001Uh, we're ready to get started. So, I am Chris Kona. I'm the town moderator for the town of Richmond, and I'm grateful for everyone for coming out to the annual regional school district meeting and public hearing for the FY27 Cherokee budget. So, as I mentioned, we're required to have a quorum of 25 voters from each of the three towns, Charles Town, Richmond, and Hopington. And Angel, do we have such a quorum? [clears throat] We have 26 voters from Charletown, 27 voters from Hopington, and 38 voters from Richmond. So, I'd like to call the annual regional school district meeting to order. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance, and I'd ask they remain standing for a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for
002which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. There are four exits for you to use in case of an emergency. one at each each exit off to the right to the left and then there are two that are in the back of the auditorium. All of the aisle ways are to remain clear at all times. Thank you. So, um I'll explain the voting in a bit, but as we get to aid with that voting once we get started, uh I would ask if there's any people who are in attendance who are not a voting resident of Richmond, Charles Town, or Hopkington, uh to move to the back of the auditorium. Thank you for the public forum. We'll get started too with a few of the rules here.
003Um, I'll talk through the way the meeting will progress and then I'll turn it over to uh the chair and to the school committee to present the town budget. Um, when we get to the we go into the public forum, we'll have a few rules. So, anyone wishing to speak must approach the microphone so that everyone in the room can can hear. Uh, we do have YouTube that's streaming now and so that will give also give us a chance to uh hear what you have over the YouTube since that's connected to the microphone. Uh please publicly announce your name and your town of residence for the record as well as sign the public sheet um just so that we can track h how the spellings are done for the school committee clerk. You have approximately
004two minutes to speak and are expected to adhere to proper decorum. As this is a public hearing, the school committee will take your comments made by the public regarding the budget and consideration. Uh no motions or votes on the FY27 budget will take place today during this meeting. the the budget will be voted on by all residents in the towns in the all day referendum on April 7th, 2026. So before we also get started, I'd like to take a minute to explain how voting works in this meeting since this been a point uh that we've had I've had I've had some confusion about before as well. Uh we've had everyone check in because you're here. You're a voter in one of the the Cherho towns. You're part of the quorum for this meeting. So that
005means that you have a vote on all the motions that happen in this meeting. For most of the votes, we'll just do a voice vote, say A or an A in response. If it's a vote that's close enough that we have to the voice vote isn't clear, then we'll uh switch to a raising hands and then we'll count those hands that get raised uh to resolve that. Um so as we start this meeting, uh the first agenda item is for the warrant of the meeting. It's available at the town at the town's clerk's tables outside. It's also posted on the Cherokee website. Um, I'll request if anyone has a motion to wave the reading of the warrant. >> Second. >> Okay. A motion to second. Uh, all in favor? All opposed? Okay. The eyes have
006it. I request a motion to wave reading of the minutes for the annual meeting and the public hearing of March 4th, 2025. All in favor? All in favor? All opposed to kick off the budget discussion. Thank you. I'd like to introduce the chairo school committee chair Luis Dinsmore to introduce the school committee members and the proposed FY27 budget. >> Thank you, Mr. Moderator. At this time, I'm going to ask the members of the school committee and the administration seated on the dis to introduce themselves. Starting with the gentleman to my far left, >> Larry Phelps, Hobington, >> Aaron Reynolds, Richmond. Craig Luzon on Charleston. >> Gregory Zion, director of administration and finance. >> Gina Bard, superintendent. >> Luis Dinsmore, chair of the Charo School Committee. >> Linda Lyall Charleston. >> Holly Hopkins, Hington. >> Jessica
007Purscell, Cherho School Committee from Richmond. >> Michael Cameller, assistant superintendent. >> Lyn Guben, assistant director of administration and finance. Charles Gerro >> Kathy Kosal, administrative assistant in the finance office. >> Angela Brazil, school committee clerk and administrative assistant to the superintendent. Thank you. The school committee approved the fiscal year 2027 budget in the amount of 70 million788,018 with town contributions representing 62,223,858 which represents an overall increase of 4.75. and that includes state aid. The impact to each town is as follows. Charles Town represents an increase of 4.05%. Richmond an increase of 4.11%. Hopington an increase of 5.80%. The impact to each town without state aid and [snorts] reflecting local contributions only is 46,483,544 which represents an overall increase of 4.99%. The impact to each town is as follows. And remember this is without state aid.
008Charles Town an increase of 5.02%. Richmond an increase of 7.82%. Hopington an increase of 2.11%. So at this time we're going to give a an abbreviated version of the budget presentation and I'm going to ask uh we have slide one here. Dr. Camella will advance the slides. I appreciate that Dr. Camela. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe context matters. You are here to learn more about the budget, its impact, and you are invited to offer public input. With that comes a responsibility on our part to present factual information and provide context. I requested that the members of the public, you, the voters of our district, be presented with an abbreviated version of the budget presentation to give you context and facts. The budget process is a complicated and detailed process to support nearly 3,000 students and
009hundreds of staff. I want to acknowledge the superintendent, the finance director, assistant superintendent, each and every member of the administration, the principles, clerks, and staff involved in putting this budget together. This is an extremely complex process and your collective professionalism and dedication to the district are deeply appreciated. I also want to thank the administration for putting the budget information online and making it accessible to the public. An informed citizenry is paramount to the democratic process. The school committee was presented with the fiscical year 27 budget at our January meeting by the superintendent. We as a body participated in the amu annual omnibus meeting on January 21st and we heard the buzz budget presentation for a second time. We also had a budget workshop and then our body formally approved the budget at the February 10th
010school committee meeting. When the school committee approves the budget that means we as a public body take ownership of the budget. Tonight, the school committee is here to listen to your feedback as public input is essential to this process. At our March 10th meeting, the school committee is charged with adopting the budget to bring to the voters on April 7th, which is the date of the all day budget referendum. If you have not participated in our budget presentations to date, having context is vital to being informed and knowing the facts. To that end, I encourage the superintendent to partner with me to present an abbreviated version of this budget with slides this evening. Normally, the superintendent would lead this presentation, but however, considering the school committee now has ownership of the budget, I asked Gina
