001[Music] f good evening everybody and welcome to the Milton school committee meeting for February 26 2025 call meeting to before we begin I want to acknowledge a shocking tragedy in our community we're all aware of the passing over this weekend of Isabella car eth grade student at t St and our thoughts are with her family and friends and Lov ones at this uh shoot sorry sorry about that I'll start over I called our meeting to order for February 26 2025 for the molon school committee and was beginning by acknowledging the tragic loss of Isabella Pier Louie fifth grade student at Tucker school over this past weekend so our thoughts and prayers are with Isabella's Bella's family friends the Tucker community and the entire Milton Community and everyone who loved her and I would personally just
002like to thank the way the community is coming together to support us at this time I'd like to just um acknowledge a moment of silence in Bella's honor thank you okay thank you so um before we officially approve our agenda for this evening we will now um do the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all okay thank you so um we look over our agenda in order to approve it does anybody have any changes to the items that we have here can we um reorganize my report to have K kahill go before yes thank you for that yep absolutely uh Miss Mrs Cahill needs to get to the hockey
003game so yeah not quite yet um but Dr burrow has your back and we're going to move you up thank you um any other changes okay so um first on our agenda will be public comment we um have this portion of our meeting each time to hear from members of our community um as they want to share their points of view with us we have up to 15 minutes for this we ask ask um residents to keep their comments to 3 minutes we do not respond directly to public comment if concerns or questions that are raised are pertain to items that are on our agenda members may be able to respond um in the course of a conversation that may be relevant um going forward um and just as we've been sort of working to
004remind ourselves we're interested in having just a respectful um dialogue even when we're engaged as we know we are in many challenging topics at this time um so with that um if you are attending online and hoping to participate in public comment can you please raise your hand at this time just so we have a sense of how many folks are hoping to speak we have at least one speaker in person okay I don't see any hands raised online that's fine you'll have another chance um if we can start with um who's joining us in person if you can just come forward and introduce yourselves please yourself or yourselves yep okay good evening can you hear me um thank you for the opportunity to speak my name is Jill Clark I live at 26 Herald
005Street I'm a town meeting member in Precinct 4 and the parent of a pierc eth grader um I want to really thank you for the transparency and information about the budget that has appeared on the website over the past week or two um it's incredibly helpful to see all that information and to really have the the detailed thinking behind um what is needed and what a no override budget would look like um I can really only engage with the devastation of a no override budget kind of piece by piece and so I want to focus on really small piece of it today but I I want to make sure that no one misinterprets these comments as um um missing the big picture of the devastation that would be caused um across the schools um for
006all of the positions that um would need to be cut um in a no ofad budget but what I particularly want to talk about today um is the impact on school nursing um I understand on um the uh list of positions that would be cut um under a no override position that there would be 1.8 FTE of School nurses that would be cut in a in addition to the director of nursing um many schools found out how valuable their director of nursing positions were during the co pandemic um nurses did so much during Co and a lot of people learned for the first time that school nursing was not just um ice packs and Band-Aids um School nurses allow kids to attend school safely um they keep kids in school and able to learn and
007for many kids with special Healthcare needs um they are the reason that kids are able to attend school with their peers um in particular I want to call attention to one of the roles of the director of nursing is to run the medication administration program in schools um so the school nurse is responsible her license is literally on the line um for the ability of medications to be stored administered and delegated in schools so um nurses anywhere one of their main responsibilities is the administration of Med medication um there are certain circumstances in Massachusetts where nurses can delegate their authority to administer medications to other people who are not nurses and schools are one of the few places in Massachusetts where that can happen so if you have a director of nursing who is willing
008to organize that program you can have kids with um severe food allergies whose teachers can carry epipens and be available to provide that EpiPen in the case that they have an anaphylactic reaction you can have students with type 1 diabetes who can attend school safely even if they have a hypoglycemic emergency uh you can have kids with seizure disorders who can be on the bus make it to school be in school safely if we don't have medication administration only the nurse can do those things and there just aren't enough nurses to go around and in particular if you're cutting another 1.8 FTE of nursing it will really impact the ability of kids to attend school safely and um make it difficult for um all kids to attend so I just thank you I want to
009wrap up by saying um I if we are in an over override position I strongly encourage you to reconsider cutting those positions from the budget but more importantly for all of you and for everyone that's listening I hope that we are not in a no override position and we don't have to consider these cuts and I will be doing everything I can to make sure that there's an override and hope everyone is that's listening well as well thank you thank you so much would anyone who is online care to participate in public comment at this time if so can you raise your hand okay I do not see any hands raised online is would anyone else in the audience here like to participate okay all right so um thank you very much and with that
010we will um conclude the public comment portion of our agenda so we can segue to the superintendent's report thank you um really the last few weeks won this this break and um we've pretty much been we're not being very good tonight are we Sorry Sorry everybody double check is mic on hello um so so since we last met um I I think we've been our our kind of sole Focus has been on budget development um the thing I wanted to mention in my report prior to getting into um discussing some of that budget work is just kind of echoing what um Lizzie shared regarding um the the tragedy that we've all been processing over the last number of days um with uh Bella um I I just want to thank uh so so many people
011at at Tucker and throughout the district uh the from the moment U we we heard that this had happened people reached out from every corner of Milton and um continues day by day um to provide support for adults students family uh there's all sorts of fundraising going on um and it it's you know I think for a lot of people just haven't been words it's it's it's such an unthinkable thing and such a hard thing and and this week I think for everyone throughout Milton has felt um different and you kind of go through waves and and I've just been so impressed by um principal Hogue at at Tucker um and and Caroline her assistant principal um Jenny Bello has has been a huge huge resource she spent a lot of time over at Tucker
012and connecting to resources throughout Boston to provide supports for students and po staff um and that continues to go on so I just want to um Echo what you shared and um grateful that we have a community where where and I think Tucker is a special Community too where people come together and really kind of lean on each other and there's at at a time like this we that's what we really need so um wanted to start with that um and I also secondly wanted to invite Karen kill up our principal to discuss the MHS program of studies um School community members you had you um received this in our last meeting um the expert is here to to answer questions and um for both of us to kind of talk about kind of where
013this is and where we where we see this going in the years ahead thank you for having me I appreciate that Milton gear I just Milton girls hockey playing tonight over at Ulan so just from here I'm going to the hockey game I appreciate you putting me at the top of the agenda so we can support our student athletes and thank you for having me this evening so um I watched the meeting in February I rewatched it over vacation um yes I did and just to be sure there's a few things that I know bigger picture that we want to talk about but at the same time the present um what do we need to look at tonight to approve the program of studies there's bigger conversations in regards to programming um course SE how
014the course selection process is done which I did review last year as well I'm happy to have that conversation um but to be respectful of your time and all of the your agenda items I'm happy to touch upon just what needs to be done tonight and then continue those conversations at another time if that's what works for everyone but I'm open to whatever you all um would like to know um as far as the program of studies um uh chair Carol you had questions in regards to the community service requirements and I'm hoping since the last meeting everyone has been given access to the documents um in watching that meeting um member lauring you had actually requested during the meeting so I had done that during the meeting so I'm hoping everyone has been able
015to see comparable data from from other districts um and where Milton High stands we're currently at 140 hours and I think the closest District was actually 60 hours and that's over the course of four years and my request uh my recommendation is for it to go to 15 hours per year for our students which makes it 60 hours over the course of their four years I have um reasoning that I'm happy to explain from a staffing P persp Staffing perspective and a student perspective and why I feel that that is in the best interest of our student body and I'm happy to say all of that or answer questions or however you'd like to proceed I I think it would be really helpful to to to look at the competency determination sure I think that's
016a a key part of this it's something that we've talk I've talked about here with the school committee so you all remember this is the ballot to yep y um that was on my list as well so I was just going to have the bullet points of the community service competency determination and then the new courses those were the the three items that we really need to look at so um if you want to start with competen the CDI can we can do that first and then go back to community service or well I mean since you started with community service just since I know I had raised the questions about that I thinkk the it's helpful to have the context um I think I was just yeah curious essentially what you've provided which is
017how we did compare and how this change would potentially relate to that but I I understand um you know that it's helpful to consider like what some common practices are across districts and so I think that um it definitely helps me to um sort of feel more comfortable with the change M um does anyone else have questions about the community service piece I guess I just wondering what the impetus was for the change like what was the experience yeah you we having now versus yeah so when this was all created back in the late 90s we had a full-time person that oversaw community service and I feel like I spoke about that possibly at our site Council presentation um earlier um we had someone to oversee the entire community service process they actually had their
018own office here um they vetted all of the opportunities for students they um had more Community Resources and I'm not saying that the community isn't there providing those opportunities for us but um since 1996 1997 when we first did this a lot has changed in the profile of a student and students are working now students are student athletes they they are student athletes and they're working they're in the theater program and when we talk about the 140 hours we want when we talk about community service we want students to do it well and we want them to be invested and what they're doing we don't want them just to check a box and we want them to find something that's meaningful to them and over the course of my time as director of guidance as
019a guidance council's director of guidance now principal I've seen that students are trying to get it done and do it well but honestly since Co some of those opportunities have gone away and even during Co um when you looked at our original community service opportunities it could not be with a family member it could not be something in the house and we really adapted that over the past 5 years because people's living situations have changed you know families are are working now and students are at home taking care of siblings and they they need to be credited for that you know and students were coming to me saying I am hanging out with my grandparent because there is no one else around and and not that they need to get service hours for that but
