Everett School Committee Livestream: April 16th, 2026

001[music] Good evening and welcome to the Everett School Committee budget committee of the whole meeting for Thursday, April 16th, 2026. The time is 6:40 p.m. Clerk, could you call the role to determine a quorum? >> Mr. Almeita Barrels, >> present. >> Miss Babcock, >> present. >> Miss Cardello, >> present. Miss Cornelio >> present. >> Mr. Denafhrio >> present. >> Miss Cristiano >> present. >> Miss Garren >> present. >> Mr. Lam Monica. >> Mayor Vancampen >> present. >> Chairperson Hurley >> present. >> Nine members present. We do have a quorum. If everyone can join me in saluting the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for its stands nation under indivisibley and justice for all. >> Thank you all. Before we begin with the regular agenda, I just want to announce that

002we have Genie Cristiano attending remotely. So, all votes have to be done by roll call. Committee member Lam Monica sends his regrets that he is unable to attend today. And I would like to remind members that um it is within our rules that every member when about to speak shall respectfully address the chair and combine his or her remarks to the specific matter under discussion and refrain from remarks of personal nature. That's important tonight because we are talking about budget. So with that, superintendent, the next order of business, >> Roman numeral 3, agenda item number one, presentation of the Ever Public Schools proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. Madam Chair, members of the school committee, our audience, let me first begin by um thanking and welcoming to this um Ever High School library the members of

003the executive staff that support the Ever Public Schools, our assistant superintendent, and the building leaders from across our 10 schools. without their leadership and support, the things that we talk about tonight, the goals that we set for ourselves, the way in which we conduct our business each and every day in our schools would not be possible, would not be at success without those folks in front of you today and so many more behind them back in each of our schools. So, I wanted to first start today's uh discussion and presentation by acknowledging them and their expertise and their time and their commitment to what we do each and every day. So, thank you from me to all of them. And I know the school committee shares uh with me the um appreciation and and the

004energy that they uh provide to our school children every single day. Let me also say that um I'd like to start by letting you know that the books that you all received in advance of this evening's meeting uh have two beautiful pieces of art, one on the front and one on the back of your book. And these were from two students here at Everett High School. One of the cover on the front is Perfections Pursuit by Anthony Whit while the untitled work on the back was designed by Seel Ano De Lima. Andrew received a golden silver key in this year's Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a prestigious and very long-standing program that recognizes teen creativity in the arts. CL's piece grabbed my personal attention as I enjoyed the awesome and varied artwork showcased during Everett

005High School's art show held last Thursday right here in the library. And quite frankly, much of that artwork I asked for them to stay here in the library so all of you could take a look at it after the meeting. It is just beautiful works of art in print and in clay and all types of medium that's just superior. And I know chairperson Hurley uh can attest to the energy and the [clears throat] beautiful artwork because she was with me when we looked at all of these pieces and selected what you have on your books this evening. Putting student artwork on the budget book reminds us that the columns and rows of numbers contained herein are carefully formulated to de demonstrate our commitment to our students. No budget is perfect, but any budget that fosters

006work like the ones that you see all around you and of course right here behind me on the screen um is a successful budget. Let me just say that I am always pleased to showcase our students in whatever way they want to be recognized and you all have been so kind and so courteous and appreciative I think of our students when they come to our school committee meetings every other meeting and we showcase a particular grade a particular project and this is what it's all about. So I wanted to give special recognition not only the two students that uh were selected for the book but certainly all of the stuff that's around us and please take time to look at that. It is no by chance that we are transforming ever public schools into what

007I know mayor and I'm going to uh take an excerpt what you've termed we are creating an urban model of excellence and success. I want to thank our teachers and our students and everyone here at this table for playing their own particular part in moving us forward in meaningful and tangible ways. Excuse [clears throat] me. Our progress toward improvement targets as defined by Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, we refer to that as DESIE, has grown steadily and sharply over the last two years in particular, climbing from 37% in 2023 to 61% in the most recent reporting. That's a significant movement in the right direction. Some of our more wealthier communities, our peers if you will and not peers that are different parts of this commonwealth have not enjoyed this kind of growth. This

008target percentage is a key desi standard. It is calculated by combining years of data, student achievement, growth, high school graduation rates, English learner success, advanced coursework completion, and chronic absenteeism. It shows that we are literally moving in the right direction [clears throat] based on the criteria and metrics set forth by the Commonwealth. Together, we have boosted our tail our daily attendance rate to 92 plus% up from a low of 88.4%. We have implemented a student centered instructional strategy that is built around reading and literacy, data analysis, and an emphasis on grade level proficiency in reading fluency, comprehension, and academic language development. Thanks to a grant from the Prestigious Bar Foundation, we are rethinking how our high school students get the most out of their education. Whether it's inside this building or through alternative programs, we

009do this with the understanding that the practices of the past 5, 10, even 15 years, might not really be the best way any longer to serve our students today or tomorrow. We must continue to explore expanded career and technical education which next year we will see an addition of two programs. One in multimedia production and broadcast and the other in public safety. That will kind of round out what we offer our students as options to move into the workplace after ever high school. at the early education and elementary levels. We are launching the first full day prek kindergarten option as you all know as well as a dual immersion program in Spanish and Portuguese beginning next school year 2627. These are two major initiatives that we are moving forward with endorsed by this school committee

010and I can promise you good things will certainly come from those two initiatives alone. To develop a clarity and direction as we look further into the future, I'm convening a group of educators and external stakeholders to help assemble the district's first ever strategic plan, an undertaking that will begin in earnest later this month and guide our work over the next several three years in particular. And I want to thank publicly those people who have signed up and want to participate. It has been an overwhelming response by our external community who have believed uh that we can do better things and want to work with us to give us some of their ideas and I thank them publicly tonight as well. Similarly, we must continue to push forward with space solutions from the near-term relief of

011our elementary schools to a long-term dream of building a new Everett high school. And we must continue to highlight the awesome accomplishments of our students and faculty. something, of course, as I mentioned a minute ago, that you'll allow me to do every other meeting here at um at the Everett uh high school library. This brings us to the reason for tonight's meeting, our proposed fiscal year 2027 budget. It is my duty as superintendent to present a balanced budget to the school committee. The numbers and details we are sharing tonight represent what I believe is the best way to maximize the dollars we receive from the taxpayers of this city and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This is how we build upon the successes and priorities I just referenced. Over the last several months, we completed an

012exhaustive process that uh was led by our assistant superintendent of finance, Mr. Chris Barrett, who will provide some detail very shortly. I want to start by saying that our total budget increased by 2.28% 28% over last year's 2026 budget. A comparatively modest number that must hold up against rising fixed costs such as salaries, benefits, and special education expenditures. Last year, we received $8.8 million from Chapter 70 funding from the Commonwealth. This year, due a decrease in enrollment in our public school system, our Chapter 7 funds grew only by $575,000. That figure is not commensurate with the increase in costs our budget must account for. Our chapter $70 are calculated based on enrollments that we report as of October 1st, 2025 in this case. And at that point, we re we reported to the Commonwealth 6,900

0136,98 students. But chapter funding formula um but is a concern because while we did lose students we lost an inordinate in inordinate amount of state support. Conversely and crucially Mayor Vancampen and his team were quick to respond working with this administration to identify funds through a careful review of a chargeback system and many of you have opined on that in the past couple of years. Every dollar stricken from our chargeback line is being directed back to our classrooms. We will talk in more detail about the chargebacks this evening as it is so important to understand why it puts us in a far better place than we might otherwise have been. And again, it is um a real tip of the hat to you, Mayor Vancampen, for your um example of leadership in this area. Finally,

014I can tell you and every student, parent, and taxpayer in our city that tonight's meeting is the culmination of countless hours of analysis, review, consultation, deliberation, and determination. While the process was challenging and exacting, this budget does not blur our vision, alter our course, or slow our momentum. This budget keeps us sound and secure operationally. It does not close programs or change the way we deliver key services. It provides our students access to social workers and the social emotional supports they need and deserve. It preserves the content specific instruction that is crucial to student success. And it allows us to move forward with new and creative initiatives. It is a budget that will help us move our students through every step of their journey with the Ever Public Schools. Whether we are talking about the

015students who will form our first ever full day prek kindergarten class or current ever high school juniors who are starting to think about college career and beyond. This budget to tie things back to the beginning of the evening gives our students the canvas that they need to express themselves and shape their stories each and every day that they are in our classrooms. Every voice, every day, every story. With that, Madam Chair, I ask you to invite Assistant Superintendent Baron Barrett to come forward to present the proposed fiscal year 2027 Everett public schools budget. >> So move make a motion to invite uh the assistant superintendent for finances and the team that >> second come along with him. >> Motion has been made by Mr. Barrow, seconded by Miss Babcock to invite the um assistant superintendent

016of finance and his team before us. Roll call. >> Mr. Almearos. Yes, >> Miss Babcock. >> Yes, >> Miss Cardelloo. >> Yes, >> Miss Cornelio. >> Yes, >> Mr. Denafhario. >> Yes, >> Miss Cristiano. >> Yes, >> Miss Cristiano, >> yes. >> Miss Karen, >> yes. >> Mayor Van Campin, >> yes. >> Madame Chair, >> yes. >> So move 90. Motion passed. And I'd like to wish a very happy birthday to Mr. Barrett, >> the big 50. Thank you so much. >> I wasn't going to do that to him. >> Well, probably having been born in Everett, I think I couldn't find a better spot to be today than with all of you. Uh, back in the city of Everett, a city that I deeply love and I appreciate. So, thank you for having us

017here tonight. Uh, Superintendent Hart, you put it well. Um, like any district, Everett has its strengths and certainly challenges. Last year, we graduated the largest high school class in our history. Our educators continue to positively engage students from preK through grade 12, even in overcrowded classrooms, finding creative ways to inspire learning. This overcrowding will persist even without decrease in enrollment. Tonight, we will walk you through the FY27 budget proposal, including the key factors that shaped it and the process we used to develop it. We will present this budget school by school. districtwide to provide full transparency that I know this school committee expects. Now, looking back at FY26 last year, we were able to continue to make strategic investments in IT, infrastructure, systems, security, resources. We also engage students and families through inclusive events that

018strengthen belonging and support student success. Emergency preparedness training has continued to be implemented across the district to ensure the safety of everyone in all of our schools. Year two of the three-year Student Opportunity Act plan was successfully completed, but enrollment has dropped sharply compared to previous years, and that direct impact certainly impacts our financial position. Our decisions this year have been deliberate in focused with protecting the classroom at the center of every single decision. And while new obligations and rising costs certainly will continue, we must balance them against the challenges related to the decrease in enrollment. The FY27 budget continues to focus on what matters most. As the superintendent alluded to, teaching, learning, and the student success that we continue to see in our classrooms, we are committed to maintaining high academic standards and investing