011to share this responsibility with me tonight. So, to that end, we have a few slides we'd like to share with you. As the district is preparing for a new three-year strategic plan called vision 2029, this budget was developed with specific goals in mind to prepare Cheraho for the future. The fiscical year 27 budget supports all aspects of our district, including learning environments and structures that invest in multi-tered systems of support, increased student engagement, credit attainment, and persistence towards graduation. Dr. Camela, next slide, please. In order to evaluate where we are going as a district, let's take a look at our success in fiscal year 26. We all take great pride as a community that Cheraho promotes a tradition of excellence. Our high school is ranked in the top 10. Elementary schools have been ranked four
012and five. The district has secured over $3 million in funding and grants. and annual audits have come back with no findings and no recommendations achievements which are all very impressive. Next slide please. What's equally as impressive is Charo is recognized in the top quadrant of success with a strong return on investment when you examine the per pupil expenditure and proficiency in rycast testing. Next slide please. The next slide outlines how public education is driven by fixed costs. Costs that are fixed by law, costs fixed by contract, and costs that are inflationdriven. How is public education fixed by law? There are requirements CHRO must satisfy for transportation, for special education, curriculum mandates, and for safety and facilities. As you can appreciate, these requirements have budget implications. How is public education fixed by contracts? There are collective
013bargaining agreements that determine salaries, benefits, and healthcare. And fuel, electricity, supplies, purchases, and service contracts are driven by inflation and continue to increase each year. I do want to point out that Charo has a fund balance and the status is such that our fund balance currently accounts for under one month of expenditures. To no surprise, our auditors have recommended enhancing this reserve. In fiscal year 26 alone, we allocated 3.1 million from the fund balance to lower the contributions to education from our member towns. As the superintendent has said many times, we cannot maintain this practice and this rate of withdrawal. At this time, I'll turn the presentation over to the superintendent. Thank you. So, a few um things that we thought were really important is where do the where does the money go? because I
014think that's where um we want to make sure that the investment for your taxpayer dollars which are greatly appreciated and you're all sitting in a brand new auditorium compliments of the bond for the main campus. So we want to thank all of you for that. Um these things don't go unnoticed and unappreciated. Our students are absolutely uh ecstatic to be able to perform in this auditorium both at the middle school and high school and our elementary levels coming up. We're excited to have our honor ceremonies. Um it's thanks to the school committee here that has um continued every year to come forward with the budget that represents the needs. The difficult part of that is the dollars are only stretched so far. Truly, our state has come up with more state aid every year. The
015last three years that um since Rep. Carter, Rep. Spears have joined um the team of representatives at the general assembly, we have seen an increase every year. However, this year Richmond and um Charles Town saw some decreases and we're still fighting for those dollars and we've only just begun because we're in the beginning of the process at the state house. There are um the chair spoke about staff and benefits. We have over 500 employees. So, um that's very different than town budgets and we recognize that. And with that being said is, you know, we are an asset to all three towns. We have members who are uh work here, have their families here and they want to make sure that the school district is an asset and um the quadrant of success shows that we
016we are for our not for every tax dollar that you provide us and and that we greatly appreciate the instruction the requirements that are are necessary to ensure that we move students to the future. not just provide sort of and people will say well reading and writing in arithmetic absolutely but reading and writing to me will to be critical thinkers in comp in the complex world that we live in and that could be in the welding that could be in all kinds of opportunities. Career and tech is our sort of our beacon here at Charo and many of the services have been dwindled away through grants that typically were involved for career and tech centers. Charho was a career and tech center and the state only had 10. Now, what's happened is many charters have
017opened, many um state funds have been allocated across different agencies or different state-run schools like the Met or Davies, and those Perkins dollars that we used to see that helped us thrive in CTE have been taken away and had to be placed back in operating budget. This year, our students have to do their their medical clinicals for our health and career pathways. they have to get to their services and their electrical work to be able to uh continue on their programs. We work with Habitat for Humanity to get on-site. We just were um asked by Brown to contribute to um a grant that would allow more homes for to communities in Charletown, Hopington, and Richmond. Um so we please know that we continue to be able not only to get dollars for our students, but
018to access those dollars to help improve each one of our communities here. So that instruction looks different but it's very important and I think when we we brought our agriculture program pre-K through 12 um and we have invested in our farm to school program we're highlighted with those level of instructional supports but that comes um with increases for example waste management is now a a state mandate but it didn't come with any funding and we had a grant that was uh federal grant that was providing us that support and services that was removed from um federal dollars and now the um Charah was one of the only districts that had that grant. But we're asking um and Charles Town actually just passed a resolution with one of our students, Ezrey, who presented to um the
019council about how that they could support Charo and its community by getting state funding for waste management. And I think um another reason why that's important is that we're we're investing in community where our our students are accessing understanding of how their programs can be thoughtful and how their communities can access other supports to be able to ensure that our communities thrive across the state. Supplies and technology, those obligations, a lot of that is by contract, and we often divvy those contracts up so that there's less of a burden. So we sometimes have six-year contracts. So the the level of lift, think of it like when you if you lease a car or if you have a mortgage, you're paying a little bit a month. So we try to make sure that we can get
020the contracts as long as possible. Um so that we can uh ensure that the dollar impact is as as little as possible, but things come around. I mean, Chromebooks, uh we went from a six year a four-year review to a six-year review. And once they hit six years, you you need to update them because the technology uh moves quickly and it's only as efficient and the the students rely on their devices throughout the day. Now, we've been asked about will it be cheaper for textbooks? It it isn't. It actually paper costs more and the site licenses, but we are balancing our educational curriculum in our elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools to ensure screen time um is thoughtful and strategic as they get older and they're able to utilize it and be really critical
