be an opportunity to >> Thank you. I yield. Okay. Mr. Almeida, Mr. Diaz brought up the fact about the um the numbers that were put in um to the to the preliminary city budget that we've been working on. Didn't we get a sheet from you preliminarily with some lines about funding? It's been a It's been a while. Yeah, it was a while. I think that's where she got it. And as far as the 2% um I'm with you. It's uh It's going to be very conservative, but the hope is the 2% went to six or went to five or went to something decent, but at the same time, we don't have anything set in stone like we did every year with the Student Opportunity Act. So, it's conservative estimates going out hope
060for more and uh be conservative. That was the whole theory about where we were going. Um anything further? Uh I'm sorry. Uh Ms. Stewart then Ms. Riley. Transportation, can you give me um the one page that you have, but can you give it to me for last year for FY26? What's that? >> want to compare it. Transportation. >> transportation. >> Sure. I can I can get that to >> Thank you. Got it. Thank you. >> Ms. Riley. I'm sorry. I I just I hate the idea of a wish list. Can we have some data behind those requests in support for why why people need them in the building? And that should be in the school-based rationales. So, um all of those >> not call it a wish list. Let's call it a Yeah, that's Okay.
061Legacy language that we rolled over. >> An- Anything further? Mr. Diaz and Mr. Aguiar. Thank you. Just very quickly on my um colleague Mr. um comments about the paraprofessional positions and um I understand when we went through um the um preliminary budget the budget hearings, um some of those positions that you said, Mr. Reposa, would be converted from a para into a teacher positions, but if we can get like a um or if it's if it's already highlighted in the budget, that's great. Just understanding which ones which positions from paras are being converted to a teacher and which ones are being cut, I think would be much more helpful. >> So, everything So, everything's broken out in the in the in the budget here. It's in the first section. It lists every position that's being
062added, every position that's being eliminated or converted to like to make up for the difference and it's it's all lined up It's all outlined. So, it'll be easy to decipher, okay, which position para positions are teachers, which ones are just being straight out cut from the budget. Yes, everything is there listed. Thank you. Anything further? Mr. Aguiar, I'm sorry. So, in the in the overall budget uh that we have here, what is the calculation of the indirect cost agreement? Uh is it the old one, the new one, the maybe one? It's the old one at this moment. The old meaning Yeah. several years ago. So, no changes whatsoever. Not as of yet, no. So, when we were at the meeting in December in the mayor's office with the CFO, I believe it was agreed upon
063that we were going to make changes to it. And then we went back and forth about the rebates. I still have my opinion on that, but that's still up in the air. But, separate from the rebates, we were I I believe adding another few million dollars in something else. That's not included here? The stop loss is included here. That's the one thing that is included in the in the So, 2 years ago we had no stop loss? Um Last year we did. Last year we did not, no. So, that is a change from Yes. Okay. So, we're halfway there. Yes. So, what is the number um To Mrs. Riley's point, which I think was spot on about uh the minimum uh 100%. So, what is the number that's in question related to the rebates? It
064could be up to $2 million. 2 million? Mhm. So, in essence, we're at the minimum. Now, and I've said this before, I just want to clarify it again. Sure. I believe that the city's receiving a reimbursement, rebate, call it what you want on health care. $2 million. So, in the current year, that's $2 million that they're counting towards spending in education that is not. So, if we're being honest, we're taking 100% of net school spending and we we should be reducing it by $2 million for the rebates. In addition to that, we take all of the Medicaid reimbursement expenses in part of this budget. The city gets reimbursed $1.3 million that we don't see anything and they don't reflect it in the numbers. Correct. So, if we're being honest, in my personal opinion, we're not
065at 100% of net school spending. We're at 100% of net school spending minus $2 million for the rebates and minus $1.3 million for the Medicaid reimbursement. So, I agree with what Mrs. Riley said, we're technically not at the minimum. We're at $3 million below that and I think that's important for us as we proceed because the needs list, which I agree is a better word than a wish list, could be funded if we would if we would have that those resources as well. When we look at the cuts from the paraprofessionals, nobody wants to cut paraprofessionals. I guarantee you I I wasn't part of the meetings. I guarantee you no administrator went in and just said, "Let's cut the paraprofessionals." We technically, with the needs that we have, we need the paraprofessionals and we need
066the teachers that they're going to fund. Let's not Let's not fool ourselves. With the needs that we have, we need both. We need more teachers, but we also need more paras. And it probably was a situation of you can't have both. So, let's you know, you got to cut these in order to get those. I'm just telling the administration, the public, anybody that wants to listen, if we were to receive the $3 million that we should be getting to just be at the 100%, we would have both. That's the problem and I'm going to be scrutinizing the budget. I'm going to ask a lot of questions, but at the end of the day, we need all the resources to get us to the minimum 100% and we need all people that are here for education
067to be standing behind that saying we demand that we get at least the 100% real money, money, not whatever because of the DOR or any other thing. We need that from the administrators, from the school committee and we need it from the city. With that, I yield. Uh I want to thank you guys for the presentation. Um Any new business come before the committee? Mr. Mr. Diaz. Um very Let's go through this very quickly. Um just some few things I just want to mention here just so we can get this on a future agenda. Came to my understanding today that policy subcommittee does not have a um a functions and duties list. I'm not sure when this subcommittee was created, but if we can go back in a minute and just see when it was
068created, why it it wouldn't have a functions and duties list or um or anything like that or maybe it does and maybe it's just um in the shelf so we can just get an answer to that. Um I yield. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Aguiar. >> Along with what Mr. Diaz said, I think it raises a valid point. If we don't have a description of what the policy subcommittee does, I think we need to address it, but I'd like to make sure we put on the agenda look at all of the policies all of the subcommittees so we all have so that we can see it, the public can see it. They shouldn't be same reflect on job descriptions. We have antiquated job descriptions in this district from 15 years ago, 18 years ago, whatever.