019in a student centered curriculum that is inclusive, equitable, and includes dual immersion programs. As the superintendent spoke about and I know a priority of this school committee, investments continue in interventions, technology, safety and infrastructure to support every student and every educator. Career readiness opportunities and social emotional learning supports are expanding so students are prepared academically and just as important personally. A cornerstone of this work is our commitment to full day preschool. the superintendent's commitment and your commitment given our youngest learners access to high quality early education. This investment ensures every student starts with a strong foundation for success. At the same time, we remain mindful that new obligations must be balanced against our long-term financial stability, ensuring that the decisions we make today are both responsible and sustainable for the future. We're deeply committed to

020retaining the talented educators and staff who make all of this possible. This certainly is a shared success with our educators and with us. This budget honors commitments to all five bargaining units and we thank their leadership and their members for their collaboration and their transparency. Contractual and step increases remain fully funded. New requests for limited were limited to those offset by reductions or savings we found elsewhere, including a net reduction of 35 staff positions from FY26. Despite these challenges, all programs and all services remained. Our educators continue to inspire students from preK through grade 12 to learn, dream, and succeed. And the superintendent says this daily. Our goal is simple. Give every student every opportunity to succeed and build pride in our community. Now, understanding the annual school budget. An annual budget is more than

021just numbers. It is a vision for the year ahead from July 1, 2026 through July June 30th, 2027 and beyond. As part of this process, it is the responsibility of a district to plan for two, three, and even five years into the future for terms of decision-m to ensure the path toward forward is clear and every decision [clears throat] aligns with this vision. We remain committed to all of the priorities that resulted in our success that the superintendent spoke about tonight on our achievement data, especially one of the most important instructional goals which is worth highlighting tonight. Superintendent has made this a priority for all of us in our buildings and in our classrooms. When we walk into these buildings, we see this priority. Educators will intentionally implement student centered literacy instructional strategies with high

022quality instructional materials to plan data-driven instruction ensuring all students and especially students with disabilities and multilingual learners experience targeted rigorous instruction that leads to grade level proficiency in reading fluency comprehension and academic language development. That certainly has been a success as we have seen of late with our achievement data. At its core, this budget reflects our values as I spoken to transparency, inclusivity, and enhancements to our laws and regulations. Even with these funding challenges, classroom supports remain intact. These supports are the reason we've been able to achieve measurable gains in student progress. And through it all, we continue to balance new obligations against declining state resources. The budget timeline. The FY27 budget process began far earlier than in prior years. After the October 1 enrollment report revealed a decline of 339 students across this district,

023we went to work. We worked immediately as a team. We held regular daily meetings with leaders across Ever public schools in the city, including the superintendent almost on a daily basis. Superintendent Hart, the mayor and his team have been willing to sit down regularly about the challenges we're facing as a community. Assistant superintendent, principles, school leaders, department heads, and educators engaging each group thoughtfully and exploring every opportunity available to us to make the changes needed to meet the challenges ahead. From October through March and into April, we developed projections, tested multiple scenarios on a daily basis, and engaged stakeholders across schools and departments. In March, we finalized the budget structure and aligned it with all state reporting requirements, understanding even then into April, we continue to work on these different scenarios. Tonight, as Chair Hurley

024spoke to, the meaning of the budget and the committee of the whole on the whole is the first step in this process, public process. In the weeks ahead, a public hearing will be held, followed by a school committee vote on May 4th, and a budget will then move to city council. You'll hear throughout this presentation about all the necessary increases of costs we have we are obligated to support while managing decreases in funding. As I've said before and you've heard it regularly already, a decline in enrollment. Now, the contributing factors that we're up against are significant. Several key factors shape this year's proposal, and the superintendent alluded to them. We continue to implement the Student Opportunity Act for approximately about $1.9 million. Special education expenses as in every district across the Commonwealth and across the

025nation continue to increase by about 5.23%. Representing an impact of about 1.9 million in increased costs. Health insurance and infrastructure costs are also rising reflecting necessary investments um reflecting necessary investments for district operations. Even with the reduction in staff that I spoke about tonight, you notice there is going to still be an increase in the salary lines. This is due to satisfying contractual obligations, the impact of staff increases, benefits, and other key factors that go along with the employment of the staff that we have in Ever Public Schools. Now, the superintendent spoke about this and this was an important part of the puzzle. Most importantly, the school district chargeback from the city was frozen at $36 million. Prior to this, estimates pointed to a chargeback total that could have reached close to $41 million. Fing

026the chargeback number at 36 million provided us with a savings of $5 million which as a superintendent spoke to we reinvested immediately into the classrooms to save positions saving approximately 48 staff members. This is an example how we continue to balance rise in obligations and limited funding through the help and support of city hall. The formulation of the chargeback number which is up on the screen here is a memorandum of understanding between the city and the school department that captures school expenses paid by the city which have incurred which have occurred due to school operations. Our highest costs are for health and life insurance and this is the same for the city retired and new employees at 17.26 million. Our next highest number are the state charter school and school choice assessments at 14.36 million.

027Other costs include other benefits in which include workers compensation, Medicare, unemployment insurance costs at 2.26 million and the school share the city's retirement assessment at approximately 2.1 million. >> [clears throat] >> Other budget assumptions assumptions that we need to make as we've put together this budget are the enrollment declines led to a less than 1% increase in chapter 70 funding compared to a 7.5% increase going into FY26 last year. While we could not maintain all staff levels, all programs and services for students were preserved. That was the charge that the superintendent gave us. This budget is a strong investment in students, families, educators, program, and people. Above all, we took every step to minimize the direct impact on the classroom. Now, for enrollment, you will see here two graphs. The totals on the chart on

028the right are based on our October 1st submission to Desi for our enrollment data. If these numbers, these are the numbers that they utilize to provide us with our chapter 7 funding for the following school year. As you can see, we experienced an influx of new students from 2022 through 2024. The significant decline in 2026 returned us closer to our previous enrollment numbers in 2022. The numbers presented in 2026 in prior years reflect our October 1st enrollment data each year as tracked by Desi and as I said determine our chapter 70 funding. On October 1, our enrollment number this year was 6,98 students. This represents, as I said earlier, a decrease of 339 students from 2025. Our 2027 projected enrollment is estimated to decrease already, as you see on the left, an additional 205 students

029to a total of 6,697. We use these projections as a guide as we make our staff and budgeted decisions for next year and in the following years. In this slide, you'll see the proposed school budget at a macro level. The first financial slide represents data at the highest level. It shows our proposed FY27 total budget which is which is made up of our school department operating budget of 139,290,473 plus our special special education transportation budget of $6,4926. to arrive at the school's the total school budget of $145,395399. And please note that special education transportation funding is contributed by the city and is itemized outside our operating budget as it does not roll up into our net school spending requirement from the from DESIE. Now, in a micro view of how that budget is made up

030in the summary, you'll notice that these numbers are directly from our general ledger ledger. In the prior year's presentation, and I know we went in depth this last year, so we won't do it again. We expanded the chart of accounts to promote transparency, and these lines mirror how we must report this data to DESIE. As we get into the individual departments and school budgets, we will be presenting school administration systemwide programming in each school by personnel first and budget second. And I will stop for questions at the end of each section or maybe at the end we have those questions um as you gather them throughout these presentations. Um any questions at this point? Thank you. Now you will see reductions in these next several slides from systemwide to our schools identified and this is

031where we have identified uh to repurpose funds or where vacancies were not carried forward for FY27. These moves saved ever public schools $3.4 million. Additionally, you [snorts] will see a number of tarter redu reductions in curriculum spending. These measures were implemented after we conducted a comprehensive review in partnership with the instructional leadership team led by Dr. Adams which evaluated existing resources we could continue to use for FY27 and identified areas where further investment was not needed for FY27. Meaning we could look at the curriculum that we're utilizing this year and get through FY27. Our goal remains to provide every student with every opportunity to succeed. We want all members of our community to feel pride in Ever Public Schools. [snorts] As you review the details, please keep in mind that while our obligations continue to

032rise, state funding has decreased and a lot of it is out of their control because it's we're operating on a chapter 70 funding formula that is, I think, ready to be looked at to be changed. But is an ongoing reality that has shaped these decisions now and will for the future. For the remainder of this presentation, we review the budget lines for school administration systemwide services in each individual school. And you'll notice most of the lines were maintained were level funded. School administration personnel. You notice in the next two slides that our school administration personnel there is a net reduction of four positions. These responsibilities associated with these roles are being redistributed among current staff to ensure minimal disruption to services in our community. After reviewing our octo October enrollment numbers, we began considering how

033to streamline leadership by combining certain positions. This involved identifying roles that could be reduced moving forward by also recognizing areas that staffing may need to increase to best support our staff and meet their needs. On the school administration budget slide, our guided approach has been to minimize impact of budget constraints on students and on staff within our schools. One way we're able to do this is by keeping non salary lines level funded while working thoughtfully to streamline our day-to-day operations so that this approach remains sustainable for next year and the years after. In one line, you'll notice that we reduced dues and expenses at the school administration level by 37% due to a decrease in need that we saw possibly for FY27. Current translation and interpretation services will be phased out due to the minimal

034use of the current mode of translation services that we use for meetings like this. Although only one I think it was only used once this year um for a cost of about $64,000. I will say this, the superintendent has made it a priority of my team and technology and our technology team to make sure that this continues. We recognize the importance and are working with our team to provide more coste effective in-house alternatives that are needed and I think hopefully we'll get better use out of those resources. Assistant superintendent salaries decreased by 32% due to not budget and for the vacant deputy superintendent position. Now you'll see also that the business department salaries increased by 20%. But I want you to note that that is because of this role, my role, the assistant superintendent of

035finance which existed prior to me as the budget director and we had to move it into the business line to match desi end of year reporting central and I think the important thing to note here central administration professional salaries decreased by 19% due to the elimination of multiple positions and like I said although these positions are eliminated the duties will continue and will others staff will take the burden in in the of those positions. Systemwide personnel, [snorts] as you will notice, we eliminated systemwide positions as well. As we review each slide, I will briefly highlight where [snorts] changes are occurring. To begin, this slide shows that four positions have been elimin eliminated. In the second slide for personnel on this slide you'll notice we've eliminated one director level position for every other line we were

036able to maintain positions. [snorts] In the third slide for personnel here you'll notice decreases but increases also in staff and levels. We eliminated one position while adding two. The two we added were consider were considered necessary as they were student and staff facing roles. These are opportunities. We looked at district-wide positions and looked how we could continue to impact teaching and learning. These include an additional music teacher to expand our wonderful brass program as well as a level one tech whose primary responsibility is to assist staff with technical difficulties so that instructional time is not interrupted during the day or week because of technical challenges any building may have. Slide four. The only staff and change of note was an addition of a special education team leader. This person works out of the Devon school

037and helps to ensure compliance for our students educational plans across all schools. In total, we have a net decrease of three positions at the systemwide level. Now for the systemwide budget over the next two slides we will review changes that are made in the systemwide expenses curriculum and as I've mentioned earlier but curriculum and instructional depart department decreased 58%. This is another example of using current curriculum resources while conducting a comprehensive assessment to determine where curriculum purchase were needed for FY27. The EL department budget decreased 30% to FY26 by utilizing FY26 supplies and materials that were sufficient to maintain that department. The following year, K to8 STEM decreased 83% to the due to the purchase of curriculum that we could utilize next year for curriculum we purchased this year and can continue for years after.