021um thoughtful users of that. Facilities and transportation is where the majority of the increases uh continue to come. Our elementary schools are significantly aged and the if you look at just our budget transfers, you will see every dollar that we cut for custodians and maintenance, we have to put back in because we have emergency. The blizzard that we just had right now I'm at $125,000 and I'm afraid to ask because that was at 2:00. Um, and that's from, you know, blizzard snow removal unprecedented. Those are the things where now that fund balance is much thinner than it was. Um, and there's not much left. And and just to be really clear, the fund balance isn't a surplus. So what happens with that fund balance? So when we take away all that, every dollar we don't
022spend goes right back into member contributions. So we take 2.25 right now is in our budget of our fund balance. We took 2.25% and we allocate it into our fund balance for emergency purposes. And then the auditors tell us how much is is a robust We don't have a robust fund balance. We have a what they would call a catastrophic fund balance that um with one windstorm we are looking at no money. And at that point the auditor general will step in and be um would be requiring towns to think differently about financing. I how do I know this? Because I also sit on a school committee that's having that same conversation tonight. Many districts are having that conversation. Cranon's having that one tomorrow. local contributions have not um kept up with state aid. The
023state will say that they do fund education, but it's um and there are some cases where they're underfunded. So, at that point, I'm going to go to the next slide, Dr. Camilill. So, knowing this, we knew we had to make sure we had reductions prior to giving the school committee this budget. We have cut nine certified staff, five support staff. We're we're hoping, you know, through retirement and nutrition, it will not impact uh and have to come through layoffs, but the state law allows us to lay off up until June 1st. Um, and that's not necessarily where I I believe um the cuts should continue to come, but we were able to review staffing, review current retirements, and try our best to really sharpen our pencils. Uh and the budget pres the budget as it
024stands is what we um it's going to be a change of services. You will see different ways that we'll have to sort of operate busing and bus stops and um there'll be noticeable changes. But with that being said, and and with two and a half million dollars already cut, I have said to the school committee um you know, and I know many of them have not offered up any other cuts because they recognize we're at a point now where cutting means it's people and that means services and student programs are are are in jeopardy. And um the staffing attrition has been we've been really mindful if you if you've noticed across the state, they've had multiple layoffs. we were able to really manage our thoughtful um transition. Both Mr. Zenny and Dr. Camila are excellent
025partners with our team and we were able to we do five-year forecasts and 10-year forecasts and those are available online to anyone who's who wants to see that. And with those forecasts, we're able to really project out to be mindful, which is why, you know, when we we know we're at a point of critical um review of the budget, we let the school committee know. Um and sometimes the school committee takes risks. We did that a couple years ago and it and it didn't serve us well and we learn from it. But in the end, please know when I make a recommendation, I do it knowing that I'm not going to make everybody happy. But my number one responsibility in the law is to ensure that the budget I present to school committee and to
026the taxpayers is one that will provide the community with the services that they want. And and that's now what it comes down to. the school committee under has to make decisions about what does your school what do you want? I I'm just I'm recommending what we have and how do we sustain that to ensure that our students who are the most vulnerable don't lose any supports that our students who can't get to school still have their bus stops because I don't know about you but if my kid misses the bus she can walk. It takes 10 minutes. Nobody's walking here. It's not it's not even possible. So oftentimes they'll miss school. So, we as a rural district, and I'm advocating at the state house, we really um need people to understand that transportation is a
027driver. We put almost $4 million in transportation before we hit a classroom. That doesn't happen in Barington. That doesn't happen in Cranston. That doesn't happen in Providence. The transportation costs in a rural district are very, very different. And it's not part of the funding formula. So, why is that important to mention tonight? because when we're doing these reductions and reallocations, the funding formula and by the way, the blue ribbon commission, if you go on our website, you can see my volume one, that commission um and I've already explained that to um David Telini, it's misinformed. They had they were well intended, but it doesn't do enough for the transportation for a rural district like Charo or Exit West Greenwich as another example. Transportation is our classroom door. And I'm I keep saying that because transportation
028funding isn't in your funding formula. It's what they call categorical, which means it's almost like an afterthought. So people will say to me, Mrs. Pard, you have a regional law that says they have to give you this amount of money for regional transportation. And Mr. Luzon asks me all the time, can you remind us why they don't have to follow that law? And I said, sure. And I think I talked to council president uh Wilcox and said the same thing. The minute the governor signs the budget and the general assembly passes it, it's the new law. So, luckily, Governor McKe has full fully funded regional transportation. Megan Carter every year has put in a bill supported by Tina Spears and our other general assembly members to continue to do that. Governor McKe has supported regional
029transportation. Rep. Carter has put in to increase that. But it's a fight every year and it shouldn't be. But if we and I I go every year to the state house. I am very present. I've been at least once or twice a week since it's opened uh to make sure that the chero needs and the needs of our Rhode Island students are at the forefront. But we're all competing and we're not competing against 35 districts anymore. We're competing against 61 districts. Every time we open up a charter or state school, it's it's going to wean the pot thin. Not and I have friends in charter schools who run charter schools. We work with partners in charter schools. Kala works with a charter school. We they're great partners. This is a funding concern, not a charter
030concern. It's the way that we we are asked to operate. So when we look at the fact that there is no furniture and people may say that's fine, but if you're sitting in a chair, you know, you don't want it wobbling. You know, a chair breaks, we want to replace it and we want it to be comfortable, especially when they sit in it often. And we want their desks to be thoughtful learning spaces. And um but this year, just like you've seen, our library budgets get whittleled down. Our zero there's zero furniture asked for capital projects are removed. Um we asked for $15 million for the capital bond for the main campus because we knew our elementary needs were much higher. Um and our buildings aren't getting any younger. And they have millions of kids
031walking through them and their families, which is great. This is a beautiful example of um of a of a space where kids call home morning, noon, and at night. They spend more of their time here um especially now getting ready for their spring performances. And it's a it's a joy to see them be able to be so proud of the space, but to know that their community understood the investment that was in uh something like this. But in the end, it it cost dollars. Whether those dollars are for old schools or for a new school, it it doesn't cost you anything different. We did what I call the road show a few years ago and we explained the amount of money we're putting into old schools is what it's going to cost you if you