020that was something they were never doing before so we want to recognize everything that the student is doing and giving them time and recognition for that so for every student that community service looks different but they're invested in what they're doing but that 140 hours on top of being a full-time student and being involved in other extracurriculars at school was just getting a lot and there were people signing off if I could be TR truly I'm going to be truly honest signing off on hours that people didn't do and we don't have anyone who has the time to go through every single one of those and check all of that and that's a small piece of it but that was a piece of it as well you know students would do 2 hours of community
021service but people were checking 10 hours of community service for that and I'm not judging anyone when I say that please no I'm not but we need to make this workable for our students we need to make it workable for our community um and that's one of the reasons that we were looking at this we looked at all the other districts and my daughter has an 80-hour community service expectation but they have a full-time career counselor who oversees the community service opportunities and we're getting communication from that person on a regular basis um and I'm just giving that in as example um so that is quick reason for looking at it this way I don't hope I hope I answered that you did have you ever thought about um because I agree with you on
022like sports clubs just again involvement within the school Community or within the community broadly I think is always really important things to kind of force kids to get out of their shelves and get activated and all those things have we thought about you know expanding requirements to say like participation in those things is some form of credit in order to say like you could do some combination of both community service outside the school as well as participation within the school with you mean within the clubs and the Athletics and So within any absolutely that that's that's actually part of our conversation and I'm sorry I didn't say that I was thinking that but you know if we're part of the dance team or we're part of deca um if we're doing fundraisers or Outreach within
023our group let's give the hours that because that's meaningful to me that's meaningful to me as the individual right and that's what I'm invested in so absolutely that is something um we want to have those conversations with the advisers with the coaches with the students and provide those opportunities as well because those opportunities are meaningful to our students so do those hours count against the 60 now or no it's never been something that people have said okay while they're doing it for their team so why are we giving them hours for it and my feeling is they're benefiting from that experience um I think the chair team recently did a babysitting night or could have been the dance team they're benefiting from interacting with with the younger children and the younger children are benefiting from
024them that's a role model right and I think that's a learning experience for both sides so I think they should be credited for that um it's not formally written into the plan but that is something we want to expand upon I've spoken with some site council members about that as well about expanding those opportunities and really working with our student body and and staff to have that yeah I'll just note that I see on the list of examples of service may include but are not limited to the following and as includes advocacy or political campaigning so I think it would be kind of exciting if I know there's an override campaign getting off the ground MH as we speak and so if any students are seeking hours to fulfill it would be a good opportunity
025in the next couple months for them to participate in that since you know that's going to be huge Civic engagement for our community um and some of them will be able to vote just a plug for that yeah yeah happy to talk about that and if anyone needs yeah to find a way to spend their hours I just have a logistical question so you mentioned that there's no one overseeing this community service hours not full-time not fulltime okay so we do have a parttime person we have um the admin assistant for the counseling department over tracks the hours files it away okay um people will reach out to me or their counselor or you know the director accounting and say can this opportunity count so those that's how I but there's not a streamlined process
026as there was when we had someone full-time doing that and um the 15 hour per year thing or the 60 hours total sure what if the student decided to do just focusly one semester students do that all of the time and usually those students they'll they'll get the 140 or the 60 whatever the case they'll get that done over the summer but they're going to continue to do other things most of our students here again because they're so outgoing they exceed the 140 a majority do um but I want to make this attainable for all of the students so they continue to do it they they absolutely can get it all done at once but I said I hosted a r they were they were in a crunch so I hosted them nice is there
027the opportunity for like how for the commity to um know about giving opportunities for volunteering so for example like you know I know the other day they did for the town meeting or one of the Town meetings the two weeks ago they did um babysitting for so families could come and go to the meeting CU it was at 5:00 so those sort of things are there who is there if there's not somebody really Central in that Ro is there a way to make for the community members to make volunteer opportunities known to students or is it more they have to reach out and find them I mean is there a way to make sure like as you guys have a list of you have a number of things listed here but other ways so in
028the Weekly Newsletter there is a section that I've worked on with the director of counseling um and colie McDougall who is the admin assistant in the counseling department where it's a a running sheet for lack of better words in the Weekly Newsletter where people can can look that information up um people reach out and you know to what happened to that someone reached out to me and I sent it to the two two Club advisers I'm like are there any students available right and then we did that um we've reached out to the community not consistently um but definitely you know we do a Day of Service uh for the freshman in the fall and it's a whole day of community service and we tell the students reach out to the community I think it's
029also important for the students to make those connections and not for us to necessarily give them all of those opportunities um they're young adults they need to have those conversations um but we're very flexible and again something I'm willing to look at as well but no problem so is it fair to say if someone have a volunteer opportunity that they want to propose to the high schoolers we can send you an email about that within reason yes there are conditions that we won't allow students if the if they're serving alcohol we will not allow students we're not going to have sign students sign up for that babysitting you know we we take that seriously but at the same time we want to be mindful of those connections um so we just right we try to
030be thoughtful about those types of things absolutely great so competencies piece competency so if anyone watched the news today um the state of Massachusetts is coming out with a proposal I don't know if but prior to that we have been working um here at the high school with director superintendent burrow to put together a competency determination um to make up for the fact that I'm is no longer a graduation requirement um just to touch upon what was proposed by the state of Massachusetts um right now they're saying two years of language arts two years of math which require algebra and geometry or integrated math 1 and two one year of biology chemistry physics or technology and then starting in 2027 one year of social studies that's their proposal that's what I heard on the news
031I have not received a memo from desie but that's what I heard on the news I don't know if anyone else did and again it's just a proposal so when I think of what we currently have for graduation requirements for our students we already exceed that so for the competency determination again a document I believe I did share with everyone um you have to look at the different categories for our current class of 2025 if they've passed mcast they're all set if they haven't passed mcast we are looking at what mcast have they passed and we're including the November 2024 retest because they also put it the at the discretion of the district so for our class again our current seniors we're looking at everything up into it including the November 2024 retest for scores
032um and then if a student is new to us their senior year there's all of these different categories and I won't go through every scenario um but looking at the transcript from their sending school and looking at the programming from the sending school to see that it make sure that it's comparable to Milton High School um so the for the class of 2026 our current Juniors and below that if they've already passed mcast they're all set but then we're also looking at our current programming so we have our graduation requirements but they have to pass um biology English 1 and two and integrated math 1 and two which our courses are in alignment with the state curriculum math State C curriculum standards but that's what a student would have taken in cour workk prior to
033taking that content appropriate mcast I hope I explained that correctly um so that is what we're proposing at this time for competency determination until the state comes up with um new proposals um and of course there's always those exceptions um if a student is finding success in those courses but keeping in mind they have to pass those courses to graduate but if a student um requires modified work then what else are we asking for them a portfolio to show more work to make sure that they're Meeting those standards as well um I'm just giving a brief synopsis of the document that I have shared with you but that is what we are currently proposing did you want to add anything to that and based on our conversations no I mean I think I I I
034think the team that that weighed in on this was really thoughtful and thinking about all these you know instances of four students might need this kind of pathway five need that pathway so I think this this um approach is going to to meet all students needs yes and still meet meet standards so I I feel comfortable with it I it's yeah I mean it's interesting the where the state is right now in terms of MH sending out um they're getting public comment now on on their draft which went on today so u i i I haven't seen anything official yet but no it it was a News segment I saw yeah um and that's it and once school committee um approves this what I will do is draft I've already have a draft of a
035letter but share it back with you for approval um putting in what what we would like to determine and share it with you for your approval and then share it out with families um once that is approved [Music] does anyone have any questions on this [Music] piece SS good so then the new courses was that the final piece the final piece was just the new courses again I shared that all with you as well this three two new courses one in social studies an unleveled course um for which is called um America today how did we get here which is an unleveled course open to Juniors and seniors that will also satisfy um social studies requirement two uh three years of a social studies requirement we're looking to switch um one of our Senior English
036courses which is a semester course to a full year course we're also a very strong um class of sports and Society we're going to offer it at the honors level which is new and at the CP level um very high enrollment in all of those courses and we're also bringing back oceanography so that's not a new course it's a course that we've offered here years ago and we're bringing that back as well just as another option for our students in the science department um so those are the new courses we're renaming a few courses but again the content isn't changing Automotive is changing to power mechanics and computer technology is being being changed to intro to cyber security to to gear more to what the content of the course is and what they're actually doing
037in the coursework so those are the new courses I'm happy to elaborate a little bit more if you want more specifics on the course content um our councils around classrooms now they'll be going to Pierce Middle School uh next week I believe to talk about all of the new courses and go over how to enroll in them and whatnot so those are the new courses we just the program of studies just keeps growing and growing great would you please tell me what CTE stand for um Career Tech education so that's our business courses um Automotive culinary um and there sem long course or depends on the course okay most are semester long but some are Micro AP micro and AP macro are year-long courses um but a lot are semester long courses and it's open
038to all students in high school as long as you meet the pr Rex yes okay so to take Automotive you usually have to take um intro to Car Care First you know so this just PR rex that you take still at the high school but yes oh got it yep any other discussion thank you so much for bringing this to us so we I will make a motion to approve the recommendations regarding the Milton high school program of studies there second second okay thank you all in favor do you what I'm sorry I I had to disc not really for her but more what we talked about just briefly last time around just like the broader conversation around uh which I know we don't have time for we don't have capacity for right now right