038We will continue to do this a lot with our curriculum lines. The library decreased 45% due to the budgeting for shelving and furniture purchase that we're able to make this year and we're not needing in FY27. We also decided to move away from certain online plat platforms maintain and fall at Destiny and Educator Rise and subscriptions. So we worked with that team to make sure that we had the best um opportunities for our students especially here at Ever High School. Physical education department purchased decreased 23% due to the purchase of equipment that can be utilized in FY27. Any questions or input the social emotional um this is one that I just want to speak to is social emotional learning budget. You'll see a decrease and the superintendent said certainly this is a priority of him

039and his team. Um although it decreased the wayfinder curriculum that we purchased for FY26 fortunately for us we're able to continue with that program with that purchase in FY26 we're going to maintain our seal services the special education budget increased 18% due to a $1 million increase in the stepping stones contract which [snorts] was underfunded um in the prior year. this this line and this stepping stones contract was underfunded um because of the services that were provided um did not meet um the contractual needs at that point. Um it's important to note that that new contract will be about 3.8 million. That is that increase but with that contract and with those contracted services come 39 people that will work staff members contracted staff members saving the district about a half a million dollars. If

040we were to bring on that staff alone, it would be about 4.3 million. We're able to do that at 3.8 million and have additional support uh with Stepping Stones. Any questions on that? >> Miss Babcock >> through you to our guest. Um could you [clears throat] um explain what the Stepping Stones program is? >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. Um the stepping stones coin I'll and I'll explain it for the uh you know the Webster school and in several of the schools with a lot of our special ed uh program is an important program and provide services for our special ed students. These are services that are tied to IEPs. Um absolutely um we have to provide those services. Uh whether speech therapist, PT, OT, um we provide those services. The important piece to that and

041tying it to the IEP, those are services that if we didn't have this contract, we would have to provide that staff. Um, the staff at Stepping Stones, like I said, is 39 staff, staff at the Webster School and and multiple schools that have specialed programs. If we were to bring on that staff, Forever Public Schools, it would cost us just for staff alone, and that's not the services they provide and the equipment that they bring in, at least 4.3 million. With this contract, we're able to do that at 3.8 million. And not only does it not only does it only provide services, but there's opportunity professional development for our teachers and our staff and our administrators utilizing the stepping stones contract. Any other questions? >> Thank you, M. Beep. Mr. Baros, >> thank you. Madame

042Chair, you mentioned uh some of these reductions uh such as the E department and you mentioned a few times that the reason of these reductions is because you have either purchased or you have acquired something that you're going to do next year this year. >> Yes. So if I am the head department for that particular department, I shouldn't panic when I see this because uh what you were proposing to do next year, you are doing this year and you are you are going to be able to use next year with what you just bought it. Is that correct? >> That is correct. [clears throat] Um what we've done and what we've done since October, we've met regularly with the department heads under the leadership of Dr. Adams and we went through every piece of curriculum,

043every program online in materials for the buildings and we've you will see you will also see increases in curriculum. I'm not saying we decreased all of the curriculum lines. Um but we looked for opportunities similar to the wayfinder uh seal uh piece that we're going to be able to utilize for multiple years and a lot of this curriculum is we're going to be able to utilize it um through FY27. Um it will be a challenge in you know as we put together the FY28 budget because we have to replenish a lot of that curriculum but to close the the you know the original hold of about $8 million and then with the chargeback number again that's down to about 4 million to close that number um we were able um to really look into a

044lot of the curriculum in those departments and see if we can sustain it for the years ahead. I will say this and I won't speak for the superintendent on this but if there is a department or there is a need um I think we've built in u you know a lot of room within this budget so hopefully we can provide that support um but the most important thing that the superintendent said to us as a team is we don't want to miss a beat on any of the success that we've made um especially around achievement and a lot of that success is the new curriculum especially over the last several years last three years um was that we've added to the building so we will maintain that um So any decision that was made around

045curriculum um was a part of a team effort and did not come from this table. >> Got it. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Barrows. Miss Babcock >> through you to our guest. Um one one more question about curriculum just to clarify um with curriculum once it is purchased. Is it something that is purchased that we are able to utilize that are we paying a fee to utilize this curriculum or is it something that that becomes obsolete eventually. So >> So none of it um I mean curriculum certainly can come obsolete. A lot of it a lot of the curriculum might have to replenish it at you know certain levels and certain curriculum we might have to replenish it. Some of the curriculum we were able to fortunate um to purchase uh subscriptions

046that last multiple years. Um you look at some of the curriculum, we saw a significant decrease um in curriculum where um the title two um the literacy and math uh directors worked at. They looked exactly what we needed um what we could utilize and what resources whether it's like I said online programming our you know curriculum that is not yeartoear but it's multiple years we can get through it uh for the following year. So we would and personally I wouldn't support a budget that had any curriculum that was obsolete or could possibly be obsolete in FY20. I know the superintendent >> there's a constant review of our curriculum offerings because we are making a commitment to highquality instructional material. So, I mean, um, to put it in kind of layman's terms, there's a shelf life

047to some of this curriculum, and we are we have a wonderful team of academic leaders, um, that actually housed at Vine Street and beyond, and they look at all the curriculum that we do across across the district and make decisions based on what's stronger, what's current. Um, and we make those changes. But what we purchased last year was significant. And that again, kind of layman's terms, it has a shelf life. has an expectancy for a couple of years, >> Miss Babcock. >> So, it it is the for the curriculum it is because it's a subscription because I think that some people are sort of thinking like, oh, you buy a textbook, you use it and it I don't think it's quite the same way. You know, you don't just check it out to somebody and

048put your name in the inside of >> it's not all it's not all that. Um some of the curriculum is that you're gonna see that um like catalo um at the health for a health department made a purchase and we've worked with Catalo some of that is online that's an online resource some of these are certainly online a lot of it is and that's why >> we did that level that you know that tech we added a tech position to make sure that you know technology is always up the par because I will say as a former principal when technology goes down it impacts everything you're doing teaching and learning but that doesn't mean that there's certainly going to be you know the materials and the replenishment of material materials that I think we can

049sustain. Um, we can after the meetings that we've had and I will say there have been extensive meetings and the curriculum team has met regularly to make sure and that we didn't decree decrease all curriculum within these lines. You're going to see some you know you see also a lot of increases but you were able to sustain those increases by you know getting by on other areas for curriculum. >> Thank you for answering that question for me. I just I thought I just want the audience to understand what it means for curriculum in today's terms. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Babcock. Any further questions before we proceed? >> Thanks. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. Now, we will head off into the uh school by school. Um the Adam School and I

050will we keep it at a macro level on and the you know the employee the employees within those buildings. The atom school went from uh 21 staff members to 22. the additional uh staff member will provide English learner services within the special education setting. So that is a service we have to provide in those buildings. So even though we've reduced staff, we still have to meet certain needs and requirements and a lot of that is around special ed and of course e the Adams school budget. There are very few shifts in the Adams budget beyond accountant for that one additional position. Every other increase is tied to contractual obligations I spoke about earlier. The Webster extension uh went from 55 staff members to 51. Their extension uh the Webster extension we were able to reduce

051five position and increase the special education staff and member similar to the atoms to meet the service needs of students in the program. All reduced positions were vacant this year and we did not fill them. These changes bring staff in line with building needs. I just want to speak quickly about vacancies. Um these are certainly positions in FY26 as we put together the FY26 budget um that were needed and certainly you know in a perfect world we would carry a lot of these positions forward. Um but around October um with the you know the meeting with the superintendent and the executive leadership team we had more of an informal I wouldn't say a hiring freeze. Um but every position we had weekly discussions on positions whether we could hold them understanding that some of these

052positions we might not be able to sustain for FY27. So, we actually utilized this past school year to determine with some of these vacancies if we're able to sustain um the levels they were at. The Webster Extension School budget. As you can see, there are a few changes of note within the Webster Extension budget. All items are in line with the expected shifts. >> Madam Chair, >> Mr. Barrows, >> thank you. Um so these four positions that you are referring to in other words two you are eliminating two you are not filling. >> So of those for the extension we have several vacancies we're not going to we're not going to fill so we didn't fill them so we decided to eliminate those open positions. >> Correct. Okay. Thanks. >> But just again it's it

053is important to note those are positions that I know they're in the budget for last year. They're important for the service. But we the the first step as superintendent said he had approached you know as far away from the classroom as we could but if there were vacancies across the district those are the first positions we look to reduce. >> Thank you. >> The Webster school I'll move on to the Webster school. The Wildcats maintained its current staff and level. You may notice shift in between lines as positions have moved to different categories to best meet the everchanging needs of the school. We've had an additional guidance counselor that we had moved from uh one of the opportunities of you know the vacant unassigned BCBA. Um we're going to add an IOP head teacher. We're

054going to go back to the way that that model was. Um shifting from the position of the assistant uh principal at the Webster school. Um we reduced uh the school substitute teachers two of them at the Webster school in the classroom teacher alliance to accommodate these shifts at the Webster school budget. The salaries de the administrative salaries decreased 44% due to the elimination of the assistant principal position. As you will notice there's a reduction of two unassigned positions at the Webster school. This will be a common adjustment you're going to notice in K the K to5 school the Webster in the K to8 schools to bring these schools to to two unassigned positions in alignment with the unassigned staffing levels that we've had at these schools in previous school years. The power professional line comprises

055existing positions that have been pre previously funded in other areas. So you're going to see for one you'll see on that line 0 to six from the prior page. What I've done here is we're going to continue to have the 23 PAR professionals, the ABA paraprofessionals, but I'm going to move 10 of those paraprofessionals to a grant, the 1040 grant um to allow us to save the district approximately $440,000 um and save the so that we could save other positions in the district. So, we those additions are really moving those positions from a grant into the Webster school that we could see that the staffing level um is accurate for the Webster school. The English school personnel. The English school maintained its current staffing level. Programmatic decisions led by the school administration have necessitated some