032do the bond. So why am I bringing that up? Because in the end the reductions and the reallocations, they've been done. So really right now is you're looking at raising class sizes or cutting um cutting support staff or or certified programs for teachers uh for the teachers that teach for certain programs. It's it's it's not um it's not an easy decision, but it's the school committee's decision and the community you will inform them on on what your priorities are so that that they can take that into consideration. Next slide. So, the budget unavoidable increases, you know, I've talked about that with the reallocations of staffing just like all of you. I mean the school committee has worked really hard every year at this budget and if you look at previous budgets at least the last
033six years that I've been here and even prior to me we can go through they have not even come close to inflation we have stayed way under inflation as much as possible we were lucky with esser dollars we use them strategically but in the end the local contribution has not raised in uh at all and while the funding formula is based on enrollment this budget is based on student need um And that doesn't always equate. You may have one student who has significant different needs that should be addressed and it's our responsibility by law to address those needs as it should be. But that comes with the cost. We are seeing our youngest learners in prek need more supports than they have in the past. And that's not because kids are different. It's because sometimes
034students have different needs that happen at different times. It doesn't mean that there's anything wrong. It just means that they have a need that has to be addressed. If we if you get an operation and you decain, you buy the cane. It's no different when students are dealing with they may have an eye injury. They may have been something that occurred. It may be short-term, long-term. As those things happen, we have a responsibility to their families and to them to adjust their education and their services so that they can get their free and appropriate public education. We don't take that um that work lightly. We do that work every day. And I I I'm very confident in our principles and our our staff that work really hard to ensure that every service provided is thoughtful,
035strategic, and is in the best interest of our students. Um I will continue. We are getting our transportation audit tomorrow, a draft to let us know um that audit was uh asked by the school committee to see how we could save money. My superintendent colleagues across the state have shared that all of them have saved something even if one bus. So I'm hopeful. Um I don't know. Pucket told me that they could do 20 buses. I'm not I'm hope 20 buses probably would be a lot for us, but uh even one bus is about a hundred,000 $95,000 in savings. So there's still things in the air which makes these meetings difficult as well because you don't have all the information. We only know the best that we know in this moment in time. And um
036that's what you have in front of you tonight to be able to give the school committee feedback. U and I think they've been really um mindful of that feedback. every year I've watched them make very difficult decisions um for everyone and I think some of us have already felt those impacts but in the end we've we've sustained the quality that is cheroo and we're really proud of that um and that's our goal is to continue to give you strong return on your investment uh we recognize any increase is never easy um but it what we wanted to share is that really the increase in in spending is because of inflation at 2.76 none of nothing in our budget is new we're not asking if anything In addition, we're trying to sustain programs that our kids
037are relying on to ensure that they have a um thoughtful education and ensure that their families uh are proud of the schools that they send their children to school. So, I'm going to pitch it back to the chair. >> Thank you. Thanks for that overview. Thanks for that overview, Gina. I appreciate it. Um so, this next slide reflects the impact on member towns based on the governor's preliminary state aid figures. I did say these figures in the beginning of my um presentation so I I will not say them again. They're up on the screen. Um so on the left side you'll see our overall fiscal year 27 budget with state aid and then on the right side this is the overall budget without state aid that reflects the actual impact on the towns. And we'll
038go to the next slide Dr. Camela please. Okay, can I see that? So, understanding the school budget summary, um, Charo's fiscal year 27 budget is a preliminary budget number that is compared to the adjusted budget that represents the final enacted budget from the general assembly and the governor as well as any changes to enrollment or the funding formula. Factors that have an impact on the budget even after our body, the school committee votes and u budget voter approval takes place. So things that we've already talked about during this presentation, transportation, special education, enrollment shifts, staffing, out of district tuitions, we didn't talk about that a lot tonight, but we have talked about it in some of our other meetings, and shifts in state aid. Final takeaways, Charo delivers strong outcomes with clean audits. Budget increases
039are driven by the district strategic plan, law, contracts, and inflation. This budget sustains quality while managing risk. And the budget strength strengthens the systems that already serve students well while ensuring those systems are coherent, aligned, and sustainable over time and sets the stage for vision 2029. our goal as a body, as a district, a sustainable budget that serves all kids all the time. And with that, I will turn the meeting back over to our moderator. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, at this point, we move on to the public hearing portion of the agenda. So, if any of those would like to come up and make a comment, as I mentioned, uh I'll keep a timer for two minutes and uh and we'll go from there. Please raise your hand if you'd like to come
040up for public comment. Good evening, Steve Moffett from Hopington. Chair Dinsmore and members of the committee, I want to begin by clarifying something important for the public. The increase impacting Richmond and other towns is not something that the administration assigned to one comm community. It is a mathematical result of enrollment changes, state aid adjustments, and total district spending under the Cherokee cost sharing formula. And once this committee voted 10 to1 to accept the budget, it became this committee's budget. That vote was the formal act of taking ownership and responsibility that's been mentioned earlier. This is no longer an administrative proposal. This is the school committee's proposal. Now, let's talk about consistency. For years, Chair Dinsmore, you have argued that the Charo is that Charo is wellunded. You have said taxpayers are not limitless ATM machines.
041You have criticized prior budget increases. You have questioned performance relative to spending. You have demanded accountability and measurable return on investment. Those were strong positions, but leadership changes the equation. It is one thing to oppose budgets from the minority. It is another thing to sit as a chair of the majority and build one. If the impact to any one town is unacceptable, then leadership requires more than voting no. Leadership requires presenting a specific alternative. What light items are too high? What programs are expendable? What staffing levels should be changed? What services should be reduced? Because everyone in this room understands something fundamental. Meaningful reduction in town obligations requires meaningful structural cuts. So we need to be honest. If the impact is too high, then plainly say what must be cut. If the cuts required would