039our focus is elsewhere as as needs to be but like what would be the time frame for having a conversation kind of in towards next year around and I guess again first question was more like is the board interested in that as I am around you know a conversation around our high school graduation Your World Language requirements other requirements those types of things like more holistically um I'm not sure when the last time any board looked at this more holistically but yeah just more wondering less wanting to have the conversation right now but more wondering like what does that time frame look like given I assume we'd have to have it kind of settled before this course of study kind of vote next February right and and it's something that we've talked about it is
040to to your point in the last meeting you know financial literacy I wholeheartedly agree I think that is something students need to have before they they um graduate from high school personal finance that is they need that um so I would love to be part of that conversation World Language we we we did have that but in light of that would require more Staffing and I'm not ready to make that proposal yet um one of the things I'm sorry that I did forget was the Seal of biliteracy which I feel is a nice switch and if we're not adding World Language as a graduation requirement opening up seal of by literacy as an option for students as well um we should have done this a long time ago and I would like to almost pilot
041that next year and really see how that goes with our students and see what we have to do to make that happen we have so many students who aren't even enrolled in World Language that will qualify for that so I would love to do a deep dive into what we're currently doing and what we can do and what Staffing we need to make that happen um so I'd very much like to be part of that conversation and I appreciate you bringing that up yeah so would it be kind of like a fall time frame that that would be appropriate I think sooner than that honestly I I don't know I don't know if people do work over the summer or not but think it needs to be before that and I think there needs to
042be more conversation respectfully outside of school committee as well um you know to see um you know I I can gather information from other districts but what does it involve what St what what's the budget implications for that and everything else so I would think possibly in the summer late spring early summer just to to start having those conversations so we're not rushing it because we will start you know the budget requests in the fall right so we want to know what we need before we do that and and really revie um what our graduation requirements are that's my two cents makes sense I think that timeline makes sense because if we wait till the fall we're we're already starting level service development we're like the engines are moving so I think having time to
043to think more deeply about some of the structures and if there are pieces that we may want to rearrange as we look at you know adding different programs which may require some some shifts and and changes around Staffing that's the kind of thing we need a fair bit of runway for so absolutely yeah sounds good okay so I'm good um so we have a motion seconded so now we just can vote so all in favor of that motion okay great thank you thank you I'll represent all of you at hocky tonight we all feel better miserable group text meore update feel like the stage I feel like I did the same thank you all have a good night too thanks all right so I I'm experiencing another glitch with my sorry thing here so I'm
044following Along on my phone I'm not like watching Tik toks on my phone during I don't even have I don't know how to get on Tik Tok but if I did that's why I'm looking at my phone I'm I'm looking at our docents um I wait until 8th I signed that pledge so they can't show me yet okay um but you can keep keep going yeah U so this morning at Finance subcommittee uh we reviewed the the non override reduction list that has been shared out um publicly um just to let you all know kind of what we're doing to we did share at the end of last week of of that information to the community um we are now working on impact statements for those positions so that you know when when a Community
045member looks at some of these titles they might not really know exactly what what they are and what their impact is so we are working to present this information as clear as possible so it's it's um you know when you look at an inclusion specialist you know what that position does and what the the impact is on the system if we do do not have that position I think that's going to be really important to get everybody understanding um kind of how all these pieces fit together um so I guess just um and Mark I don't know if you want to share anything in terms of the finance subcommittee because this is kind of stemming from that conversation this morning yeah um again we had lots of Finance subcomittee meetings uh many more um just
046to initially this is our first opportunity to talk about the um final reduction list which obviously was shared right before break um I think you know still using opportunity to kind of learn about what these things are I think as you've said around the creating the narrative uh will be very helpful I'd like how you have it on the website like because the way you shared it with us obviously is this table but on website breaking it down clearly by school impact I think was very helpful um for folks to understand but certainly like a more Narrative Approach of what this means for the nursing department as the public speaker said or what this means for the preschool program right when we have some cuts to that or what this means for class sizes at
047Pierce we're cutting a whole um U team out of the sixth grade or you know any and all of those things I think are um helpful uh we you know started having conversations to Just Around what which of these given kind of the request of the select board for us to continue to look at essentially limiting our budget request even further below kind of level Service uh in order to try and shrink the override requests for the whole town just you know one of these Cuts or reallocations are are things that we will need to um to think about and live with and just started having conversations obviously with u many of the members here around that so looking forward to and we did just in terms of process so we did yesterday meet with
048our principls of central office leadership and principles met um in preparation for the work that that you just make REM Mark in terms of um getting guidance from the select board to to take another look at level service um so I I do have a few slides to share and I don't know if that will be under FY 26 under your report probably that's where it is right now it's under Finance um isn't it yeah so in point of fact when we approved the agenda I could have said I don't have a chairs report any separate things so we're sort of like we're we're flowing into Finance right now which is good um and and certainly the non- override budget development is very interconnected with that point 26 so I don't know if you want
049to I know we also have an fy2 budget update under Finance is that correct we do um yeah so I don't know if you want to like take that kind of do that and then return to non override in the context of thaty 26 it's whatever you both think is makes more sense I think we could continue the FY 26 conversation come back to FY me to share this you got want to present that um just a few slides here just to provide a little structure um I I call this revised proposed budget I know it sounds a little strange but um didn't want people to mix up our FY 26 proposed budget previously which was levels service with this new mhm um budget so that's why I named we can change the name later
050um so as I mentioned um with direction from you all and from the select board we're kind of going back to the drawing board we did review this final reduction the non override list as a starting point for this conversation um and then kind of move forward from there and and of course this is a bit challenging because we're you know we've kind of been asked to return and and reanalyze but we don't exactly know we don't have a number yet right in terms of where we're Landing so um I'll share a little bit about kind of what we did um where we landed and then um would love um everyone's feedback here in terms of next next steps you want to go to the next slide um so we started off with um looking
051at a reduction that again we we started with the non override list we identified a million dollars in in cuts to bring level service down um at the same time we also looked at and I know we've talked about this in a number of meetings we also looked at the things that we've been talking about prioritizing for a long time that would be I I think we're we're poised one um with Ela curriculum and the the curriculum development to support the ELA curriculum um investment that that has been something that we've had um kind of in the in um in process for about two years and we are ready ready to go on it I think it it will be very impactful MH um to learning um so we we have included that we have
052heard from the community that this is a priority we've heard from you all too that this is a priority so um we added this into this revised proposed budget um we also have um additional elll support just in terms of because before you presented level need level service over here and then level Service Plus needs over here so just in clarifying what FY 26 revised budget proposal it's an attempt to incorporate the highest priority needs into something that is slightly less than level plus needs the way it had originally been presented right less than level less than level right but that still allows us to address these needs that must be the highest yeah yeah okay yep so the other thing on here is um elll support and um that's additional Staffing our numbers continue
053to increase and um we we can't sustain um the services that we need to provide to these students with our current Staffing so that is like a was that on our needs request for this year or is is that something that you're pulling from that correct so we had we had um guidance for elll y so we had a director position that we had put under student services for elll yep um as we've been talking with Danielle who is is leading elll and looking at our current Staffing um that that we have in our number of students on our projections um we we're expecting potentially an additional 30 students Beyond where we currently are and we're already over capacity with our current staff so it's it's a an area that we're going to have to
054invest in um so those are the those are the needs that were were added here in terms of the start the curriculum development 50 what I think I missed that oh I put I just I when I shared about the El curriculum I said that this supports the investment in the ELA curriculum to provide time for teachers to do training to be able to yeah Implement corre thank you can I just um just a little additional clarification too the elll support when we had first um discussed the needs spased budget it was 1.0 FTE so FTE being the full-time equivalent um it was a 1.0 assistant um student services director so a director level position and then the point4 FTE we have two employees that are currently um8 FTE and so we are just it's
055existing staff that we're just increasing their um their workload this so that was the original proposal this proposal that you see here through the course of our discussions this elll support is 1.4 FTE of teaching staff so it's not an administrative position it would be um it's the bargaining unit is unit a so it would be 1.4 teaching staff in Unit A and not um a director level position so just to provide thank you so that's new over and above we have yes correct it's cheaper than adding point4 FTE for Staffing and a 1.0 yeah and then could you just elaborate how you got to the reductions from Level service number so that's a that that number is a number of of both programmatic changes and some position Productions okay um we can't articulate those
056yet because we have just we're in the process of that um and we need to to communicate with the people in those positions prior to sharing them here okay but those are that's kind of the number you got to that you're okay with right like we think so I mean I think this is a question for you all too right in terms of and on the next slide you can see the total um if we've hit hit the mark Or Not in terms of the the number um again we were asked by the select board to come up with a new you know revised budget number um you can see here that the the total has dropped to 72 962 um in 8.53 3% increase and so that includes that includes the addition of the
057new the needs that have been prioritized in it okay so well I have I have I I don't need to jump in with my first reaction to that go ahead so my reaction to that would be thank you for putting in the work to do that for one thing and I think that it's the effort to I mean this is we are in a process of like working towards a compromise I mean that is actually what we are needing to do um and so in that process we are going to not get everything that we may have started out thinking we needed I guess for myself with the number I'll just go on the record to say like this would be the lowest I I not knowing what that million dollars consists of makes it