069Makes no sense. We need to do those job descriptions on a regular basis and we can't be pulling them one at a time. We need the administration to work with human resources to make sure that this is happening so that we know what is in the job description so we know to hold people somebody accountable to what they're supposed to do. So, I'd like a a thorough review of all that. HR is right now a busy place, but I think through this budget process, but I think through the budget process and through the money that we've already earmarked, we can make some changes so that we can have HR get up to snuff and do what they need to do. And if we need to hire more people, hire them. For instance, a recruiter. How
070many more times are we going to talk about 2018 we spent $35,000 on a HR study to say we need a recruiter to try to work with to get more staff in and all that stuff. Since 2018, last year we tried to beg the HR director to take a $75,000 position and he said no and the superintendent at the time said no. I hope people have come to their senses on this. >> All right. Thank you. I yield. All right. Is there a request to go into executive session? >> So moved. I I have a motion. Do I have a second? >> Second. Mr. uh Bruce I mean, Mr. Assad, could you please read the reasons? Mass General Laws Chapter 38 Section 21A2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-union personnel and
071to conduct contract negotiations with non-union personnel, specifically Brian Raposo, Assistant Superintendent Chief Academic Officer, Acting Superintendent of Schools, Kate Cobb, Francis K. Elementary School Principal, Shawn Sipson, uh Letourneau Elementary School Principal, and Nicholas Bettencourt Morton Middle School Principal. We would reconvene and there may or may not be statements at that time. Thank you. Uh Debbie, could you please call the roll? Mr. Aguiar? Yes. Mr. Dias? Present. Mr. Corey? Here. Yes. Mr. Moniz? Yes. Ms. Riley? Yes. Mr. Stewart? Yes. Mayor Coogan? Yes. Recess to executive session. We're back in session. Deb, please call the roll. Mr. Aguiar? Yes. Mr. Dias? Here. >> Mr. Corey? Here. Mr. Moniz? Here. Ms. Riley? Yes. Mr. Stewart? Yes. Mayor Coogan? Yes. Anything further to come before the committee? Mr. Aguiar? I'd like to make a motion that we approve the
072contract as agreed as um negotiated with Acting Superintendent Brian Raposo. Second. I have a motion and a second. Discussion? Hearing none. >> Discussion. Oh, I'm sorry. Mr. Aguiar. So, I just want to say uh as I said before, I think Mr. Raposo stepped in. He's doing uh double roles for us right now. I think he's doing an excellent job. Uh a busy time, the budget, and a lot of different issues going on. I think he's doing an excellent job. Uh I do think that we um I want to make sure that people out in the public are aware that we're actively working on getting an interim superintendent. So, the acting is as long as we need him to serve, he's agreed to serve. We uh have a process in place that we are looking for
073an interim person who's uh got experience as a superintendent, somebody going to carry us through the next several months until we get a a full-time superintendent. Uh there's a process in place and on the April 1st agenda, we will be discussing the interim candidates and we might have a decision soon enough, but I just want the public to know we're moving forward in a professional uh way, making sure that we're going to get the right people in. And in the meantime, we're going to uh pay Mr. Raposo to do what he's doing, and we do appreciate what you're doing, Mr. Raposo. With that, I yield. >> we should do. Uh Deb, call the roll, please. Mr. Aguiar? >> Yes. Mr. Dias? Yes. Mr. Corey? Yes. Mr. Mr. Moniz? Yes. Ms. Riley? Yes. Mr. Stewart? >>
074Yes. Mayor Coogan? Yes. Mr. Chair. Mr. Dias? Just a quick question if we can just get like a one-pager on how the search process is going. I know we briefly discussed it, but just the um just get an update. Thank you. I yield. Motion to adjourn. Second. Motion and a second. Discussion? Deb, call the roll. Mr. Aguiar? Yes. Mr. Dias? Yes. Mr. Corey? Yes. Mr. Moniz? Yes. Ms. Riley? Yes. Mr. Stewart? Yes. Mayor Coogan? Yes. Mr. Chair.