042change the fabric of Cheraho, then say that too. We cannot tell voters the increase is unacceptable while simultaneously avoiding the hard conversation about what it would take to lower it. For years, we have heard about rubber stamps. We have heard about bloated budgets. We have heard that the cheroo committee should scrutinize every dollar. Now you're the majority. Now you control the agenda. Something I'd also like to address. Public confidence is the district is in this district depends on clarity. What's that? >> You're at your two minutes. >> All right. Should have gave me a heads up, but >> thank you. >> Uh, next we have on the right. >> Hello. Uh, my name is Julia Gra. I'm a resident of Hopkin and I am very proud to have a seven-year-old in the first grade at
043Ashway Elementary School. Um, I want to thank you all for the time and thought that you've put into all of this. Um, I'm proud to be a resident here to have such caretaking done on our town and I'm grateful to have so many fellow residents who take this much care. Um, I also want to specifically thank you for protecting our amazing staff. Um, my son's teachers have changed his life and I'm so glad to hear that layoffs are not um, in the picture. I also want to uh, give a huge vote of support for the bus drivers. Um, it's such a big deal to put your kid on a bus. Uh, and just we feel so safe with with these ladies who take care of our kids every day. So, thank you for all of
044that. Um, this is a tiny tiny drop in the bucket of the budget. So, there's probably nothing effective here for you, but I do want to lodge a complaint about the use of Chromebooks in kindergarten and in first grade. Um, this has been the bane of my existence for the last two years. I worked to raise my child screenfree and to watch little 45 and 50 pound kids carry a Chromebook to and from kindergarten and first grade um is pretty depressing when I've been you know all the science shows that attention span is built by uh avoiding screen time until age 10 and above. Um, I was really dismayed to learn that literacy is taught through videos on Chromebooks and I do not ask my son to comply with his Chromebook based homework because I
045find it really harmful. So, we do uh textbased reading instead. So, if there's any revision in the budget that can be for those earlier years and the use of Chromebook, um, at least one voter would be very happy to see that. But, I want to thank you for everything else you've done here and um, I'm proud to live in this town. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Rice. We have one woman in the center. I thought I saw I thought I saw a hand somewhere in the That's okay. Anyone else? Okay. I'm Helen Sheen from Richmond and we all want good schools, but we also don't want people to go bankrupt or have their houses sold off because they can't pay the taxes. You may not consider it your problem, but these children
046have parents who are trying to pay for the schools. So yes, and I do care. I live in Richmond, so I particularly don't like the percentage increase in Richmond. That's a gigantic increase. What one of the things that you mentioned was the three ways that we are stuck with the bills. I mean, I personally think unions had a they have a place, but they certainly have too much power in my opinion now because people in the rest of the world, we don't get those kind of benefits that people in the schools get. Um, but you did mention we have all these unfunded mandates. We should really look at how many of those mandates we actually need and get our lawyers to fight the state. You're going to a meeting tomorrow with other superintendent. See if
047they'll get together with you and see if you can fight back against some of these mandates that cost money, but they're not really necessary. Thank you. >> Thank you. is next sir. Thank you. Oh yeah. And then you in the back after Mr. Abd Greg Abadesian from the town of Hopington. Um you know we all waited patiently for um for us to get our quorum. Um I don't I don't think it would be unreasonable to let Mr. Moffett finish his statement. Um, and if the chair uh can't accommodate that, then I'd like to finish it for him. >> But it's not my it's not my call. It's not my meeting. This is the moderator's rules. >> With a motion, we can have him finish his remark. Do you have a motion to have Mr. Moffett
048finish his remark? >> Um, I Yeah, I'd like to make a motion that we allow Mr. Moffett to finish his statement. >> Do you have a second? All in favor? I. >> All oppose? All right. The eyes have it. Thank you, Mr. Moderator. Also, I want to address something larger. Public public confidence in this district depends on clarity and consistency. When rhetoric shifts depending on who holds the gavl, trust the roads. When message messaging suggests the administration is driving the increase despite a 10 to one vote of acceptance by this body that confuses voters. Ownership matters, transparency matters, students matter, the fiscal responsibility matters. Those principles are not mutually exclusive, but they require serious detailed work. This this district serves nearly 3,000 students across three towns. decisions made here affect the educational opportunities, staff stab
049uh stability, taxpayer confidence and long-term financial trajectory. These are not symbolic votes. They shape the future of Cheraho. So I asked the majority and especially the chair, if the impact is too high, what specifically would you change? What is the alternative budget? What is the plan beyond voting no? Because this public because the public deserves more than just dissatisfaction. They deserve direction. This budget now belongs to the committee. Lead with clarity. Lead with specifics and lead with accountability. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Moffet. >> Uh sir, I know you waited patiently with the the beard and the jacket in the back. Thank you. >> Hello, members of committee. My name is Paul Erdis um in Richmond here and I I do appreciate Mr. Moffett's remarks to an extent that I don't agree that it
050is the duty of one individual to come up with an alternative plan. Um I think there was a big shift in the school committee at the last election which represented a will of the people. I personally am kind of confused as some were elected, especially the Republican representatives who seem to have not upheld that portion at least in examining and review. And this is not a rebuke, but it is an opportunity of referendum to reconsider. And if and and quite frankly as being in Richmond and seeing the taxes continue to increase, I've lived here for 10 years and the property taxes continue to increase. Um [clears throat] to raise my family here long-term and multigenerational now. Uh I love this area, but we have considered multiple times in the last 5 years moving out of
051state because it is prohibitive. Uh especially with a multigenerational view. And so we love Cheroo. My students have succeeded well. We love the teachers and the staff and they've had a wonderful experience here. Sometimes it is the time to have the difficult decision to reconsider what programs are vital and which ones aren't. And not to presume that I know what those are, but [clears throat] I think that just to hang it around the neck of one individual um who is simply asking I I read the chair's uh vote to not approve the budget as just an opportunity accepting that there will be increases but to see what else could be done to minimize those. And it's unfair to bring to to call you to a presentation of what those alternatives would be tonight, but I
052think it is an opportunity to reconsider it and have that broader discussion and at least see where we're at. Um, nationally, there is declines in enrollment. There is increases in children going homeschool, right? And I know many people within my community and friends that are doing that as well. And so those things all do have an effect, but they also have a back-end effect. All right? And so, uh, I just voice my opinion there that I hope I hope that there is as the school has as the school committee has voted to adopt the budget or at least to approve the budget, um, that they will take into consideration. We understand there will be increases. We don't like any of them, right? Nobody does too because most of you are taxpayers in the same town.