058a little hard to say if I am comfortable with this or not because I can't I do not understand yet what the actual implications of that sacrifice essentially in the in the service of the compromise collaboration let's call it okay like I'm not quite sure I can say I'm comfortable with it if I don't know what it actually means but I will say for me and my um vague understanding of where we're at like this to me is we might not need to go that far actually great quite that far um but I think that where we're at is because to me that represents like a significant change and I think I was you know thinking maybe more along the lines of half a million rather than a million but again as you named in
059the beginning well this is 600 that's 600 this is 600 drop from before cuz we added 400 so it's a reallocation of 400 okay so so the the net okay thank you so this is what I get for not being able to look at it for myself in front of it's okay so so it's so it's the reduction and then plus this adding this and so it Nets out 600,000 below the original level service ask M okay then I'm I retract my concern I was thinking like okay I mean but again what I said before still does stand we're not approve it we here's my question next week we're on slated to I know we have vote tonight on here we don't I'm not sure what if we're needing to do that but next week
060is our budget hearing and our a vote to approve a budget request that has been March 5th is what we've been driving towards through this whole cycle with will you be able to tell us by next Wednesday like what that million dollars in Cuts represents in detail okay CU I I do think that would be important for us to understand as far as like the the choices that it comprises but um does anyone remember what our increase was last year for our budget it's close budget to budget that percentage it was 85 okay so pretty [Music] close um I do have to say I really appreciate this thinking of kind of reallocating and seeing where we can combine the the needs based with the level service and just kind of um prioritizing some of those
061to like include versus giving the answer every year like no we couldn't get to that this year and so on and so forth and I know there are a lot of needs on the needs base that we still can't make happen but this process of kind of looking at our internal numbers and seeing where we can move is good practice I think so I'm glad that we're going in that direction just to kind of you know get get into the weeds with what we need to do and move things around so I I'm I'm glad that we're incorporating that into um into our process as a way also to build transparency and trust too I think it comes back to that a little bit that we're kind of looking at that um and improving our
062process of checks and balances and so on and so forth so I think um um um I appreciate the thought that went into that I know you guys had put this together pretty quickly so appreciate that too thank you I and and I I agree with that um but definitely I think um with Lizzy in terms of wanting to understand what those reductions are are these student facing positions and what impact is it going to have on the student experience um it it just something for us to know that it it is sort of an effort to compromise and and sort of meet somewhere in the middle but at the same time we know that our budget to begin with was very it's not like it has extras right so it's it's a lot of
063the folks that we do need to continue to provide the quality education that we are so proud of um so in order to be able to do that it is it is really you know whether it's 600 or or a million it is it is a lot and it's going to have an impact on the experience so I think I would love to sort of understand it a little bit more I do think that it's good that we're going to I think as a as a practice we're going to be taking that discipline to look at line items right and understand and where can there be more efficiencies that's a good question to ask yourself all the time it should be ongoing that we don't just continue to just go status quo like that's not
064okay um but I do think that um it's really tough when we've always been very lean to begin with right right cuz it's all relative right exactly exactly I do understand that but I think that we also have to be mindful the flip side of that when we look at you know tax implications and so on and so forth for example today I got an email from uh Dr fish about the spring trip to Quebec and their families that requested financial assistance you know and how can other families going on the trip support that so there is that too so we have to be mindful that not all families can afford things as much as we would like to provide so I think I think I think that's where it's like for me the compromise
065part is important because we want something that everybody can support and also participate in so um I I think you know so I do appreciate the like us kind of looking at it this way um you know and I know it is a lot to ask right those even with $600,000 it is a lot but I think for us to just be thoughtful and mindful of that is is a good practice to be because you know um like as the the previous speaker a public a comment speaker said it's like without if we had to go the route of a non override budget it would be just awful so just being mindful of that so I just I just appreciate the team here trying to really put this together and just kind of thinking of
066of it from that standpoint because again all of this needs Community Support right at the end of the day we need everybody to get behind us so everyone feels like all right you know know we're doing what we can to be efficient to Selena's point but at the same time and we can build support that way so thank you all and it's really important Point you're making Anna and a a sort of adjacent point I think is something that I've um seen raised I know there was a um an open letter to the select board that was shared with us that you know within hours had like nearly a thousand signatures from members of the community uh I know there's different tools being developed to allow homeowners to do the calculations and a lot you
067know the important a takeaway from that is how relatively small the actual impact is on a single taxpayer month to month between different override numbers that would create quite you know different opportunities and levels of service for the town so I think those are things the select board is needing to weigh as they land on their actual number right which is it's like the it's the trade-offs between um I know there isn't much difference between the month and month but that base number is pretty significant so I just don't want to discredit that that's not I understand that but sometimes families are trying to make end me so I get it I also think it's important too and I think this was uh made we made this point in finance committee this morning just to
068think about the percentage of the override I think it's important to know that we have been there before where it's been close to 10% or 10% so we're not it's like if you just look at the number right the amount itself it's like there has been inflation we're in it's a it's a it's it's different so we can't just focus on the number and what it's been but it's more like the percentage and we're not the percentage is actually comparable so it's not you know ridiculously out of this world it really it really is the percentage is it's something where we've been there before but we can't just get fixate on just the number that it was before and I think that's important for us to know and it's and it's a big big um
069I think undertaking for the folks who are working are going to be working on the ground including you know some of us as we're going to contribute in the way that we can um to the override and so how do you get make sure that folks understand um that piece because it nuanced but I think it's important um to put it into that context um may I ask a question about the additional two level servers um that include the two curriculum the El Ela and the curricul development what is the curriculum development for so it would be for time during the summer time after school time to pay people to come together and do training and and Implement Pay Teachers Pay Milton teachers to be trained to effectively implement the new curriculum to learn the
070new curriculum to be able to because it's going to be a change for our teaching staff as well and so we just want to make sure that they feel like they're ad adequately prepared to actually use the curriculum they receive it instead of just receiving it in and then just kind of handing it off to them and saying like here you go good luck because we know when they feel comfortable with the curriculum and they understand truly that um kind of the best practice of how to share that information with the students that that really gives them the ability um to teach the curriculum with Fidelity so just making sure that we were not buying something um and not being able to use it well and is it fair to say that's a con like
071we've done that before with the math new math like that's a common practice when a district adopts new so it's not just something you're deciding to do it's that is done yeah and it's a process the curricul curriculum kind the piloting um selecting which curriculum we feel is appropriate for the district making sure that we're even testing out different curriculum resources um it's a it's a pretty extensive process that has to happen to make sure that we're we're making the right choice and making the right investment so so how ow is our current Ela curriculum and is it necessary to do it was pretty could this money be used to um get back to the reductions from Level servers that we think could be able to wait do you think this can can wait until
072no I don't think so I think it's l overdue right I would say it's it's been several years we've been waiting for several years to um get up to standard um on this and we actually even delayed the ELA study this year so next year yeah it is time for us to move forward okay so that our our curriculum is aligned with the Desi standards and the science of reading standards I think our curriculum is from 2017 reach for [Music] reading so I do have a question so once you purchase the curriculum you have to go through the test or what you have to identify which curriculum first right you have to go through that process okay so this is not something that would get implemented in September I would or will it no it
073would it would be developed over so we um Kat Ro is our um K literacy director has done lots and lots of work on this to even has people selected I think to begin this work so the the this these monies will be used to develop the curriculum over the year so it's not like TurnKey on September m okay and the the other thing just I wanted to add here too is that we we talked um in the fall about our needs Bas budget and looking ahead to year two and talking about coaching and that's where coaching really comes in in terms of having a literacy coach to go in you adopt a new curriculum um we're also as you know in the process of looking at our instructional framework and making decisions around the
074systems that we need to develop so to to sustain any of those things you need to have not just professional development once in a while like twice a year when we have a full you know inservice day but you need it needs to be consistent and ongoing and that that's kind of where that that kind of like long range thinking about next year looking at at coaching to support both this implementation and the work that we're doing on the instructional framework so can you speak a little bit more to that because I think um there's I think we could anticipate the question it has come up around the choice of including a onetime cost of curriculum into the operating budget um and what the implication is there year years out and so can you just
075I think we all are aware that um one of the other one of the factors where we have to it has to be a number that the majority of the town can get behind that allows us to meet our students needs that um can last for several years and that we hav really talk about that with this new revised request is this something you're comfortable is sustainable across that I think the five years is sort of what's been thrown around but um can you speak to that piece because I think incorporating the one time cost and then you mentioned coaching comes behind the acquiring of the curriculum and so including that here does that support the sustainability of this require I mean that's a that's a I think a decision-making Point into the future but
076I you know we talked about this you know looking at our budget and curriculum needs across all subject areas that having this is a one-time purchase but we also need to look at our math curriculum we also need to look at at all the other curricula that we would be looking to to purchase or training to bring in so this this dollar amount while it it you know I know there was talk about using some kind of onetime funds for this for this purchase but I think having having having um funding to support other adoptions um is common and makes a lot of sense and Katie was talking about that ear do you want to talk about anything else it came up a little this morning I think it's helpful to just get the community
077understanding the rale and I think the ELA curriculum is the curriculum that we've identified and that we've prioritized but curriculum development is ongoing and it should be um when we have our robust curriculum review Cycles the need for curricul materials will never go away and so it truly is an operational need that it will be reoccurring year after year after a year and so if we're able to create the funding for curriculum materials in the budget for this year it creates a sustainable funding mechanism for us in future years where it won't be that onetime hit to the operating budget and when I say hit it's that significant increase that we see when we put those substantial 200 you know additional $250,000 amounts it will be built into the base of the operating budget and