056positions be reallocated to best meet the needs of the school in this upcoming academic year. Now, you're going to see one position, the bright program. I just wanted to just highlight that. It's at the uh the English school. It's the Cavarian, the high school and I in the Widia. Um the bright program is an important position which is going to be funded um with the work of uh the Brookline Center. They have agreed to fund that position in partnership with partnership with us at least through the end of December. So we're going to pay for half of this position this year. Um this these positions are important um for the schools. Um, this is a program that provides intensive short-term academic, clinical, and family support for students returning to school after significant challenges or disruptions

057in their lives. This program is is in four schools across the district, including the ones that I mentioned. This school year, these positions were entirely grandfunded. And now with the partnership of the uh of that organization and the ever public schools going be able to maintain those positions. The English school budget parrofessional salaries increased 14% due to the addition of two additional staff members in 2027 to meet student needs for the special education programs. As you as I noted earlier, the special ed the substitute teacher salaries decreased by 60% due to reducing the number of budgeted positions in by two for FY27. The Cavarian school personnel went from 101 staff members to 98. The three staff members uh that we reduced as I said um in other buildings were vacant positions. Beginning next year, both

058the Cathed and the Parl, as the superintendent alluded to, are introducing the dual language programs at the kindergarten level. These new programs are being run by existing staff with additional professional development being provided through title 3 funds. No increases of staff are required uh for these programs. And to align with previous stated staff and shifts across all schools, two substitute teacher positions were removed. For the Cavarian school budget, paraprofessional salaries decreased by 18% due to one of our one of those paraprofessionals transferring to another school and being budgeted at Devon School. Substitute teachers, I've noted, decreased by 45% due to the reduction of four substitutes to two. All other budget lines reflect increases consistent with district obligations under existing contractual agreements. [snorts] The Lafayette school personnel, this level was decreased from 145 staff members to

059144. One of the eliminated positions is tied to a vacancy in the special education department. Other personnel adjustments are made to align Lafayette's staffing allocations in line with the other changes made in the district. >> That was one, excuse me, that was 147 reduced to 144. >> Yeah. Did I say that wrong? I apologize. >> Yeah, 147 to 144. I apologize. [snorts] And then And then they were What school am I at right now? I apologize. >> What was it? >> Oh, the Lafayette. I apologize. You threw me off. Superintendent Hut. Lafayette school personnel. the Lafayette school decreased from 147 staff members to 144. One of the eliminated position is tied to a vacancy in the special ed department. As I mentioned, the Lafayette school budget par professional salaries increased by 76% due to two

060kindergarten power professionals previously budgeted in a special education par professional line. We corrected that this year and moved it over. Substitute teacher cost decreased by 59% due to a reduction in staffing from five substitutes teachers to two. [snorts] The Parland school the Parliament school was able to maintain its current staffing level at 101. As with many other schools you will see shifts between lines themselves following deliberate analysis between school and district leaders. Be beginning next year, the pilein as with the cavarian is introducing as I we mentioned a dual immersion program at the kindergarten level. These new programs are being run by existing staff with additional professional development being provided as I mentioned through the title 3 funds. No increase in staff are required. the Parllin School budget. The only significant change in the Parliament

061Parli school is a 53% decrease in the substitute teacher line due to the reduction in two positions for FY27. The Whittier School went from 77 staff members to 74. In total, four positions were removed, including two being substitute teachers and one vacant vacant position and one reduction of a position in special ed. The Whittier school budget, the substitute teachers are down, as we've mentioned in all of the other buildings, down 50% due to not budgeting for two vacancies in FY27. The Devon school personnel. The Devon school went from 39 staff members to 38. One staff position which was reduced was a vacancy in FY26. The increased par profofessional was a position that we as I mentioned earlier carried over from the cavian school. the Devon school budget, the power of professionals decreased 100% and this

062is another area that we look for other opportunities to find savings and push cost to our grants. Uh we were able to take those par professionals and for the next three years we'll have enough room on the Devon school revolving account to pay for the PAR professionals. That will save us approximately about $440,000 um for this school year. The Devon substitute teacher salaries uh increased by 48% due to the two vacants being filled during FY26 in the FY27 budget reflecting actual uh salary levels for those staff members in the therapeutic crisis intervention salaries. You see a decrease there is a decrease of 19% due to the budget of one less employee in this line. We'll move on to the Ever High School. The Ever High School staff and decrease from 248 staff members to 238.

063Is there a question? I apologize. >> Nope, no worries. Miss Cardello. >> Yeah, under the W of your school. Um >> thank you B YT academic liaison. >> So that is the uh the bright staff that I had spoke to. It spans it stands for bridge for resilient youth and uh transition. in this program run by the Brookline Center and provides intensive short-term support for students that have you know many challenges they may have and uh help allow them as they transition back to a school setting um to be a success. I know the WIDAI school um and the schools that have the BREIPER program have done really well especially at the high school with this program as the superintendent spoke to the attendance is a priority and this program has been important for the

064schools that they've been able to provide that uh those bright staff members um and provide them the therapeutic support that they need. Um that was a you know at the beginning of this process that was those are one of the positions because they're not funded. We thought we were going to have to fund them 100% this year. Um the Brookline uh center understood what an positive impact it made for our schools and um they they came to the table and said we will work to fund that those positions for at least through the first half of the school year. We're going to continue to hopefully remain in discussions with them um because they even said we've had you know discussions with possibly funding them for the full year but we will at the very least

065be uh you'll see in that budget for half that salary we're funding. That's a wonderful thing. >> It's a it is as a principal it's it's a saving grace for a lot of students and that and I know all of the principles when I met with them um they not only did they you know tell us the you know the wonderful positive stories but they provided us with the data and the amount of um support. I know Mr. Lucas the Whittier has seen tremendous success of course leading the attendance charge right now. Um but utilizing that support for students that whether they have school avoidance or you know social emotional challenges to have a point person in those buildings is crucial. So, I want to follow up because this isn't something that a lot of

066newer people in our community are not they aren't familiar with. When somebody within our schools recognizes that someone should be in this program, is this student tested, interviewed? How does this how does it come about that they're accepted into the Bright program? >> So, it's it's certainly a process. Um and even without this we certainly have the support of our social workers and our guidance in the team. So the team will meet with the principles and they will collect data and a lot of it is driven through attendance and um um collecting that data or any of the needs of the challenges those students will have in partnership with the families and an option um to put together a plan to bring that student back into the building and provide them the supports uh that

067they need not only in the building but outside the building. and being that, you know, that extra arm reaching out to pull the student back into the building. Um, so it's really it's been a tremendous success and I was happy we were able to save it. Um, but I will say this, even if we weren't able to do so, um, the guidance team and our social emotional team, I know we would have the resources and they have done um, tremendous work um, to, you know, help students, you know, come to school. Um I think a lot of the success around attendance for our students and students you know coming to school is the work we're doing around social emotional health and support and that's our guidance offices that's our principles assistant principles but it's also

068the bro you know program like the bite program a therapeutic setting um that those students can come into and then transition um back into the schools that they're at. >> Okay. Thank you. And I have one more question unrelated to that >> since you're doing the whole budget thing. >> Y >> the question that I was called on by a couple of people [snorts] was and I tried to answer this but then I thought well the meeting's tonight let me ask you publicly so you can answer and hopefully people can get the answer as far as our salary structure. Teachers how how do they get their raises? What is the how does this program start from the time they are hired like out of out of college out of you know when they graduate how

069is that structure started and how do they start going up the ladder that's part one of the question >> so the that is they would start regularly I'll just say for a new teacher I mean you know a veteran teacher might start differently on the uh the ladder up to a step 10 uh they'll start usually as a bachelor step one um and it goes up to step 10 uh along that journey as a teacher you can certainly get credits. Um they would they would have to get a master's degree to you know maintain uh their license and and to get professional teach get the professional license. Um so every year that ladder and every year served as an an addition to a step. So from step one, step two. Um to the challenge for

070me on in this position is um certainly the superintendent and this team here has supported our teachers um with the you know for the teacher and for the unit A with a 3% increase on those step levels. So the each step has a certain different incremental increase and not each one is the same. Some are larger than others. So it's just kind of budget and f that um those increases along the way. So there's a cost of living built into that. >> Absolutely. >> Okay. So if it's a 3% [snorts] raise, there's also the cost of living has to be >> absolutely. So if you're a teacher, you know, that's still moving up those steps, it might you might it might be a 3% increase, but each step if you're moving up those steps could

071be more than 3%. Usually the steps at the top is when you reach your, you know, your final step or where you are at a certain level will be the 3%. But you're getting that 3% increase on each step that's increasing also. So it's a it's a good healthy increase for you know teacher in Ever public schools >> and our teachers definitely deserve that. >> I know that firsthand >> when you when you look at the achievement data and the success we're having with kids coming to school I think the attendance rate right now is 92% close to 93% and I know the superintendent said he's not going to be happy until it's 100%. um we're working towards that. But when you look at the accountability data that what our teachers are doing um 38%

0723 years ago and we're up I think it's 61% right now. Some of those affluent communities up north up Route One aren't doing as well as we are and they're going the other direction. The superintendent and this team, the school committee right here uh with the mayor has continued to work with our teacher staff to provide the best for our students. our students won't want in ever public schools. Um whether it's curriculum, we look for savings, but even if we needed to provide, we're going to provide that type of curriculum support, social, emotional, health, and support for our students. >> Okay. Another question. And most of our non-instructional people belong to a union. So, so there are the five units certainly there's um only the managerial staff um that we talked about districtwide and and

073um central administration those are contracted workers but most are in a unit whether it's our custodians our teachers um you know the you know stu the people within the buildings so a good majority about gosh well over 90%. So who decides what the starting salary would be? And not to pick one a certain group but just say the custodians. Where does that number come from? Is it comparable with other cities in our [snorts] you know in this district or you know in this area or just from his historically what we've been paying. >> I think this school committee can take great pride in the support that we've provided to our teachers and the salaries and the investment. Um we've invested heavily in our teachers. um we've provided the you know the compensation. I will just

074certainly we know that they deserve the work they're doing in the classroom. Um the superintendent and his team will will have the final say. There's certain positions that we have to be competitive. There's certain positions that are a challenge to to you know get and obtain for these buildings and the you know the superintendent has that opportunity to you know make decisions uh you know employee by you know possible employee by employee looking at a resume and the type of experience because you could have a teacher an outstanding teacher teaching 20 years in another district that wants to come there and we have that every we have that regularly um but wants to come for public schools they're not going to take a significant and decrease to go. We're going to have to have a