053We understand that as well. But at a 7.82% potential increase is astronomical, right? It's it's huge. And in the world of finance, I own my own business as well. And so I would ask to consider that. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Ernst. Do I have another speaker? May. >> Hi, Susanna Tingley with Richmond. Um, I've watched school budgets before and both left and right when the budgets are presented, most of them were not comfortable with an over or 3% uh increase. This is a huge heavy ask and I also don't exactly understand how this, you know, uh, equates to a tax increase. I didn't think it was legal to have an over a 4% at one time increase in taxes. Um, I would ask anything that's in this budget that was put in through
054ESSER funding immediately be taken out. Those were supposed to be one-time uses, not reoccurring costs. And I would ask you to look at, have you looked at grants, public private partnerships, consolidation, restructuring, opening contracts for things like the Chromebooks? We do not need them at those elementary levels. Can they be transferred up to the upper grades for ones that need to be used out? Can they be used a year longer? Um, also overlap of services. You know, some of the things we're doing in schools, while they may be good, have historically been done through private insurance. Is it time to move some of those services back to the families and the home service? These tax increases are going to be crushing um to my you know, my husband's not here tonight because he's working a
055second job. And I worry about the elderly. This is how we push people out of their homes because they're on fixed incomes. They can't afford their taxes and the alternatives once you're pushed out of your home are not good. And I would ask, you know, I listened to the discussions. I felt that there was a lot of talk like in circles. I would like to see the superintendent present. Here are five things you can cut. You might not like them. You might not want them. You don't have to vote on them. The school committee does. Here's the percentage. Give them five other ones. This is the percentage. But I haven't seen the willingness to make cuts. Nobody wants cuts, but if you don't make them, we're making them at home. So, I would ask you
056to consider that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hi, Goldie Williams from Richmond. All kids all the time. No, I've talked to parents who were special needs kids and they complained to me all the time. When I tell my son's story, they said they've been bullied. They've been not getting the services like they're supposed to. So why are we paying 7.82 in Richmond if they don't get the services? And as far as the elementary and the charter schools, the charter schools are a lot better. My two boys went to Kingston Hill. They're rated higher than your elementary schools. My oldest, my youngest, sorry, went to the Met in Newport. He's now in the Air Force and he did a lot better than he did here. He said the first week of school, he said he didn't
057want to go to the high school because in the middle school he felt like a robot. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Rollins. Do you have any other speakers? >> Oh, sir. >> Hello. My name is Andrew McCoy. I'm from Richmond. People come to live in this community, Richmond, Hopkin, Charles Town, and for a lot of reasons, but one of the reasons is because we have good school districts. As the slide showed up above, you know, we have a top 10 high school in the state. That's nothing to it's not something you want to give up as a parent, a grandparent, as someone as as a resident of the community. Um, you know, in general over the last few years, the school district has reduced from four to three elementary schools because they've been trying
058to consolidate and trying to save money for the district and at the same time trying to get new elementary schools. um which we're now paying more for maintenance because we didn't get new elementary schools because the voters of of the town said it's more important to you know to as my mom would say to be pennywise and pound foolish but we're going to we're going to save every penny but we're not going to do the need needed things so that we have good schools and a good community and From what I've seen living in this district between Charles Town and Richmond in 20 years, overall the school district has tried very hard to be responsible stewards with the taxpayers's money. And the towns are now having to look at the fact that there's higher maintenance
059costs and transportation costs because they're not providing the necessary maintenance or new schools as needed. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Alexandra Leapor. I'm a inhabitant of Richmond. I've been here about 10 years. My daughter went through all of Charles Town Elementary and Cherokee and my granddaughter is now in Charlestown Elementary. So, I appreciate a good school system. However, I am that working poor. I'm on disability and I work part-time. I love where I live, but I'm getting taxed out of my home. And I don't think that that's fair. If I have to pull tight my belt, then the school system needs to pull tight their belt. I'm not sacrificing any more than I have to for this school system. I would like a great school system, but I would
060I prefer my home and a roof over my head. And these are concerning to me. First, being in Richmond with the 7.82% way greater hike than any of the other two. Why is it not evenly distributed in between? I know you guys have a charter or something and I don't understand much of these things, but it is not not uh it the people can't survive if we keep getting taxed like this. And I'm just I'm just tired of it and I just don't like telling you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Leaport. Sir, Alex from Richmond. Alex Mckendle from Richmond. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, my lords and ladies. I come before you as a humble commoner of the working class. Is it not for public comment for it to just be ignored? That is
061what always happens and that's what you should do. It should be ignored. This place is a beautiful place. Many people of us have talked about it. But it should be better and it can be better and it will be better because with more money equals better and better things are expensive and expensive things well they're nice. Many people here have complained, "Oh, my family, my food, I don't I can't make it. Insurance is so high. Cry us a river," they say. Boohoo. I have a solution for it all. Don't be poor. It's our job as a common workingclass person to be nothing more than a tax cow. Will Richmond pay another $1.25 25 million, a 7.82% increase. And I ask of the lords and ladies here tonight, uh, Louise Dinsmore, Jessica Purcell, Pat Pulot, and
062Karen Reynolds, I would like to stand here and and acknowledge you and say, are you going to vote for this? >> Would you like an answer right now? >> Yes, I'm standing here. So I voted against a 7.82% increase primarily for Richmond. I think it's excessive and I do think that we have to look at this very critically and make some reductions next week. I want to support Shero to maintain the top quadrant of success and I think that's important for us to do that but we have to have a more reasonable balanced budget increase. That's my honest answer and that's my direct answer to you my lord. Anybody [snorts] else? >> Yes, ma'am. >> I'm interested in working on this. Obviously, I'm not >> We all are. >> I'm not happy with the increase.
063I'm not happy with the way the state aid and the constant back and forth. Um, can we do better? Yeah, I think we can. We have to work together to do that. But I think it's important to recognize that we have been cutting this budget to the bare bones for the last five years. And this right now is the result of that >> and so has every single thing. >> I completely understand that. Thank you for acknowledging that. I'm a taxpayer. I'm a working commoner as you you know I just came from work. I was there at 6:30 this morning and I left at >> I don't know. >> Keep working. >> I am. I am. >> We're working. >> Thank you, Mr. McCllum. >> Will I get an answer for the rest of the
064representatives? the public form. There's a two-minute limit. >> Okay. >> And then >> Thank you. >> Yeah. public forum is not a back and forth, though. >> I'm happy one of the school members wants to comment on that or school committee members. >> Okay. Motion a second. >> Okay. Okay. We have a motion, a second. All in favor? All opposed? Okay. If the eyes have it, Mr. McKinn, floor is yours. So, so, um, thank you, uh, Mrs. Reynolds. Um, so would you would you vote for this increase as my represent? >> We cannot find any more reductions. I mean, what would we, you know, are we looking at cutting sports at the middle school? I mean, is that is that where we're going? I do have, you know, some concerns about the Chromebooks at the