078it will help to create that sustainability um and it will create kind of those it will help lessen some of those large increases that we see year over year um I also think that there's other ways that um there's opportunities for us with the budget development process when we talk about some of the funding sources so not only the operating budget but there's also the capital budget and we know that the town um has been very supportive in funding our Capital expenses and our uh Capital Improvement plan and then also just talking about the creation of potentially having a special ed stabilization fund that will help offset some of the expenses that we see year to year the other thing um a consideration Financial consideration when we look at curriculum materials too is sometimes with
079the newer materials I think historically um the one time when we thought of like a onetime expense it was tied to a textbook and so it was always kind of like okay we had a tradition textbook and we know that curriculum materials these days are not traditional just hard cover it's not a one time typically the materials are it could be kind of like your more traditional Tex but then it could be consumables and so we have to purchase the consumables every year and then it could be an online subscription that there is a fee that will incur every year and so for us to be able to build that sustainability to include that into our budget that is going to just ensure that we have high quality resources for our students for future years
080um and I think it's just it truly is a will be a a significant resource for us in the budget development that makes complete sense the way you just explained that and it just makes me think that next for f 26 the focus is happens to be Ela but this is work of a high quality District year year to year as you're saying mhm and through the ongoing reviews you're identifying which are the focused area for a given year that makes a lot of sense so I do have a question I know with the stabilization fund that you're creating for special ed you can use it for certain things only like if costs come up like unexpected like the elll positions that were just talking about that there's a high need so we had to
081prioritize that so if we have you know money allocated every year in the are built into the budget for curriculum and if needs arise how do we continue to make sure that those curriculum needs are met if other needs come in I was just wondering if there's a way you're standardizing that so that it that they're only used for those things so that we don't have to next year we can you know bring in the literacy coaches because we had to use that somewhere else and so on and so forth so that was another part of the process and I think that is why we're looking when we were talking about the level service budget and because the number is the 99.4% because the the process of going through budget development was truly looking at
082historical expenditures and identifying different budget lines that have historically not been funded appropriately and in certain instances our historical expenses had exceeded the budget in areas like utilities um substitute coverage um maybe some of our facilities expenses and so through the budget development process when we looked at each one of the lines we tried to identify areas where we may have had a structural deficit with the historical budget and the current budget that we're operating in in this fiscal year we identified that and we tried to address that and by address that I mean we adjusted it based off of known rates projected utilization any changes in Market fluctuation or our contracts and by doing that and by appropriately budgeting based off of actuals and not just carrying historical budget numers forward that will allow
083us to instead of having to because the school department budget is a bottom line budget and so we have the ability to kind of um if there are lines that are over M you can take from not take but it um balances out with some of the other lines and so by having each one of the budget lines funded appropriately it will ensure that we don't have to take from any of our instructional lines I think that's a very important point to continue to emphasize to the community yeah so I'm glad you brought that up because I think this is again where you're creating systems and putting processes in place so that as we continue to ask support for our schools and what we offer we also want to make sure that you know people
084are getting what they think they're getting you know so I think this is a good way to ensure that and I think that part is very important to emphasize that that's really why we're you know this this budget number is kind of you know where it is so that we can Ensure again it's another system and another process checks and balances that we are doing so I think that kind of clarity is really important to get out there for support m you got anything I got something um I just have some thoughts and I appreciate all all discussion I agree with most like everything you say I think like as I think about the people watching or like the recordings that people were watch at some point after they finished the hockey game um you
085know I a couple things I completely agree like I I cannot really assess the million dooll Cuts as they are I appreciate the effort and I know again the select board kind of has been driving us towards that and we talked about that this morning so appreciate that but to Selena Point Liz is just hard to without knowing the ACT impact that said I I know this is a hard process because it's deeply personal right those those cuts are people and so like you slowing down and making sure that we are appropriately communicating and having those personal conversations making sure people are informed not finding out here as much as we are trying to move with urgency to address this I appreciate that I commend that um you know and I know you know at
086times we talk about things like we we want to be efficient we want to be we want to maximize value and things like that but I think another way we can talk about like we're talking about efficiency we're talking about cuts to positions and we're talking about people and so like we just even with with this like there are people who are going to be impacted and so I think we I don't think anybody at this table takes that lightly I think we all understand we're all operating under this the knowledge that like we are in a very tough spot as a town we collectively have a goal along with this select board to like get a large enough override that allows us to continue to support the functioning of our town and for us
087for our schools for our kids but also one that is going to get approved right and that's that is the balance as folks look out and by the select board yeah before we even get the opportunity to go to the town yeah yes first it has to be and yeah it has to be a number that the select board believes will pass because that's their goal too um but you know we are trying to try and do best we can to kind of thread through both those needles I I think when I look at the non- override list like it would it would be devastating it would be devastating can't yeah I mean it's shaking I think all here shaken by the the thought of this and I think everybody in town if they haven't
088seen it like should be shaken by the thought of the override not getting through and I think every step that I know each person at this table has taken since we've started really diving into this is with that lens of like we need to take the next step that's going to give us the best chance to get the override in order to you know support the operations of our our schools and I think that is continuing right what we are all doing collaborative leaves like whatever the next step is that's going to help people understand feel trust feel connected uh and feel supportive of this override um you know and I I really appreciate the work ktie is doing around using this as an opportunity to kind of reset and not just Katie but also
089the whole the whole team really on the central office have like us this to reset right size our budget line items and make this budget more sustainable for next year for future years right all the stuff you're talking about with the curriculum like that sustainability has I think been a central part of the conversations we've had at Finance I think that's I hope that's come out uh here and within the presentations we've done for the town thus far um and like we we want to make sure we have a sustainable budget we want to address that kind of like bottom level of just like operating with sound um budgets and I think we all know and what I appreciate about the work you're doing is that at the same time we cannot can't stand still
090just rolling over what we're doing this year to next year is not good enough like we got we need to continue to push the envelope and so I like that we are looking for ways to incorporate the incorporate curriculum development support with teachers that's all fantastic address long-term needs for our elll populations which is growing Statewide and um you know we are no exception um I think you know as as I think of this like I would plead with the select board as they look at a number next week to kind of consider two things because unfortunately we don't get we don't get to set the number I would love to set the number but that's not our perview that's their purview but I I think I would implore them to also think about how
091they are making this sustainable right and how they are setting us up because as I said at our presentation to them our budget increase next year is not going to be 2 and half% it's just not and so they need to be thinking about how they're setting a number that is going to carry us through for four or five years um you know we we need that and the other thing I would ask them to think of because I I understand why we're going through this we're trying to reduce the number we want to make it palatable for them and for the town as a whole but I hope they carefully consider the tax implications of this to the point you were making because while $600,000 in the aggregate is a lot of money and
092it's impactful and every dollar impacts each family differently right I I just hope they publicly discuss what that actually means in terms of the difference in the monthly cost to a taxpayer cuz by my math and I'm happy to be corrected I think that's on the average house $6 a month is what we're talking [Music] about and again I don't know the extent like what these efficiencies are and there there might be some really smart and good things we should do and to your point always want to look to make sure we're investing every result in reduced positions yeah but like we always want to make sure every dollar is maximizing the impact on kids but but I do think it that needs to be very clearly said is like as big as that number
093is as impactful as that cut could could be and I I don't know exactly cuz we don't have the numbers six a month for every resident and so I I just hope that is clearly communicated in whatever number they set um because I really like what the public comment speaker talked about in terms of piece by piece and she was saying that as trying to hedge her comment but I think it's important every single one of these things that we're talking about from the override every part is a piece right and the only way you build something great is piece by piece like every piece is important and the the shest way to destroy something is to take away piece by piece and so we need to be mindful of what what are the pieces
094the impact that each of those pieces have that each of those pieces are people they're members of our community and they are all of them right now having real impacts on kids in certain ways and maybe there are different ways we wish they have impact and other ways we want to maximize it but but I bet there there's almost no position where like kids are engaging and they're not they don't feel real deep connection to to some and the staff who are doing the work don't feel really connection to our kids so I just all of those things I I just wanted to share um and I also just want to name for the community that like we we take our role I think very seriously we know the school department is the largest part
095of the townwide budget but I I think it's and I know the increase is is quite large for us but it should be said that like no other department right now that I'm aware of is being asked to cut resources like look at something less than level service um and so I I again commend you and I commend the group as like we are trying to think collaboratively of how we work with select board I think all those things are important but I do come at it from just like core and me like I think we right now as a town are not investing enough resources in our schools and so it I struggle a bit with like any thought of like giving up resources because even if I think programmatically we could invest them
096in different ways I I don't really think like we just have a bunch of money we have $600,000 that we can just wipe out without there being real impacts to kind of student learning and student opportunities that's really well [Music] said but I know why we're doing it and I I think it's important again we get to an yes on the override yeah thank you Mark very well said I think that's exactly that's exactly you you bring up a good point though did they did the select board come back and say that it needs to be reduced to a certain number I the only reason I say like at the last select board meeting the chair said the schools were going to look at this okay and so I took that as a indication with