075competitive salary for those uh teachers. >> Okay. I have to I have to compliment you and your team and the superintendent as well and his team with the cost of living going up as much as it has over the past couple of years and where we are today with this budget. It's absolutely amazing. I I keep looking. It's got there. It's almost like Is the bottom going to fall out here? How how is this happening? You have done a tremendous job, not only putting it together, but presenting it to us and to the public this [snorts] evening. And I thank you very much for that, Mr. Barrett. >> No, superintendent. >> No, I appreciate it. And I think um this has been I think the probably the challenge the most challenging budget I think ever

076public schools has had in my god since 2007 since I started here. It's >> we have never had a decline in enrollment um like we've had this year and unfortunately for us >> um there's issues going around in the state and the nation and you know internationally right now that we're we only can handle what we can handle in the on the city level and um the heartbreaking thing for us is when we see 339 students reduce. Those are kids we love. those of families that we want in this school, the school system. And this is this is the school system where those families found, you know, the safe place to be. And uh we're going to continue continue to do that. And I will say this in October when I saw that that you

077know, the enrollment number um back of an envelope that's almost $20,000 each student we lose about $20,000. So we knew we were looking at a hole in October of uh $6 million and it ended up being well north of that. um without the, you know, the help and the support of the mayor and his team coming to the table, we were looking at a hole over about close to about $9 million. And with the chargeback, um you know, the solution to freeze that um we still were looking at a hole of about $4 million. Um reducing the staff, um you know, looking at vacancies, looking at areas. The superintendent was very clear. I met with him daily. Um I met with the group behind me. can't do and we can't do any of this work

078without the principles and the staff behind me. They do it. They're the ones that are in the trenches doing amazing work um to really provide these students and families with the opportunities that they need. Um but we did everything we could at a tiered approach to avoid cuts to the classroom. Um you know, as a father, I wanted to make sure these kids and as you know, as a former administrator, as a principal, I always want to make sure our kids have the absolute best. And I think we're providing a budget um that are, you know, the staff and these leaders behind me are going to have to do without some positions that are crucial to certainly uh provide the best. But I know they'll do it. They've done it before and that's why we're

079looking at sitting on 61% um meeting our improvement targets and meeting the targets that Desi has set for us. So, there's a lot to be proud of here and I think none of this happens without the teachers in the classroom and that's why I know this school committee and the superintendent um were able to come to a you know a healthy contract agreement last year and that's we have the best of the best at in Everublic schools and >> I think we're also very fortunate that the mayor understands all of this because like you Mr. Barrett, you were a you were a student, you were a teacher, you were a principal, you're an assistant superintendent. The mayor has also worked his way has dealt with these budgets from another side being on the board of,

080you know, on um council on the board of alderman. So, he understands all of this. So, when we're crunching numbers, I think we have such a great team working together. My compliments to all and my thanks to all of you for for putting this together. I I'm so impressed be because of the whole picture. The whole picture ends up beautiful. So, thank you. >> Yeah. I know the the superintendent I superintendent hard I think we've met almost daily about this budget um with my team but you know like I said with the mayor and Omar and his team um sitting down with them on a daily basis and them wanting to understand the stories behind the reductions and what that means and uh it's been you know as challenging as the budget has been to

081pull together um it's been a very positive experience and one that I tremend I deeply value to be part Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Carlo. We're going to go Miss Babcock and then Miss Garren. [snorts] >> Uh through you to Mr. Barrett. So, a couple of questions. Um I had started with one thing that I was going to ask, but given the conversation that that uh has been developing here, I have three things that I'd like to to to bring up. So, um the first one is just a quick thing. It's about the substitutes. I noticed that one of the effective ways of decreasing the salary was the in-house uh substitutes. Um so what it means is that there's not someone who's who's present. I'm I'm I guess I should put it in the

082form of the question. Does that mean that there's not someone who's consistently present in the schools? And if they are being decreased, what will be the protocol when substitutes are needed if we don't have enough substitutes? Will it be a sort of a more traditional way? I used to be a substitute teacher. I'd get the call and I'd be excited about whatever school I was going to go to, you know, Hadley or Ammerst Regional or something like this. I'd get the call and I'd be like, "Okay, today it's health." So, >> let me answer that for you. And I'm sure Mr. Barrett has more technical response, but at the end of the day, we started at two permanent subs per building. Substitutes have either a license or unlicensed. So, the salary of each of those

083are different. When I first started, we had two in every building. With the um prosperity of the ESSER funds, the federal dollars, the CFO at the time said, "Maybe we should just put two more substitutes in our buildings," which we did. And we carried them with federal dollars. >> We carried them last year without federal dollars. Um however because of that we also instituted created and instituted a very new um substitute program with the change in our contract. We were able to pay daily subs a better wage and we have an enormous amount of qualified former teachers mostly retirees who come back on a day-to-day basis. So we although we might be uh reducing two bodies that show up at that building every day. Okay. So there will be two to your question. The other

084two in some cases we didn't fill all four. Now we have a way in which we can fill in by using a daily sub process. So we were able to accommodate the shift um so that that we would still have a substitute that we come into that classroom as needed. And we're continually looking for good substitutes to put on the list and the substitutes can pick their location um and the days of the week they prefer. So, it's very advanced, so a substitute can really um make their own hours, if you will. But we did accommodate for the the change in permanent subs. >> When I first graduated, that was how I first started working was being a substitute teacher. And honestly, it was such a great experience for me to teach different classrooms, different

085age groups, and it was very exciting. And it's it's sort of a traditional way of of of filling in those positions. So it that sounds like a great solution honestly like and it's exciting to get people who are really you know experienced teachers in the field and I'm sure they're just as excited to get back in the classroom. I know they are because you know once you're a teacher you're always a teacher it never stops right so my next question if I can continue that was great >> do you mind if I just wanted on the >> oh you would like to add to that >> the thing is the superintendent spoke about the um the daily sub piece we've increased that to 150,000 to have that opportunity I know the superintendent understands like he

086said the value of having those unassigned subs I will say that um these are the levels that were able to function in buildings several years ago um at to a building Um, but we're also going to have the flexibility because some buildings we're going to have maternity, paternity leaves, they will be able to shift unassigned to other buildings. Um, no building will go wanting and there will be no classes that go without. So that is but it's a it's a great question. So thank you. It allows me to highlight that increase in investment there. So my my next question just for the audience who might be listening I know that you explained sort of the steps in which you know teacher salaries are esta established and the steps that they move through those are based

087on desi guidelines if I'm correct >> um is there certain >> like for example a master's you know uh uh bachelor's plus five and then master's plus 15 and there's all these sort of gradient steps how are are those designated by desi >> so the those were determined for the license piece um you know initial license professional provisional um you have to certain meet certain steps along the way whether it's you know a bachelor's I think within 5 years you have to get your masters and there's certain elements along that certain guidepost that you have to you know get go past for for the DES piece for lensure um that is different from you know in Everett for you any school district for you know the contract and that we function under for ever public

088schools and at ETA is then there's the step contract that we have to follow or that we do follow for um those teachers that go through the step process and each community is different. >> Okay. >> Thank you. So I have one final question and and I know it is probably the larger question in the room and I know we'll probably be covering it as we continue as well. Um you know obviously we're seeing a decline in enrollments. I I made note of how you said that the 2007 class was the largest graduating class. I'm really not surprised by that. I mean, there was the number of enrollments at the college level for that grade um was huge. It's just was a really huge birth year. So I guess my question sort of um is

089with the decline in student enrollments. I had thought about potential not that the the reason really matters but I think part of it might be could part of it be a decline in a sort of number of students in a particular year that were born for example that you know because you've been tracking the students you track them every year like when they move from K to one and one to two etc. So, I guess it was, you know, our enrollments are decreasing. I'm sort of guessing there's some things um I see the charter schools sell back uh uh chargebacks and I know some we the you know, Malden Catholic recently increased their enrollments to include seventh and eighth grade. So, I guess my question was are there particular grades that we're seeing a larger

090anticipated degrees decrease in enrollments? Um I is it is it the cost of living in Everett? I mean do we have any anticipation or is that even relevant? I guess but I guess the bigger question is is there a particular sort of grade levels? I was looking at the book and I noticed that middle school seemed to have um bigger declines than the K through five and that the high school had a little bit greater decline. So, I'm just wondering if you noticed any patterns that you could share with us or if you had any uh you know explanation of the decline as well. >> I'm going to jump in here. I think that what you see is just what we've seen historically in Everett. There's this kind of wave of enrollments and not necessarily

091and always um confined to an age group. I think this particular year is um an anomaly because we don't usually lose a huge swath of students. Um and I don't think in years past that they um estimated enrollments. Usually it was done quite frankly by number of births in your city. Well, our surge in Everett wasn't because of new births. And so we had a a surge of a population of all across all age groups. >> Some of them have left us and left us with a little bit of a a decrease in oddly enough in some grades. Now we're we're already pre-registering for prek kindergarten. And we've seen a surge in three-year-olds, which are new families, maybe certainly three-year-olds. So if those young people and families stay with us, we're going to have a

092pretty healthy um growing enrollment again. So again, it's that surge. It's all cyclical. Um, so I don't think there's any one contributing factor. Um, but I think in years past, the way we um analyzed and and estimated new enrollments was very antiquated and very one-sided. You know, we're a city that welcomes everybody. We have housing um and we've have a good school system. Things changed dramatically this year. Really not any way that we could have any one of us could have predicted it. >> Yes. you know, I don't know if that's a really great answer, but I think that's we were looking for trends. We were looking to see if there was some reasons behind it, but I think, you know, again, it's been so unpredictable this year. Um, you know, quite frankly, I don't

093think anyone saw this coming necessarily. U, but we want to be sure that we still provide the same highquality service to our kids because even though they're 339 less, it's not in one grade and it's not because of one type of student. We have students that need our services and that still cost us money. So >> I think that answers that question. I I was just wondering because when you look at it 2007 was huge anyway and and and then 2006 I didn't I didn't know how many like for example incoming freshmen were coming into the high school or that we've been tracking all along. And I know that our population changes a lot like we had talked about a couple of weeks ago about for example people coming in January and you know our

094population changes because it's a gateway city and we always have a change in in populations but I didn't notice if you had come up with any particular patterns that you could identify. Um well thank you for speaking to that. I think that we all can read between the lines a little bit on on some of the impacts of the decreases as well especially in a gateway city. So, >> and can I just quickly on the on the decreases we're seeing? It's it's a number that's, you know, the total number it would be we'd be able to manage that if it was at, you know, a certain level was at the high school or the middle school. The challenge we're seeing is >> everywhere. >> It's across, you know, the the district. Superintendent spoke to the