065elementary level. I definitely think um I appreciate um the comment about kindergarten and first grade um even into second grade. Um I see it in the middle school. Um but what are we going to cut? And I'm not asking you to find that solution. It's something that we've been asking. Um it's what we've been looking at. Uh what are we going to cut? Are we going to cut middle school sports? Is that where we're at? Is that where we're at? Um, Miss Purcell. >> Yeah. To start, I just want to talk about the 7.82%. I I do think it's um not an accurate picture of the increase to Richmond. That that does include state aid and it's larger because the state aid we lost $330,000 of state aid. That's part of why >> um that
066number is larger. without the state aid, the local contribution, the local increase is 4.11%. >> Richmond, >> so it's still to Richmond, right? So, there's different um numbers involved and I keep hearing the 7.82 and I understand that's alarming. It absolutely is a much higher than we've seen, but that has to do with fluctuations in student enrollment and fluctuations and state aid in state aid. Um, the number locally to Richmond is 4.11%. And I would hope that when it gets to the town level, there will be some increase in revenue to help offset that as well. Of course, there's also an increase in town services. Um, but this school committee approved a a contract for the teachers with 3% increase in raises because they also work and they also work very hard, the teachers and
067staff in this district. We raised um the low the bottom wages the top the low lowest step for education support professionals from $16 to $20 and we filled all of our custodial custodial vacancies. So, at the same time that I can understand how it's difficult to um pay your taxes, it's also important to make investments in the students and staff that are also part of our community. Um so, I I appreciate you. >> So, would you would you vote for it? Is that something that you want? >> I think we'll have that discussion next week, but I voted to approve it last week. Um, and then you know the the meeting next week is when we'll discuss further action. Um, I can tell you myself, I've been through the budget. I've asked questions. I've had
068suggestions. Some of those have resulted in actions like a $20,000 rebate for an oil spill re remediation. We also raised preschool tuition to bring in some more revenue that way. Um, so there there have been actions taken by the school committee. >> Thank you. And I just need two other answers from Pat Pulot. >> She's not here. >> Oh, so there you go. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. [applause] Do you have another speaker? >> Ma'am, in the front. My name is Jennifer Sylvia from Hopington. Um, I love Cheroo. I graduated from here in 2002. I'm very happy to be sending both of my children here. The Chromebooks are a big concern of mine. Huge, huge concern. Um, I try to limit screen time at home and studies are now showing that. Unfortunately, I
069can't state any off the top of my head, but other countries are beginning to dial back the technology in schools. And I'm just wondering if we have done any long-term studies on the impact of how beneficial the Chromebooks are to the learning experience for our children. Again, I understand that it's important for the kids to be competitive in the world once they leave uh Cherokee and go on to be able to use computers in the in the world. Um, but I took a typing class. I took a keyboarding class when I was when I went to high school and I learned from a textbook and I really really do believe that our kids would be better served with much less screen time and I'm not sure that the Chromebooks are really helping them. Both of
070my kids struggle with attention. Some of that is for medical reasons, but I I truly believe that the Chromebooks are not helping our children. They come home and all they want to do is be on that stupid computer. >> They're on YouTube are they're losing their imaginations. They need more time in recess. They need more time to move, more time outside. That's what these kids need. And I really would implore the um the school committee to look at maybe reducing the amount of Chromebooks and technology and maybe that could be a cost savings. Thank you. >> Thank you ma'am. Uh, sorry, the green hat. >> How you doing? Uh, my name is Ralph Barice from Richmond. My wife told me I had to be nice, so I'm just going to mention one thing. Since uh
071the state of Rhode Island is designated as a sanctuary state, we won't be getting 5.5 billion dollars for the governor's budget. That's going to trickle down to all of us. We're going to be on the hook for it. >> Thank you, sir. Tom Aaron Richmond, thank you for this opportunity to express my thoughts. I'd like to thank all of you for your hard work, your time, your energy. You got a tough job, an important job, a complicated job, and you're up against all kinds of stuff. The 7.8 82% for Richmond should be clear as day. No way. No way. No way. You can't do that to our people. You can't do that. You got to find a way around that. Thank you, sir. Scott Sunderland from Hopington. The big question that nobody's asked, how much
072do we need to cut from the budget? What is the figure? Has anybody come up with that number yet? I I did ask Mr. Zenyan a question today about what potential reductions could be collectively to try to get um some of the member towns down to a more reasonable um level. And Greg, correct me if I'm if I'm wrong, but I believe you said that we would have to have at least 1 million in reductions to get to the 4% range. No, >> 1.5 million would get Richmond to 4.3%. >> 1.5 million. >> Yes, >> that that's a very big number. I don't think we'll be able to get to that number without really cutting back a lot of different things. I know um there's been rumbles about sports programs and other things for the
073kids that might might get cut. I would like to sit down with the policy committee and talk to them about doing advertisement for the sporting programs through the boosters through the char sports boosters and see what kind of money we can raise there. I I think you could raise anywhere from five I mean $50,000 to $100,000 to help with the sports program. I'm also going to go out there and say my contract with the with the with the school. I'll revert back to last year's prices to help save some money. It's not going to be a huge amount, but it's going to be something. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, I want I want that on record. And also, I'd like to see possibly I know contractual obligations. Larry had said it before about
074starting some cutting of the fat at the top. Maybe administrators pause their raises for a year and see what we can do. I know it's that's not going to be a popular decision, but I mean, if I can take money out of my pocket, maybe maybe the administration can take some money out of their pocket. Thank you. Thank you. Have another speaker Joan Kent from Richmond. I think you need to look back and see what you can cut, what you can consolidate, other areas where maybe alternatives getting help from other communities. People in business will donate to schools. Didn't Gates give a lot of uh computers to schools? Those are the avenues you can look at. But sustain this type of uh tax increase and the percentages for Richmond, we can't sustain that as a
075senior. that you want to force me to leave. I've thought about it. My sister lives in a rural community. Okay. Mostly farmers, very similar to this. She's probably about, I'd say, an hour and a half from Myrtle Beach. Know what her taxes are property? $300. And they have good schools. My sister works for CVS. They have lighting. They have good roads. So I don't understand where we can't look at coming to together and looking at every possible alternative avenue to reduce our taxes, get some gifts given to the schools to sports as this gentleman spoke to before. But I don't see where we can sustain us as a taxpayer. I really don't. >> Thank you very much. I know you work hard. >> Thank you. Do you have another speaker? I might be double dipping,
076but I didn't take up as much time as Mr. McKendle did. Okay. I didn't realize that we could ask questions of this committee >> now. >> So, you can ask questions. The committee is not required to respond. >> Sure. Well, that that wasn't stated beforehand, okay? So, I would have had plenty of questions. I wouldn't have wasted my two minutes, >> okay? Because I could have gotten answers out of their mouth. But anyway, make a long story short. >> Mr. Mckendle, did you did you not >> uh Steve, you have to >> I'm not digressing. Mr. Mckendle last year donated $3,600 to the forgotten taxpayers. And in turn, Miss Densmore, who was on the board of the Charo Rotary, suggested that he received out of order right now. >> This is This is not Mr.