097no other conversation that we needed to read it but I don't if there's an exact number context for the conversation all along has related to the reality that the school's level service for reasons we all understand stand which are out of our control in most me really the schools level service came in quite a bit higher than the other Town departments and to me I I think that has been a factor in the conversations and the questions that have been asked then is how I understand discussion from the Town Administrator for example in the context of their budget presentations conversations and no I mean I am not aware of a of an magic number that I I think it's still being figured out honestly okay um and I think I app yeah the reason I
098ask only is you know I mean where you make point right like it's $600,000 is the difference right that we're cutting it's not like we're able to reduce it like drastically to make enough of a difference right but it's those 600 that number equates to positions that are needed right um I'm just curious if there's an opportunity to have a discussion with select board that's not like where we're presenting and they're like oh no this number is not going to work but like hey you know we've cut but really make a case for does this these are the impacts with even these Cuts does it make can we go back and and maybe the the kind of the compromise would be and I'm just thinking out loud so feel free to jump in but like
099could we go back to the 9.5 and include those three things like I don't know I mean you know and KDC if like we were to keep it at the level service but with those three things and are there minor areas of efficiencies that we can do that don't really impact positions because then it would be a bit more of a it's us being I think one thing you know and you guys all brought up great points like when we talk about you know positions that impact student learning right that's a big deal right but if there are other things that we can do you know just like you tighten your belt at home and you you know like little things you can do here and there to show some some efficiencies that goes a
100long way right but instead of instead of actual position so if I don't know if there's a way to kind of I know it's more work but like if there's a way to get to that 9.5 that we've been sharing but if there's a way to incorporate that $400,000 into that and get to that number it would be our new level service kind you know in a way I don't know cuz then you're looking for a reduction of 400 MH right where we're just I mean in terms of none that's different Staffing positions $400,000 we probably could that um I think the question for us and the thing that I I think we need from you all is to know um are we moving forward with a revised this revised budget because I don't think
101it's appropriate for us to to like try you know like talk to the employees who would be on this list this new proposed list and then come back again next week and say actually no we're not doing that now to see that I would like to see the 9.5 if I can 100% we we definitely should see what is possible to achieve that doesn't touch any positions that still so whatever within the million that you envision you within the million that you name here and we don't have way of knowing how much of that is positions like if you can come back to let us know that and maybe it's you just said you thought and we're holding you to it but like you thought I think that so could we see that be and
102if there like maybe what you're saying I think what I would like to do is definitely find what efficiency if we're using that word to just mean um the tightening like what efficiencies are we able to achieve that don't cut positions positions position I think I've I've I have a general sense that some of the things you've considered not for in the context of non override or over or or budgeting per se but just in terms of some of your systems work going forward I have a sense that some of the things that generally are being considered as like um not cutting of positions per se but perhaps re you know repurposing recombining or re like allowing positions to be more impactfully deployed so if there's any of that I think if there's any of
103that that could achieve Co like cost Savings in any way along with whatever else I mean we have that in here so we are that we are doing that work of looking at like programmatic changes that are going to save pretty significant amount of money going into next year yeah I think the the bigger question to me is are we are we trying to to go below the the Cent I think that is a question for the select board honestly so hard yeah it's really hard without the number I think that that is that is a question for them but I think what would be helpful would be for us to be able to say this is what we can achieve without reducing positions and are you talking about adding some of the needs to
104or not there like a level of of what you're talking about that's [Music] just you're just looking like you're looking holistically at the budget and the process and saying just off the top like here are things that we've seen and looking at it from a system standpoint or from an before anything else do you know what I mean and that's and it's almost like the new it's the new level service in the sense of um with it Staffing everything else stays the same but are there ways that you look at programmatic things you look at processes you look at those things and you say that's where these efficiencies are being gained and then that's that's where you are you know it I don't know if how much of a difference that is it sounds like
105there could be some B some we talked about yeah so then that's the that's the the like that's the we should definitely do that right and I just I want to make sure that should only go further than that not knowing how much that what Amanda just described better than I did not knowing how much how far that gets us quite honestly because we've all said that we've we we've formally presented what we need you know beyond efficiencies that are just good to do anyway in a sense right and that be there that's already accounted for in that level like you might say no that we right it's already done so I don't want to assume that it hasn't if well I'm just going to say this if this if where we end up with
106the select board is needing to maybe do this full million in Cuts if that's if they say this is we can you know better this is more like what we 600 right which but but which requires a million dollars of cuts for lcal service yes and allows us to bring the ask down by 600,000 you know if that's something that they respond to to to say we can work with that it will be the select boards like I feel like at that time we'll have to look at what the actual position reductions are that that would require so that Cas we would wait I would lead with your FY level service request if you can fit in the requests on page three into that and keep that number the same because that's your level service
107budget but you've gone through it and Incorporated some of that you were able to find inefficiencies and move things around or you know and still go with that number if they say that's impossible right then you can always go to that that's the next one you know but I think having that they are deciding that we are going to need to yes make some Cuts I I think us showing that we're being efficient in a way and also incorporating our needs-based budget is shows that we are being efficient right without making deep Cuts right right so I think it's but then you know then that's the next conversation but I think we should lead with what we need at the end of the day you know and I think this is good good a good
108compromise that's another piece of the budget too um we've talked a lot about level service but there was we presented the level service budget in November but we also presented um the needs above level service in December and I think it's really important for the community um and people just to understand that just because a need isn't funded from year to year doesn't mean that that need goes away um and so those needs still exist and I think through this process when we say okay this is the number of level service but we're not going to stop there we're going to look and we're going to say are there efficiencies are there changes that we can make are there savings due to attrition and turnover and all of these different things and but we do
109have these needs and so we're trying to be mindful of the fact that we know that the town doesn't have unlimited resources and that we have demographics across the board that we need to be very mindful of um but we also need to move forward as a district and so we're trying to do that kind of within the financial constraints of it's 99.44% but this is what it gets us it gets us an Ela curriculum and um it also will allow us to have the staff that like makes these buildings run every single day and they can continue to do so yep um and support the students and that argument is very strong because again when you're going in with level service right and and we're obviously we're getting ahead you guys still have to
110kind of look through what those icies are right that don't impact positions but I think if you do that then you're asking people to support noide they're still feel like they're getting something right even for level I just want to make sure I'm understanding what we're saying here in terms of I think the direction where we're leaning is to keep the ask at 9 yes Fu 6 6.4 for the schools 9.5 no yeah no 6.4 people say the school ask 9.5 I me to say yeah to keep to keep it at that level but then what we're coming back with is the combination of what we were calling the level plus needs that gets us to no not all the needs not the all the needs these particular needs the top priority needs yes so
111that we're in terms of what you're then going to try where you're going to try to find savings or what you're trying to find of savings is 400,000 is that is that right am I following the you got it and then so that sounds like where this group is at mhm tonight and we've also been able to Signal here that if the select board in its deliberations as it continues toward the n finds itself unable to agree on the 9.5 for the town yep there is obviously then work that would need to be done mhm to identify further reductions that would what contri already that we've and and you have begun you've done that work right it would just be about taking the next step to make that like real and yep so I think
112that's how that's help yeah yeah my recommendation is just to go with that new level service request that you know everybody feels like they're not much is changing from last year but you're getting something more so it's you want to call it level Plus I don't know if level plus we're not get we're not increasing the number above I worry plus is like oh we're actually asking for more I think level service sounds I guess the one the one thing I service disagree on is the just the point on like no position impacts again I think positions are really impactful and like there as I said people behind them I I really defer to Y all though like there could be some just roll POS comment as I think you were saying like that you
113combine them redeploy certain ways and so again maybe that that is part of this is not just programmatic cuts and programmatic cuts can be just as impactful as positional cut so like there there's a a mix so um and then you tell us like if that's not possible like we should definitely have that conversation before you know I don't want it to feel like oh my gosh like I can't find any inefficiencies like you know and then we're still like at 9.5 you know so if that's something that we need to discuss and get on I think that's important to do so I mean keep us in the conversation about it and we also don't want to make cuts that we would then have to turn around next year and say oops we made a
114mistake and so we're just making sure that the cuts that we're making are sustainable that they will be something that we can operationalize um so yeah definitely all things that we've been talking about considering kind of making sure that that's part of this process too so I think this has been a good discussion we're not going to vote on anything tonight next week I do I think remains our vote I think I I think that for select board members watching this discussion or who you know get a synopsis like I feel like grateful to you all for the conversation because I think it has Pro ided Direction um that can support them in you know taking their next step and we're just walking along this path together we're trying to um it's not easy we're
115just trying to get where we need to get so we're compromising I feel like this is a good um next step on our part here um and it bring it has brought further Clarity to the process definitely and next week will be able to look at this revised level service budget as we've discussed here in further detail such that we'll be able to vote to approve it right is where we're still trying to get so are we presenting to select board if they're making decision on a number on Tuesday how does that work I I don't no but we we will ask I think it's I think you you know this is something to understand from Nick you know from this like we can follow up there tomorrow and um they can understand kind of