095increase of preschool and the um you know, the lottery right now, which is you know, very positive for us. Um the challenge we have is even with the decrease in enrollment and the challenges that poses for a decrease in funding because of that is we have to provide significant services for our students. We are we have a large special ed population in the city of ever. We are proud to have a large e population in the city of ever. You look at the Webster school um we were every new child coming into the Webster school was an e student. We were very proud of that. But I saw that transition in 5 years at the Webster school with those whether we decrease in enrollment, we still have to provide those services and that's the challenge

096that the gateway communities and speaking to them um that we're hearing is that we still have to you know help these families and support them and you know what we have today and and school committee person Cadillo spoke to it is it's a wonderful district and we're going to continue to do everything we can as a superintendent said to provide the absolute fast. >> All right, two two last little comments. So, one, it's like we [clears throat] have less students, which means less chapter funding money, but the truth is that everything costs more money, too. The the cost of I mean, I I am looking, you know, I was just we just went through collective bargaining at my university. We are looking at the cost of utilities that are absolutely like things that you just

097don't even think about like electricity cost is going up and and certain things are rising even if if those things had stayed the same the budget would be things cost more money yet we don't have it which I'm sure that everybody is experiencing right now not just schools. So, um, but I think that so far from what I've seen, I feel like this budget has been very sensible in trying to work the very 100% best. I am really grateful that the that the city has helped to bridge the gap in that funding as well because it wouldn't be as level as it is right now without that. So, thank you, Mayor Vancampen, for providing that bridge because it would not have happened. and $4 million is a lot of money and 54 positions would not

098be help that would that would hurt student facing things. So, um yeah, that's that's it. But thank you. Those answered my questions so far. I know you have the um high school to discuss as well, but hopefully maybe that answers some of those questions for in that area as well. So, I think uh Miss Garren has something. So, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Babcock. We have Miss Garren and then Miss Cristiano. And I think before we get to the high school, we'll take a brief break. >> You got it. Definitely. Miss Garrett. [clears throat and cough] >> Sorry. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm sorry. [laughter] Sorry. Um actually um I was my main question was about uh the the substitute teachers um and what uh the

099situation was going to be. Now if I'm clear, it's you decreased the number of um in school subs, but you have more PDM subs. >> Yes. So we we deliberately created a better system to replace um the need on a daily basis with a daily sub. It actually costs us less too, but it is really driven by cost. It's just I was going to remove those two out and I wanted to have an alternative that could work and so we have a very robust um daily sub pool that we call upon by school. >> Yes, that's great. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Miss Garren, Miss Cristiano. >> Thank you, Madam Chairman. it. Um, I just had a few observations and and a possible question for our superintendent. So, part of my observation is

100when I've reviewed this budget over the weekend, I see deliberate adjustments that account for enrollment changes, the staffing needs of our buildings, and our considerable annual obligations. I want to commend the superintendent for leading us through this process in a calm and careful may uh manner. I think it's also very very important that we thank the mayor and I'd like to personally and obviously publicly thank the mayor for answering the call and making accommodations with our chargebacks. This is what happens when we have a functioning and productive relationship between the city hall and the school department. It it is very clear from reviewing this year's budget book that Mayor Vancampen and his great team prevented a tough situation from getting appreciably worse. One more observation I'd like to make. I don't want to go on

101and on, but uh it's awesome to hear that we're adding two new CCT programs next year. To be able to add chapter 74 programs along with a full day prek and dual immersion program is really a testament to our superintendent and his leadership team to maintain growth and smartly use the awesome resources we already have, namely our school teachers. I do have a question for our superintendent. Uh again, Mr. Hart, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. But can you talk a little bit about how you were thinking about our budget planning as an ongoing endeavor, not just within the confines of the city's annual budget period of April and May? cuz I know there was a lot of planning that I want that went on during this time crunch but you know this doesn't like

102come that easily and I just wanted to you know have you articulate how you see this budget on an ongoing endeavor. >> Thank you for that question uh Mr. Cristiano, uh, it isn't an easy process and it is a very deliberative process and I think you heard Assistant Superintendent Barrett mention that we started this way back in October in an informal way because we recognized enrollments were decreasing as a result of our report to the state and because of I think Miss Babcock mentioned there's things outside of our control outside of the city of Everett that influence lots of things from our economy to our population to our shifts in in in priorities. I needed to be sure that we had a budget not only for this year but year to come that would going

103to be support the students that I'm charged with with uh educating. So we in tandem with that and I know that many of the folks are here in the room and they can speak for themselves if you want to ask one-on-one. We have been meeting simultaneously with looking at next year and the year after. What can we sustain given the current trend? If there is a trend, and I hope that it isn't, but right now in the very short term, I'm looking at a trend that's not going to put the city um and mayor, I'm not going to speak for the mayor, but it's going to put us in in a tough place and, you know, all kinds of costs have surged um through no fault of of poor management, through no fault of any

104one individual around this school district or for that matter any school district, Massachusetts. It's it's what's happening. So, we're looking at a different budget next year. And I want to be sure that I make it clear to everybody, we may not be in this place next year. This may not be the same story next year. And I'm preparing for that story. Um, and I hate to say it so bluntly at this moment in time because we have a lot to be grateful for that we've we're going to come through this process this year. We've seen limited uh reductions in staff, although they have to happen and have occurred and it's always difficult to let people go. But we have a real challenge and I don't want anybody in the community to not think that, oh,

105we're sailing along. I can't keep asking the mayor. I can't keep relying on the legislature. We have a wonderful governor that recognizes the needs of this state on so many levels, but certainly in in uh local government and in particular our schools. you know, at some point there's only so many dollars available. We have to manage to those dollars. So to to answer your question, uh, Miss Cristiano, it is an ongoing process. It is going to look different as we progress and this year will be kind of the bellweather of what we do next and how we do it. We're going to look different as a district. And I think, you know, it was it was an intentional act with this with the strategic plan because the plan is going to help bring the community

106in so that they can hear firsthand some of the information that we don't get to share often. They're going to analyze data that we see but they don't. We're going to have them give us their professional advice and support about what a district should look like. And many of these people are business leaders, elected officials, educators from other areas, um certainly some professionals in industries. That's going to inform us. It's going to help us set that path. It's not going to be perfect. It's not going to be easy, but I can't sit here and tell you that I'm just going to rest on this because we can't. So, um that being said, I think we will move forward. We will be positive. We will make the best with what we have. We will certainly put

107our students first. And if anyone thinks that um that that isn't the goal of this this organization, I think they better look again because we're doing the things that I think you want me to do and you've charged me with doing and those folks out there can attest to that we're doing it. So, um I'm raising a red flag today for a year from today. >> I have no other questions. Thank you, Madam Chair. >> Thank you, Miss Cristiano. And with that, I think we'll take a brief 10-minute recess. Do I have to roll call? Roll call vote. >> Madam Chair, move to recess for 10 minutes. >> Second. >> Thanks. Just kidding. We had a motion, a motion made and seconded to take a brief recess. Roll call. >> Mr. Almeida Baris. No. Yes.

108[laughter] >> Mr. Miss Vavgar. >> Yes. >> Miss Cardelloo. >> Yes. >> Miss Cornelio. >> Yes. >> Mr. Denafhrio. >> Yes. >> Miss Cristiano. >> Yes. >> Miss Garren. >> Yes. >> Mayor Vancampen. >> Yes. >> Madame Chair. >> Yes. >> We are in recess. [cough] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] [music and bell] [music] [bell] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey, Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Wow. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Hey, Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Hey, did [music] >> [music] >> Good evening and welcome back to the Everett School Committee budget committee of the whole meeting. The time is 8:29 p.m. Clerk, could you call the role

109to determine a quorum? Mr. Almeida Barrows >> present. >> Miss Babcock >> present. >> Miss Cardelloo >> present. >> Miss Cornelio >> present. >> Mr. Denafhrio >> present. >> Miss Cristiano, >> you're on mute. present. >> There you go. >> Thank you, Miss Cristiano. Mr. Denafhrio, >> present. >> I'm sorry. >> Yep. Miss Garren >> present. >> Mayor Vancamp >> present. >> Madam Chair >> present. >> All nine members are present. >> All nine members are back. We do have a quorum. Uh Mr. Barrett, would you like to continue? >> Sure thing. Thank you. I appreciate it. Um I think over the next couple of slides, I want to just at the high school level quickly go over the high school budget. I know we've talked about, you know, some decreases here. I want to

110talk about some of the positives and some of the programs be able to maintain and if not increase. Um at the you'll notice in the high school budget [snorts] number um the gateway to college program budget increased by 25%. That's a positive that's an increase in uh driven by higher student uh enrollment in that program. The science department another department um here saw a 13% increase. Um part of that was the STEM field trips. uh we've increased that and provided that opportunity for our STEM students and uh that department who like all of uh you know the groups in every public schools whether on the on the fields or you know in music or in STEM continue to be nationally recognized and uh win competitions this will provide them the opportunity to continue to do

111that and continue to provide those extracurricular activities for our students. uh social studies, we saw increase for the professional development for that department um for curriculum development. So that's another opportunity um to provide uh the support our teachers need to continue to hone their craft in the classroom. And then the EHS world language department budget increased u compared to last year. Many of those costs were covered by the title 4 grant. By moving those funds over to the general funds, we're able to include other opportunities for funding on the title four grant and provide uh the world language department with that increase. I move on to the alternate high school personnel. Uh the alternate high school staffing uh we decreased that from our 9 to5 staff members. Um those are reduction in vacancies in that

112school. Um staff members that we uh did not fill throughout the year. We reallocated um those funds to stipen based adjunct uh positions within the budget. Um and it resulted in savings by also providing though increased flexibility in programming. So in shifting those vacant roles and providing the support uh to some of our current staff members here at Ever Public Schools, it actually was a positive impact on the alternate alternative high school. Um for that budget you'll see that increase of 100% uh due to the need to uh in that line for the adjunct uh professors and uh staff members allowed us to provide support for English, math, special education, ESL and science. Um it's another opportunity to reach our students um some that might not be able to because of the current schedule of

113the high school or other um challenges they may have in their lives. This alternative high school provides them the support. so that we can reach every student every day. Um special education roll up. I spoke to this uh before um regarding um the personnel budget for the uh special ed uh those par professionals. You're going to see a decrease in that line. Um I know I sat down with the superintendent and uh other stakeholders. uh they wanted to make sure they were maximizing uh the grants and any other opportunities and we were able to do that with our grants and the revolving account at the Devon School which provided us uh approximately about $834,000 of savings that we put off into grants our revolving account and those savings we put right back into the classroom

114to save any positions um there um the special education uh non-personnel rollup uh as I spoke to this earlier there was that 18% increase um in that item um that 3.8% million dollar that stepping stones uh contract for our language therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists and services for special ed students on on their IEPs were able to provide uh those service through stepping stones and like I said that's really a net savings and provides us with 39 contracted stats within the schools and saves us probably about a half a million dollars. Um, another savings you'll see in special ed. Um, I've met uh regularly with uh with the special ed director um to pull together this budget. Um, when I heard those numbers in October, I knew the importance right away that special ed is