077McKendle is not on trial here. That is so inappropriate. >> No, >> Steve and Alex, please. This doesn't relate to the FY27 budget. >> So, so this is the person that's been harassing my special needs son. So, thank you everybody. Steve, >> please don't be down. >> Okay. Do we have a public comment that relates to the FY27 budget? Steve, >> order. >> Please sit down. >> Thank god you didn't get appointed. >> Enough. >> Mr. Moffett, please. Motion to adjurnn. >> Mr. Moffet, please sit down. >> Yes, I do. >> Does that change anything? >> Come on. Get control. >> Get control of the meeting. Have him be removed. >> Ma'am, you have a comment, please. She wants >> Mary, please. >> She's been waiting waiting. Goldie, >> I'll let you go and then
078I'll I'll go. I was debating whether or not to come up here, but I feel like um we need to end on some positive thinking here because it seems like we're getting to the end of this. >> It is hard for me to listen to concerns and complaints of >> I'm sorry. Could you state your name in town, please? >> Oh, sorry. Mary Mason Richmond. >> Thank you. It's hard for me to listen to concerns and complaints of those who only tune into the budget during the budget season because you have to be present and listen to discourse at the monthly meetings to fully understand what impacts the budget and perhaps the member towns now need to have a liaison who can attend meetings and report back to them. It's important to keep in mind
079that the recent audit found Cheraho's fiscal practices are sound, transparent, and responsibly managed. Thank you, Mr. Zen and your team. Um, excuse me. Um, and on RID's dashboard, Chero has repeatedly shown it delivers strong outcomes and a high return on investment. This is good news for us and we should be celebrating that because our money is being well spent. But there are variables that affect the district and by extension the member town such as problematic state funding formula, transportation, special education, the economy, especially because we live in the northeast. The south doesn't have to plow snow, ongoing repair of failing infrastructure, the ripple effect of past budgetary decisions and new decisions made by this current committee, as well as unfunded and underfunded state mandates. They're all big ticket items and sadly there are those who
080present their strong opinions about the numbers they see without putting forth enough effort to understand how the numbers came to be. And those fingerpointed pointers have directed their anger and frustration at the wrong entity. Miss Bard has repeatedly and publicly asked for help advocating at the state house for state funding. A true collaborative effort between the district and all three towns. and who has stepped up to that challenge. Last month, a lot of time was spent discussing the merits and misunderstandings of the one pager. Redirect that energy to championing the needs of the district at the state level. They're already getting grants. They're already doing all that stuff. We need something else that takes all of us as a community to achieve. Um a 2.25% 25% fund balance that equates to 2.1 million. That's the
081last figure I had. I'm sorry that's if that's wrong. It's not going to last. Level funding is not an answer. Nobody likes to pay taxes. Nobody even wants them increased, of course. But it's either that or this committee has some very hard decisions to make. And when it does make those hard decisions, it needs to own them and not go back to their member towns and undermine their budget processes. Unless the goal, of course, is to create structural deficit. That's a whole other ball of wax. We're doing good things. Our money is being spent well. We need to step up, too. >> Thank you. >> Mr. Williams is you have a comment on the FY27 budget. >> You say all kids all the time. Not not in the extreme. Kids don't get services they need.
082Even if they have a IEP or 504 that gets taken away from them, what should be cut is maybe your salary. Um, Mrs. Bard and Mr. Zen. Thank you. All right, >> sir. >> We're here to talk. >> Mark Ray John Richmond. I just want to say um I retired recently and I'm on a fixed budget. So is my wife. I have medical issues from being in the Navy. So, I'm not open book. I'm not I'm not an open bank. If you want to cut something, look at the transportation. You have people driving their kids to school. I see buses go over my house that are half empty. Why aren't they full? So, there's one way of saving money. Another thing, in the south, I lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia for 28 years, and we
083do plow the streets down there. And when it snows, they cut down the schools. They're out for a week or so. So they do stuff in the south better than here. Thank you, sir. >> Okay, I see no other hands. All right, thank you. Moving on to the next next agenda item. Uh the next item is whether is shall there be established a regional school district building committee which shall be charged with the responsibilities and authorities described in sections 2A through sections 2E on the warrant. Do we have a motion for this item? We have a motion and a second. Are there any questions about this item comments? Okay. All in favor? All opposed. Thank you. The eyes have it. The next item on the agenda. Shall the budget of the Cheraho Regional School District
084for the 2025 2026 fiscal year be adjusted as to allow the transfer of funds in the amount of $15,000 from the capital fund balance for the purposes of providing funds in set amount to the regional school district building committee which funds it to be used by said building committee at its discretion for necessary and proper expendites. It may incur an incur carrying out said building committee responsibilities as charged by action of the voters of this regional school district assembled in a regional school district meeting. Provided however that such funds which are not expended by this building committee shall be returned to the general fund of the Cheraho Regional School District. >> So move second. >> All in favor? Oh, I'm sorry. Are there any questions? All in favor? All opposed? The last item, uh, shall
085the budget of the Cherhaho Regional School District for the 2025 2026 fiscal year be adjusted as to allow the transfer of funds in the amount of $100,000 from the capital fund balance for the purposes of providing funds in set amount to the regional school district building committee if needed exclusive exclusively for use as a refundable deposit for acquisition of real property for a unified elementary school serving the towns of Charletown, Richmond, and Hopkin to be refunded if A, the act of a general assembly authorizing issuance of bond for the unified elementary school district is not approved by the electors of the regional school district or B if the purchase and sale agreement for the real property is canceled in accordance with the terms of the purchase and sale agreement. Provided, however, that such funds which
086are not expended by the building committee shall be returned to the general fund of this Cheroo Regional School District. So move. >> Any questions? All in favor? >> All opposed. Oh, ma'am. >> Jennifer Sylvia from Hopkington. Are you saying that the deposit would be refunded if the general assembly does not approve? I if the if the bond is not approved by the voters in the the town referendum then the the money would be returned. Is that correct? >> I'll defer to you. >> Okay. >> You were just talking so fast. I was >> No, I appreciate that. Yeah. >> Um so yes, it basically saying that we would not use the money if the we're not using the property. >> Okay. Uh the eyes have it from the vote. This concludes the agenda of the
087topic. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> A second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> Any opposed? >> Thank you very much for coming out tonight. Thank you for sticking around uh so we can complete the meeting. We appreciate it.