116where we are right here now and then see um what they think makes most sense for their process but and I have not heard anything concrete actually about like what their process is going forward so obviously we since the last time we met the decision was taken that the vote is taking place April 29th so with that we have like they they are needing to move toward a decision [Music] obviously okay thanks for all the work that you're doing it's a lot f 25 great uh budget update fy2 so Wednesday we talked we had a finance meeting earli this morning where we talked about FY 26 we had one on Monday where we talked about fy2 that was our uh again first time to discuss that since our select board presentation so um it was
117helpful uh Katie brought kind of an update as kind of where we stand with some of the action steps that were previously shared at the select board meeting and previously discussed at the school committee meeting around P freezes uh hiring freezes reducing POS from Consolidated facilities supplemental funding from the state potentially all things like that so uh we got a update on that uh overall again they're we're they're moving forward doing things as reducing the what is the projected deficit uh that will at the end of the year U still are not at zero uh based upon kind of the current planning so um couple things to share there we we talked a bit about the technology kind of potential request to ask Capital to kind of defer our payment for next year and move
118it into this year um not 100% sure if Capital will do that the town will do that um so talked about that a bit I know Katie shared more also about the special education stabilization fund as she shared a little bit tonight um and so I think from my perspective within that group like there was a lot of interest in moving forward with that next year and really talking about how do we establish that again as it relates to creating kind of sustainable best practices and how do we create systems that uh help us void us being in the situation we are right now um that will require cooperation with the town and will require cooperation you know specifically with the select board so um that that is work that you know is not going
119to be able to impact the current year fy2 Gap but uh something that we can look at for for next year to address this in the future um coming out of the meeting we still you know talked to to Peter around kind of the need for a a plan that gets to zero as much as it might hurt um but we need that plan so that this committee as a whole can review it and discuss it and then talk through you know what are our next steps implementing that or Alternatives um such as having further conversations with the select board or or the Town Administrator for other other options uh other than cuts to programming um whatever those might be so that is on the docket for kind of further discussion next week uh another
120thing we started talking about we were continuing to talk about is just the the ways in which you know we are already uh Katie and the district team are already implementing kind of additional processes to kind of fix some of the systemic issues that that have led us to this point L us to the point last year and the point this year where we have kind of a project deficit uh Katie shared that she's already started putting together kind of a write up of she shared some of the best practices here and at finance committee and you know at public spaces um but you know the idea of putting something really more formally together to share with the public to put on the website with all the other resources ources just make that more clear
121for folks as folks are reaching out asking what are you doing to make this more um you know ensure this isn't going to happen in the future uh she's doing that in terms of the internal things um you know uh systems and checks and balances I think we we still have more work to do within that conversation too and Amanda kindly enough kind of has started reaching out to other um School committees to see if there are additional resources related to our own practices right and maybe this is something that goes it's more a governance conversation but just like what are the other things that you know we could be doing should be doing in terms of asking and supporting uh the district and you know communicating with the public uh about these things to
122to make folks understand I think you know it is more and more every day there there continue to be more reports about towns about school districts that are in worse situations and we are you know North Andover just had an article come out about the potential need to close down a school uh in order to address Budget Gap within the current year and OB see Brook line has gaps even after passing an override two years ago and so it is it is hard all around um which maybe makes us feel slightly better but obviously doesn't solve the issue and the impact to our staff and students within the current fiscal year um but it is it's a problem where we are still meeting work to solve so I think that's the update please anything else
123I missed good job and I do appreciate like you pointing out those other districts because I think what we are going doing now and going to continue to do you know moving forward is making sure that we don't end up in those situations right like where they talked about noide two years ago and Brookline and they're in this mess now and they do an audit do all of those things so I think the I'm glad that we're kind of looking I know it's a very short Runway but I'm glad we're looking at all of this right now so that we're kind of planning for the future too instead of just getting through today you know and which is what we've always done so we really appreciate you know in terms of like um Katie you're
124kind of looking into the future in terms of like years down like how does this set us up you know Peter obviously just you know from your system standpoint like all the things that you are doing you know to kind of you know streamline things for us um I think um this is where hopefully with all of these processes and we talk about improving our process and how we can support you I think this is where all the pieces come together um and we can kind of put good practices in place for you know Community to continue to do the work they do so yeah I think also Al know you brought up the brook line piece and I I think it's important to note like the differences in our situation and that I think
125the point you're making of like my understanding of the brook line I don't want to cast dispersions and um but is like real more deeper Financial issues around misappropriation of uh resources around special education funding that there wasn't going to that and instead was being spent elsewhere and students were denied services and all so I just say like when we are and I I did it obviously just now comparing ourselves to that like that is not our situation like we are to I think the point you're making like we are we are not there we we know we know what the situation is with us which is just that our expenses within particular line items were our mandated expenses expenses we can't curb we can't just stop and they were greater than we had bad
126budget practices and that they were much greater than what we budgeted for and and that's she's actually looking at exactly what she's setting up which is the process so that we're not taking from something else and putting it over here so that we're denying services and so on and so forth we're budgeting accurately yes so that we're we're not in that position down the road so right and so I just I just really appreciate that level of thinking and thoughtfulness that is going into this so that's why again it's like when I'm looking at this it's like what we're trying to save is is not that much it doesn't it's not a huge amount that's why it's like all right let's just go with what we need is it really worth that right yeah MH
127right that's the that's the way in which it's a cost benefit analysis that the select board is needing to do as far as like what is the benefit of cutting that cost is it worth MH what you're saving right it may not be but you're right and and it's you know at the end of the day it's not just it's more than you know we're not just giving last year we've completely reconfigured a lot of things so it's not just from we're just it's not a rolling over it's not a rolling over it's like we've we've looked at a lot of different things and setting us up so that we're not you know seeing these huge increases next year or the year after and stuff so again I think that's that's the message there too
128so it's not just hey this is our level service but there's a whole component that goes with it which is what got us to this number there's been so many people that have been involved in the process um we talk a lot about the work that we're doing with the principls and the central office team our curriculum coordinators there's just been so many people um just within the school department and people are really engaged and I think the more that people are engaged in the budget process and the work that we're doing um they're taking accountability for it right and they're realizing like the cost benefit analysis and like this is what it truly means this is what the budget is this is kind of like I I am responsible for this and so I
129want to make sure that I am using this money it's kind of like an allowance when you're young right like I want to make sure that I'm spending my money on the best possible thing and I think that that is that's a shift from when I first started um even just a few short months ago um the fact that people are actually talking about it they're talking about the budget we're talking about it in every conversation now and and that's a shift that's an improvement that will continue um and that's going to help us it really is that's going to help us so much um moving forward just in the fact that I having the Community Trust us that this truly is we're mindful of the fact that um this is the a community resource
130the schools really are a community resource so um I just want to thank everyone too that has been a part of the process I feel at times I'm definitely a broken record when I talk about the budget but um it's a lot of work so um thank you to everyone for listening to and I think this is where the more you know more involvement from staff on the budget and that it's part of because it it supports everything we do right yeah and uh so I think that's again is a great way to build community support behind it so I think I think those conversations shouldn't be just you kind of working on on it by yourself but it's you're working on it together and there's an understanding that comes with it right and appreciate
131you involving Us in this process of figuring out and sharing these things and letting us you know have this discussion and get to the point because that's how we make a strong case for it too [Music] so the girls team one all right that's it for the finance report I do have is it on the agenda we don't have we have them on here somehow Sor apologize we will make sure they're on there next week that's okay so policy um so we do not have a meeting since our last meeting uh our next meeting is not till mid-march um but the um I think it was the title 9 policies that uh were requested from the last meeting with the red line so you could see the changes um that were in there yeah there
132[Music] and these are the versions we've received [Music] from legal council and masc regarding just the implications of the recent changes to Title 9 that necessitate certain language changes in policy so so is this did this come from language the redline language did that come from them it come from legal did it come from the the red line is their previous I mean the the new the yeah that m [Music] get we also just for your um kind of knowledge about what we're doing internally so we we did talk about the the policies um and I shared a brief from Mas on things that administrators need to be thinking about again because you know we are rting back with this so if someone's been in administrator for a long time they they've gone through a
133number of different changes on Title 9 okay so um the procedure is different than what we've been living with for the last four years so it's a return but can you speak to the impact can you speak to the relationship I guess between um the Chang we he have here from Title 9 which is that sex-based discrimination is no longer included right but in terms of what that means for us in Massachusetts what is the well it's a federal so it's not in Massachusettes no I know but it the upshot is that you are still protected against sex-based discrimination in by state law in Massachusetts it's just you are no longer citing Title 9 going through the title 9 process we're going through that process so I just want to make sure as we prepare
134to accept these changes which we are required to accept because they are just based on what the law is I think it's going to be it's just so I'm glad you're working with staff and I think we need to make sure that Community understands that the protection is not going away the source of the protection is just sort of Shifting focus and we've always had it now I don't know not always but we have had it in both places now we are fortunate to have it in our state law even if it is not at this time in our federal law yeah and I think it's important for the community to know that yeah exactly you know and for you know obviously um just folks who are advising and talking to students to know that