115one of those parts of the budget that can run away and get away from us. I met with him and his team weekly um about his budget, about the needs. So, I'm I'm confident in the in this budget you see for special ed that we're going to able to maintain those services and continue to provide the excellent support um that we continue to provide our students um in the schools throughout the district. And one of the things that we did is translation services at um the special ed level. Um, we thought outside the box and other districts use Lex Mark in-house um, a translation printer and services and reduced the FY27 cost by several hundred,000. And this is actually a more effective tool um that schools utilize for translating uh, special ed documentation for our

116families. Um, that savings there is I think it could actually increase uh, more, but I wanted to be more conservative on that number. Um but that's a s significant decrease in that line they were able to shift elsewhere in the budget maintenance personnel budget. We're pretty um even in maintenance. Um I know one of the items certainly want to you know the pride of you know ever public schools are our you know of course our school buildings and maintenance continues to do a wonderful job to maintain the excellence of maintaining um the schools throughout Evers. Uh the one change in um in there is I did we did level uh fund snow plowing at 75,000. I think this winter just proved to me um that I rather have the money available to us so we

117can support you know city services and provide the uh you know snow removal for the you know for our schools and to continue uh to provide that. So we we uh increase that um item there. And I think uh we will end with a impactful and inspirational quote by uh Superintendent uh Hart. I don't if there's any other questions or I thought we started with John F. Kennedy. We'll end with uh Superintendent Hart for a quote. >> Nice job, Chris. I appreciate um your attention to detail and the delivery of the FY27 proposed budget and I know that the school committee members uh had an opportunity to ask questions. I'm sure there's probably one or two more or any comments. So, please I also wanted to introduce Ryan Smith uh to your right. Ryan is

118quiet but steady and detailed and keeps us all on track. and if we miss a line, he reminds us. If I take a big assumption, he puts me in my place. Um, but he has been an enormous support along with um Jimmy Perkins and our illustrious vice president, vice president, vice pres, vice principal from Ever High School who has u provided us a lot of uh detail to support the work that we were doing. So, I want to shout out to those three folks uh who I know D the whole team relies on tremendously. So, thank you to all of them. We had a couple hands up. We're going to go Miss Babcock, Miss Cardillo, and then Mayor Vancampen and Miss Garren. >> Through you to uh Mr. Barrett or Mr. Hart, whoever feels like

119they would like to answer the question. Just it's it's the Ever High School. We went through it a little little bit quickly and I had a couple of questions about it. Um, one was what is an EHS head teach headteer position because I see sometimes I see the word for example director coordinator and then headteer and if you could just clarify what that title means. >> No, that's good and thank you for that. that is I was using example the head teacher position is um we made some changes uh this year um to provide an opportunity for some of the staff members to serve in those roles and as an example the head teacher of music um Gene O'Brien who I believe ser he serves in that role currently and it's an opportunity similar to

120the head teacher that we're going to have at the at the Webster school for our ILP program to provide the expertise um in those areas and provide you know the leadership >> and some of those positions uh also were called something different in last year's budget. That's why we wanted to show um the little transition here because they had different position titles. So, the title changed in some cases. >> Yes, cuz I noticed the word coordinator kind of like disappeared somewhere else and now it's just it's a different role. Um I had another question which was on the Everett high school salaries. It says administrative salaries. There was quite an increase and and maybe a like significant increase like a lot. So that is and thank you for uh pointing that out. We moved um

121as the superintendent said uh we changed the deans to assistant principles at the high school. Um the deans were unit A positions. We moved them to administrative assistant principal roles. Um when I was the vice principal here up at the high school, we had assistant principles and those are more effective roles to the operations of a high school. So it's not so much of an increase but a shift in a lot of that unit A um those staff members. There's certainly increases in salary on those items compared to being a dean, but elevating them to an assistant principal. Um, they become 12-month uh positions. And I I will say this, the high school is a 24/7 type job. And the high and the summer is just as busy as the the regular school year. So,

122that provides a lot of flexibility for the operations of the high school. >> Where would the deans have fallen under under the last year's budget? it would have been unit A within the teachers >> and now they're under >> now they're under the administration line >> they're under >> so that is that is the increase so I I should have pointed out I apologize so they're still covered by a bargaining unit but in a different classification they work 12 months versus so we have um more um opportunity for them to do additional work and this gives us the opportunity for them to manage people within their grade level so and deans did not have that option because they were all served in the same bargaining unit >> do they need to have different uh levels

123of um education or like do they have to have a CAGS to be in the assistant role? Did they need the CAGS in the dean's role? >> So they would need the license for principal assistant principal 9 to 12. So they would have that. But I will say this, we did we didn't just shift and and you know there was the increased cost the assistant principal role. Uh but we also did decrease um several school-based managerial positions at the high school uh by 60%. That was we did a budget for several positions that where it offset some of those increases there. >> Okay. Thank you very much because I know was like that's a big move but it was really >> I should have and I I wanted you know I've had somebody I wanted

124to call the positive so I apologize. >> No it's okay. Um I so it's just essentially it's a shift from one area to another. >> Yeah. >> And and also it's a little bit of an increase because this is a different you need a different lensure as well. So, all right. Thank you very much. I appreciate the clarification. >> Thank you, Miss Babcock. Miss Cardillo. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, through you to Mr. Barrett. Maybe seem like an offthe-wall question, but there's a few of us in here that recently took the van to go on school, you know, uh, trips to different places, the state house and whatnot. Uh, and it's a beautiful white van, but there's no step to help you get in or out. So, it's a large step. And somebody

125who has more than a 33 inch leg, i.e. Mr. Jarafio, had no problem getting up and down. Somebody with the 29 in leg, i.e. Mrs. Cardelloo, had a big problem and had to be boosted. And getting out of it, the driver actually had to catch me in his arms. So, the second time we went in that van, he did have a a little stool that you bring in and out. I was very surprised to see, especially where it's a newer vehicle, there wasn't like an automatic like hydraulic step that would go up and down. I don't know that you can have that added on or if we just need to make sure we have something safe. The stool is not that safe depending on, you know, I mean, the driver is very responsible and does

126help people in and out with that stool, but it's still a safety issue. >> No, that's that's uh that sounds like a great opportunity for Mr. Marushia to look at that tomorrow morning, so I'll ask him to take a look at it. Um, but I do I will say this. I know that's that white van. It's a it's not like the one that you're speaking to that would have that natural uh step uh added to it. But I think um like you said there's there something we will look into that and see if there's opportunities to you know provide that >> and instead of just a regular little stool that you would step one maybe even something with steps that would be more solid and you know on the ground and it you know >>

127just something safer. >> Thank you very much. Thank you Madam Chair. >> Thank you Miss Cardillo. Mayor Vancampen. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. I I don't have any questions. I just I did want to make a a comment um and I I'll speak in much greater detail to the community as the uh budget season unfolds. But I I did um Superintendent Hart at the beginning of the meeting u mentioned the shared goal that that he and I have to make the Everett public schools an urban model of excellence and success. And when it when it comes to the Ever Public Schools, I want to be very clear that um cutting instructional side expenditures for me is non-negotiable. I came into office 3 months ago. Um, my plan and I am fully aligned with the superintendent

128and likewise he is fully aligned with me is to make sure that the children of the ever public schools never want for what they need to receive the greatest education they can to make the ever public schools an urban model of excellence and success. So I want to be clear about that and and I'll speak in greater detail about that as we go forward. But I did want to make a couple of comments tonight because the superintendent raised a red flag and I'm raising like seven red flags right now, superintendent. Um, one thing unfortunately that um we are seeing come to an end is a reliance on federal dollars once in a hundredyear investment by the federal government following COVID. um those funds in this fiscal year, FY27 in the upcoming budget will no longer

129be at our disposal. The city of Everett will have to expend all those funds by December 31st of this year. So um that flexibility and that reliance is coming to an end and that is going to result in uh a real need for teamwork, for collaboration and creativity to figure out how we continue to fund our schools and our municipal services at a level that we all demand and that the children of Everett deserve. Um and I want to be clear about that. When I came into office, I will and I'll speak in greater detail about this as well. Um there is uh significant structural dysfunction in our financial systems um that we have quickly been trying to fix through um changes in fiscal procedures, accounting procedures, and generally how we do business both in

130terms of policy changes that will be made, process changes that will be made. Um all with the goal not just to get to the FY27 budget, but to the point Mr. Barrett you raised to get to the next 5 years worth of budgets because that is how I think and I know that's how superintendent Hart thinks. Um but I just want to say for the community uh our financial footing is solid and strong and in fact Mr. Barrett and I were having this conversation offline is probably more solid and more strong than most of the surrounding communities here in greater Boston as well as many affluent communities north and south of Boston. So, we're in a really good place financially. We just have to manage the next two to three years as we learn to

131grow and thrive without reliance on those federal dollars that we've become so accustomed to. Um, as I said, I'll speak to this more, but I did want to just highlight tonight that we are fully aligned. I'm I'm grateful to the superintendent, to Mr. Barrett, your teams, to the educators, the professional administrators who are here tonight uh for the work in collaborating to put this budget document together and I think the people of Everett can be proud of the work we've done together on the uh school budget. I hope the same for the municipal budget overall when that time comes, but that's uh for another day. But I do want to thank the superintendent, his team, and the school committee uh for the great work that uh this budget reflects. So, thank you. >> Thank you,

132Mayor Vancamp and Miss Garin. All right. Thank you, Madame Chair. Um, just wanted to go back to the beginning and uh, uh, talk a little bit about the school committee translation and interpretation services. Now, um, I'm aware that it really hasn't been used very much. Um, that's unfortunate. Um it was definitely sort of in my first term that was something that um I kind of helped fight for because we we really we want these meetings to be inclusive. Want people in the city to be able to come to these meetings and know about what's going on. Now there's all number of reasons why they can't you know there's it's at night there's other concerns. Um, but I guess I'm hoping, you know, maybe moving forward that there is some kind of translation and interpretation services

133available uh to the public. Maybe maybe as [clears throat] a way to en encourage like, you know, people whose English aren't aren't as comfortable speaking and listening to English. Um, I guess that's not really a question, but I hope that's just >> Well, I'm glad you brought it up because we did um we are sensitive exactly to what you said. So we know that at home people can close caption in the language that they prefer and speak naturally in. But here we did just at the school committee had asked over the last couple of years and hired a service and they're wonderful people. They're here with us this evening and they're hired through a contract and that contract costs $64,000. Um then you look at the usage and we uh many of you know I