135there those protections are still there I think that's and and I think that's one of the things I really value about Massachusetts as a whole is like every community we get relative to some of the federal changes that are happening there's there's always and I I've shared some of that information with you all right to immigration and other issues um there's always kind of a doubling down on what we value in the state which I think is important and very helpful do we have any other policy that outside of Title 9 that protect or address sex based bullying harassment like is that is that listed anywhere else just within student code of conduct or within other again given it wouldn't be a title 9 investigation which you know has again very clear processes and procedures
136as you're saying Lizzie like wouldn't be under that but just knowing is there a different policy that folks who are concerned about their protections within the school would look to and that we would direct them to and that in our handbooks as well to the yeah yeah so it' be dealt with less as like the legally required Title 9 process but more from the standpoint at the general school you know um discipline kind of Investigation supports um that that happen for any number of reasons is that accurate to say yeah I'm just looking right now jfb is bullying prevention jfa hazing as I said our handbooks articulate a lot of this as well so we we have like more than enough direction to for for any kind of any form of harassment or bully it
137is one of the systems areas we're working on too in terms of formalizing documentation and processes and things like that it kind of can be common for you know principal's been around for 10 years and does that you know they know what the policy is but they do it this way and so we're we're working to make sure that we are kind of like districtwide have a a a singular way that we're approaching that and Daniel Wetmore is is needing that work yeah very clearly in GI cfd thank you um then can I go ahead and make the motion okay using the expedited approval process uh motion is made to approve the following policies um policy AC non-discrimination policy including harassment and retaliation policy ac- R non-discrimination policy including harassment and retaliation policy acab sexual
138harassment second thank you all in favor thank you so um that we had a bullet under here on Ma MIAA guidance update related is that some something you have any update on I don't have any new okay um maybe we can sort of keep on that um to make sure that we're up to date as far as how this is being addressed in context of again Massachusetts and you know how we as a district can then be speaking about it y um as regards to like I I remember we had a speaker um come and speak to us about this a couple of meetings ago um put on our agenda for speak okay that would be good um and so after that I think we just make it to approval of minutes and we have
139two sets of minutes um in our folder so give people a minute to look over those for [Music] okay any edits changes couple of intense meetings to relive through the minutes at least we're on track to end earlier tonight since we were only here we were only here till 11:45 last night for town meeting oh I never heard how yeah was L thought we were going to be here till 11: tonight it's like I know I'm going to have to sit in the parking lot so my babysitter still gets paid [Laughter] something um I can make a motion We Ready mhm okay make a motion I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of the January 22nd 2025 Milton school committee meeting and the February 5th 2025 Milton school committee meeting second all in favor
140favor sorry forget that part okay so for next agenda uh here on my phone I can't access my calendar I'm just going to I know we have our budget hearing beginning at 6:30 um so 6:30 p.m. in here Begins the budget hearing which is our annual uh opportunity as required to hear from the community about their you know um about the budget so that will happen um and Then followed by our regular meeting so so I just have a quick question on that so select board comes up with a number that doesn't align with our new needs space or level service budget do we update it for the budget hearing or is it do we like how does that work cuz it's the day after I mean that's kind of why I was asking before
141was we're not going to have enough time right I don't think we can have the budget I just don't think I don't know we're not going to see that we're we're not going to see it if something changes until I about the next meeting the 19th for the budget hearing yeah because of everything going on um I don't know if that's well we can we had to post it it had to be posted in the Milton times it's like a whole procedure for how you have to notice that meeting of of the hearing so like it was already posted posted for happening March bi um we have a meeting Wednesday morning don't we Finance mhm we we do but that's not enough update it's not a it's not a totally sure thing that the select
142board is necessarily going to vote on their number next week I mean I think that's number we have an indication that that is and is an intent but you know I think I'm yeah I think we need to I think we need to arrive at a place where we can like approve our budget request if it if it require if if the timeline of the select board means we have to make adjustments to it then we'll have to do that I guess but the budget hearing and I well here's another thing actually I'm think I'm sorry I'm think I'm thinking out loud we can have the budget here can we have the budget hearing like next week even if we don't formally vote on the budget at next week's meeting I think I think the
143main thing was that we have the budget hearing like before we technically vote so actually let's back up and just say why don't we just we'll keep our budget hearing next week that's an important opportunity where members of the community can come speak to us about their concerns or thoughts on our budget M do we present the budget like how do we get like that again how we arrived to this new level service so budget like what because I think there needs to be some context CU we've been that number has been out there but what's different now needs to be explained before people come in yeah and raise concerns because I think there's a disconnect that's a good point and I will just say I I mean I guess we could use the If
144We crosspost the finance committee meeting in the morning we could go over the numbers to present that yeah so according to Mass General law cuz it's the budget hearing is in accordance something we're doing yeah it's required Mass General law it just says that prior to such public hearing the committee shall make available to the public at least one copy of set proposed budget for a time period of not less than 48 hours either at the office of the superintendent at schools are at a place so designated um and so we do have the level service budget and the needs space budget those have been posted publicly for months um I think a period of time and so I think ultimately um I know that that the underlying detail may change and um the select
145board May yeah come back with a different number but um if we are hopefully at the point where we're still talking about that same overall level service budget number um um then that number has been publicly posted kind of for a period of time so I think at least the the posting but we would probably be talking about the slightly altered yes kind of like the underlying so is that so are we presenting the budget before comments like how does it like I can't I can't I don't remember anyone last time that's not what yeah no I was going to say that's not what we did last year we've not done that in the past and I don't think that's the expectation comments last year I don't remember yeah it's a public it's an extended
146it's essentially and it's an our past practice was to have it be 15 minutes before the meeting and I thought given where we're at we should make that 30 minutes before the meeting so um that's why 6:30 and it's a that is that is what it is it's extended public comment on the topic of the budget so if people wanted to speak on public comment on other topics other than the budget they would be welcome to do that at the regular public comment in our regular meeting yeah this is purely on the budget and to your point Anna I think the expectation is that since it's been the materials have been shared they're out there um people are expected who want to come to share a view like they have done their homework so to
147speak and they kind of under you know have the access to the information and they're bringing us a perspective they would be commenting on the previous versions or I guess what we discuss tonight if they watch tonight's discuss I think that what um what I think might make sense and maybe we can follow up on this would be a communication and maybe it's in the weekly emails that goes out or whatever but a clear message that's included that explains this is the budget hearing it has been posted for this date and time yeah and again Drop Drive people to the landing page where they can find all this information um and maybe we post there this meeting recording yeah which is like if you want the latest sort of discussion some iteration of where the
148school committee is as of February 26th like this is you you can watch this meeting and then you can come and share your thoughts I think that is reasonable and then in the course of our meeting based on Finance in the morning and then whatever you all are bringing us as the followup to tonight's discussion we can go from there yeah I think we're all agreeing it's a little less than ideal but that's the situation we are finding ourselves in giving the situation is less than ideal yeah just giv I mean it' be great to have a more firm budget to like discuss next week but we're not there because the Situation's so fluid and that's not okay not your fault I not anybody hopefully the public I guess what I'm saying I hopefully that
149is understandable and that they are coming in with that understanding of like we are in a fluid situation trying to do what we can yep is there response or is it just comments my people have is it in the same vein that we don't respond to public comment here is it I will double check to like to make sure that I have the the proper language to frame the opening of the hearing my recollection from is that it's no it's not a discussion so much as it's our opportunity to hear from people to then incorporate feedback and in into our discussion which we will then roll right into in the meeting yeah incorporate comment within the discussion exactly so to the extent questions concerns are raised we will have the opportunity to address those as
150we then discuss the budget from there is my understanding I that's definitely how it been in my experience as well um as for other me next meeting agenda items I mean clearly this is again going to be the main one and we're going to work to develop the agenda for next week um so we'll just um see what else there needs to be but yes this isn't quite an next week agenda item but I think we talked prior to the break about I mentioned this to you off right before but like about having additional scheduling additional public sessions to yeah forums and we were trying to get one before the break but like knowing that that was 5:00 it wasn't was the best we were going to be able to do before everybody left but
151try to schedule more of those I think we should and I think it would be beneficial at this in this place we find ourselves where we're very close to I think I think my thought is next week's focus is this hearing because that is an opportunity unto itself and in past years we've not had much attendance at that you know we definitely encourage people to come to that every district has to have it you know we invite people to come share their thoughts online or in person and then I think from there when we have the clarity um you know think we should definitely schedule another sort of forum and we had talked about having an online um yeah that's option for [Music] people in addition for where there is a opportunity for more of
152the back and forth beyond the hybrid um budget hearing opportunity so yeah I mean do you do do other people agree with that that like we kind of get through next week yeah M and then schedule something additional from there yeah I think I think to schedule additional ones I think we need to be in a we need to know more right we're kind of in Lim right now so we're just probably it'll create probably more confusion so I think once we're we have a concrete idea then we can advocate for that answer yes yes but I think to do it any sooner once we have that and had Katie close the team has had time to really look at those what the impacts are and all of those things uh I think I think
153cuz if people are coming at that point they they want to know more and then I think also at that time you know really emphasizing the processes that you know you're putting in place I think that message it should be you know and kind of just saying like not just just so that they can see it like visually like this is what you know and maybe it's even a little or you know something where they can say okay this is what you're putting in place going forward yeah you know and I think those things are really important yep to kind of you know build trust and all of those things even with um the broader community in our district as well so yep okay um I'll make sure to flag once the agenda is developed
154before it's posted I'll just ping you got so that since we have haven't talked about other items if there are other things you'll tell me that you you need to add them but it it's just next week so I don't think we even have a lot of other like subcommittee activity um taking place anyway a little two Finance meetings okay great um and they're all cross posted right they are cross posted and in person and in person okay yep great so with that um make a motion to adjourn second second all in favor okay great thanks everybody [Music] okay