134take a lot of different notes and I look and find out the services that we provide. what's the return on the value here? We did look at two other options that we will employ. We have looked at technology. There's several platforms. One in particular we're going to test. Um there are they are used in several communities and uh Mr. Patudo our chief technology officer has led the charge in finding the best option at the lowest possible price. It translates 70 languages. It is coming to that microphone. For example, the person or persons in the audience can scan a QR code, pick the the language that they want and it gets translated in real time. And we if somebody is speaking in a language that we can't follow, we can do the very same thing. Right

135now, it would only be a onelay one-way translation in the service that we have. Conversely, if that um becomes wonky, and I don't think it has, we have several communities and Mr. Patudo is doing reference checks on them and we're going to have a demonstration. That is a charge for that, but it's hourly and only as needed, but they're available to do it immediately. And the second is we have um current staff who will be uh reassigned to work the evenings of the school committee to at least translate in the three languages that we already have available at no cost to us. It's changing their schedule. So, we'll have two options available to us um that will have really if anything a very small increase um or very small line item that will be tapped

136in this budget to accommodate that expense should we use technology only but we will have um real time translation as well with our individual staff people. >> Okay. Yeah, that's really good to know. Um and you said for the people watching the streaming there's an option to do closed captioning in their preferred language. >> It is. Yes. Okay. >> Great. Thank you very much. >> You're welcome. >> I would like to real quick just touch on that before this was um zeroed out. We had many detailed conversations about what could we follow up with that. And I liked that he um the superintendent had multiple options that he was looking into before this was even a consideration. Thank you, Miss Garren. Thank you, Superintendent. >> I think Mr. Baros was next. >> Thank you, Madame

137Chair. Just want to thank you, Mr. Barrett um and the superintendent, the whole team who worked uh on this budget. I've been meeting with the chair and the superintendent for the past few weeks and few months uh looking at the budget and look at different scenarios and which situation we we would be uh at. Of course, this is a budget that we wish were not voting on. At the same time, it is a budget that thankfully we have to vote on and we will vote on and I'll explain why. First, I'm look at the principles behind you. Of course, they all have a challenge which is continue with the services that they have to provide to our kids having the need that our kids and our families uh deserve and need as you Mr. Barrett

138mentioned. uh but next year having to do that with the level funding with the same level of stuff that they have in some cases with production. So that's not easy at all. Uh so I want to thank you for being you know brave and and using all kinds of tools that you have in order to make that happen successfully. So thank you for that. uh we are in a situation that we are Mrs. uh Babcock had know a question this is the type of uh enrollment or decline enrollment that we have the answer is Washington DC that's the situation that we are it's not a a situation that it is only happening ever it's happening in all cities across the commonwealth I'm at the state house every day we talk to superintendents every day we

139talk to principles uh it is a situation especially now gateway cities in communities like us that serve serve the communities that we serve. Uh people like me, people who speak like me, who came to this country like me. Uh but that we are in a situation that we are right now with a different scenario uh in Washington DC and this is the result that we are that we are facing. So the state has to uh deal with it. we do have a formula and because we're losing students um because of Washington DC we are losing uh funding. I want to thank the mayor uh I've been on this school committee for eight nine years now and this is the first time that we have at least in my time on this school committee that we

140have chargebacks kept the way that it is. Um, when I first came to this school committee, I used to look at those chargebacks. Of course, I had a lot of things that I needed, but things that I I used to ask myself, I'm like, why are we paying this amount of money for a stadium that we use twice a week or sometimes once a week? I always had those questions and always had an increase and increase and increase and increase. So, Mayor Vancampen, so glad that you are in this position. I want to thank you for that. uh for you know working closely with the superintendent and hearing this this this call understanding and caring about it. So really really appreciate it. Um one thing that I am very thankful to the superintendent and his

141team is that we are not you know there are a lot of districts out there uh we've been meeting with superintendents across the state at the state house. There are a lot of districts that are in a very difficult situation, difficult, much more difficult than we are. There are districts out there similar to Everett and serving communities uh similar that we serve that are closing classrooms that are even thinking about closing schools. Like the situation is very dire and we have been able to not bring any additional costs to our students. starting to charge for programs which a lot of districts are doing. There are districts who are not charging for sports uh that now are going to charge for sports uh and many other things and we are not doing that uh which is

142terrific. So in a nutshell, it is a difficult situation, a difficult budget, but I want to thank uh our principles, our you know finance team and especially the superintendent and and the whole team uh that thankfully we are even though we are in this this difficult situation we are uh I would say thankfully that we are going to vote in a budget even though it's a difficult budget. but in a budget the way that that that is presented here even with these small reductions because when we I'm looking at statewide as someone who works statewide every day and hearing from different districts when we look at the situation that we are in Everett and the situation that we are in other cities across the state uh thank god we are in Everett thank god we

143are EPS because the situation as members of the school committee there are colleagues of ours um across the state that they right now are having to make the hard choice and look at families and say sorry that's not nothing we can do and we are able to do so I'm very very thankful for that again thanks the superintendent the mayor and especially our principles who will next year have to continue to provide the outstanding services that they do with the same level funding that we uh uh that we have right now so thank you again >> thank you Mr. Baros will go Miss Cornelio then Miss Babcock >> I would just like to say I think it's a great thing you're doing with the teamwork because I think the more people you have on a

144team you all bring something to the table and you've been able to do such great work and save money and I think you're going to do even better. So, I applaud each and every one of you because I know it's a tough job and tire endless tireless, but thank you for everything you do for our students and our community. Welld deserved. >> Thank you, Miss Cornelio. [clears throat] Miss Babcock. >> Yes. I just wanted to also just say thank you. And I want to I want to say that when I looked at this budget, I could tell from looking at it that it was some difficult decisions were made. And when I was reading it, I was thinking, what are we going to do here? And what I'm impressed with is is that that the

145budget is level >> um and that major cuts have really creative and purposeful solutions like what we did with the subs is wonderful. the options that we have for the school translation in a way realistically they could be better than what we had before because there may potentially be actually more options and and we will have somebody here who is at this committee that's possibly able to translate who they'll see every week as well. Not that our our wonderful translators are not here every single week. So I think that logical solutions and practical solutions to difficult choices um and that um it has no impact on the students that the the positions and adaptations that were made are not going to uh impact the students learning or their experiences that things that are important to

146them like debate and band and music and all the things that make school um not just a you know in-classroom learning experience but an experiential experience is all still accounted for. So, I think that we are really fortunate to have um a team of people that have collaborated together, especially to Mr. Mayor and the superintendent and the principles and you guys that come up with a budget that looks super collaborative and and um sensible as a Yankee would say. It's it's it's really sensible. It's like it's like you just buy got something really high quality for a great price. So thank you very much for all your hard work. >> Thank you Miss Babcock. Mr. Baros, >> thank you madam chair. That's one thing that I forgot to mention that there is hope, right? Budget

147is this is not a this is a of course don't deal. You have a budget. This is what you have to work on. Uh but there is hope out there that perhaps the situation might change for better. >> Absolutely. uh the way that it works in the state house mid year there is always what we call supplemental budget uh that there is a possibility that additional funding could come. Uh yesterday the House of Representatives presented their budget and they add a line item that the governor had not uh uh presented which was which is $10 million for a school district like ours that uh are losing students like mostly gateway cities and that would be an additional money uh through the chapter 7 money. So that's $10 million. Of course, the house there was just

148a proposal. The house will vote uh on this budget by next week and there is also then comes the senate budget and there's the whole process. But there is hope that perhaps the situation could get a little better but of course we have to keep you know functioning and working under these circumstances. Uh but there is always a little hope in the end of the tonio that perhaps we could get additional funding uh and give our principles uh know the needs that they have. >> Thank you Mr. Barrows. If I may from the chair um I'd like to echo your earlier comments about um thanking our leadership teams, our principles, our schools. Um it takes a village to raise children and you are that village for many of us. I can speak personally to that.

149You have my children more than I have them at home. If they could live at school, they would. Um, we briefly touched on this during the presentation, but if either of you could elaborate a little more. Um, is anything going to negatively affect the extracurricular or enrichment programs that are important to overall education for our students? >> Well, there's no reduction in services, occupational PT. There's no extracurricular cuts. uh there's no cost to those extracurricular activities. All the clubs will continue to function. Um so there is nothing here that will impact those parts of our operation. >> Thank you very much. Any further questions? Is there a motion to excuse our guests? >> I make a motion to excuse our guests and we thank you very much. >> Second. Motion has been made by Miss

150Cornelio, seconded by Miss Babcock to excuse our guest with customary thanks. Roll call. >> Mr. Elmearos. >> Yes. >> Miss Babcock, >> yes. >> Miss Cardelloo, >> yes. >> Miss Cornellio, >> yes. >> Miss Cristiano, >> yes. >> Mr. Denafhrio, >> yes. >> Miss Garren, >> yes. >> Mayor Vancamp, yes. Madam Chair, >> yes. [snorts] >> So move 90. >> 90. Motion pass. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Um, Mr. Barrows, >> I would like to make a motion to accept the recommendation of the budget in the amount of well FY27 budget. Uh, I believe in the amount of 145,395,399 accept this recommendation and send to our full uh committee meeting which I don't remember the date. April 28th. >> Second. >> Uh, where will we be able to vote? >> Second. >> Motion

151has been made by Mr. Barrow, seconded by Miss Babcock to accept the FY27 budget proposal of 145,395,399 as presented and refer to the next school committee meeting on Tuesday, April 28th, 2026. Roll call. >> Mr. Alina Barrow? >> Yes. >> Miss Babcock? >> Yes. >> Miss Cardell? >> Yes. >> Miss Cornelio? >> Yes. Miss Cristiano, >> yes. >> Miss Cristiano, >> yes. [clears throat] >> Mr. Denafhrio, >> yes. >> Miss Garren, >> yes. >> Mayor Vancampen, >> yes. >> Madame Chair, >> yes. >> So move 90. Motion passed. Superintendent, the next order of business. >> The next order of business is item number Roman numeral number four, matters for executive session. There are none before you. Roman numeral 5 is adjournment. >> Motion to adjourn. Second. >> Motion has been made by Mr. Barrow, seconded

152by Miss Cardillo for adjournment. Roll call. >> Mr. Alvaros, >> yes. >> Miss Babcock, >> yes. >> Miss Cardell, >> yes. >> Miss Cornelio, >> yes. >> Miss Cristiano, >> yes. >> Mr. Denafhrio, >> yes. >> Miss Garren, >> yes. >> Mayor Vancampen, >> yes. >> Madame Chair, >> yes. >> So move 90. We have adjourned at 9:05 p.m. Happy April school vacation everybody.