in the order of the agenda just so folks understand I believe most people here are interested in the budget which I am as well but we've got a few things to do beforehand one of which is to rise to the Pledge of Allegiance
please I pledge Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you uh pursuing to um school
committee uh policies and uh procedures uh we have a 12-minute uh public comment period for uh folks from the district um just please come up identify yourself in uh by name and your address for the
record and you've got uh no more than 3 minutes and this is going to be open for 12 minutes so um anyone would like to speak right now make your way up to the podium [Applause]
please I'd also like to note as we have people moving up to the podium that we are being recorded and streamed live on YouTube and it can be watched on the bridgew rain uh channel uh for for those
purposes and do I see anyone coming up I thought I did but apparently not all right going for a third and last time all right uh we'll close public comment then thank you um moving on to
the consent agenda we have approval of minutes uh dated February 26th and March 12th approval of general ledger warrants which is all the general expenses we have for March 16 uh March 6 and March
20 acceptance of gifts and we always want to highlight these for folks uh Bridgewater Education Foundation which had a great Gala as I've heard uh unfortunately we were out of town for that uh building critical thinking to
Bridgewater Middle School in the sum of about $6,000 just shy and then two grants uh a grant to um a grant to uh stem with robotics at RMS for
3700 lifelong Fitness and Wellness to RMS for 2200 uh working out to almost that same $6,000 uh see thy words at uh Bridgewater rham Regional High School for almost $4,000 the total awarded was just shy of
$16,000 so that's awesome and we thank them very much we'd also like to thank crystol County County Savings Bank for donation to our Wellness Fair of $500 we'll also be approving the Personnel report and then uh a
declaration of surplus around some old library books that are kind of tattered and worn some it Surplus that is out of broken and then uh other Surplus uh furniture and Equipment facilities has
deemed unusable uh I will note that the budget subcommittee did in fact review all these uh Surplus items and found that they were in fact unnecessary to donate so is there a motion to um approve the
consent agenda so move made by Mr dearo second by Mrs King all those in favor say I I opposed it's unanimous thank you um all right moving on to correspondence and
recognition uh really um correspondence if anyone can guess was about the budget multiple emails uh supporting the budget uh asking questions about the budget looking for more information about the budget um and and we've tried to keep
everybody as up to date as possible as I've told everyone I've been able to respond to and I hope I responded to everybody it's a very fluid situation it's fluid even into tonight so we're uh we're trying to stay on top of it but
you know um we don't all have the uh all have the answers so uh that said we'll move on to recognition of the Bridgewater Rainham uh Regional High School wrestling team and Coach farell Mr Powers would you like to intr
sure thank you so much uh yes uh we're very excited tonight to host our high school wrestling team uh they've had quite the season uh it's not their first uh successful season uh they've actually had uh quite the run the last few years uh but I know they've racked up quite quite a few postseason Awards and so
we're excited tonight to uh invite coach farell down to say a few words uh share some of the team accomplishments and we'd love to have the wrestlers come up and uh greet the school committee
[Applause] can everyone hear me yes um I just want to thank Mr poers and Mr uh Timothy fitzg for having us here tonight um we really appreciate everyone
uh your support has been tremendous this year and um just wanted to say that um this season our student athletes compiled was probably the best wrestling season be I had seen in about 15 years um we went 23 and four as a dual meet
Team um we also won three tournaments that were over 50 plus points uh which was the Wayland Holiday Tournament the marfield holiday tournament and then we won division 2 South sectional tournament by about 94 points which is
awesome um the boys also plays second at D2 states which haven't been done in a while seventh at all states and then 10th at new englands uh 10th at new englands was the first that been done since 2018 um we also have the girls wrestling
as well where they took third at States and seventh at all states I mean uh seventh at new englands um we're just super proud of everyone on the team it's a special group of kids your support hasn't been done without that so we really thank anyone for coming out
supporting us this season and we're looking for into the future and I'd just like to before you end Mr frell I want to turn it over to Mr de Marino because he was on one of the best wrestling teams I think PR's ever seen Mr
Deo congratulations I didn't have much of a wrestling career Le Bean kind of beat the crap out of me every single practice so uh congratulations but um yeah we're just looking forward to having everyone uh support for the next uh future coming up
soone any you guys want to come up and talk as well any [Music] sen thank you guys again we really appreciate it the come up
[Applause] singers they all have nice they very all right thank you thank you uh moving on to educational report
student advisory Council report m g thank you Mr chairman um I would like to bring to the stand um the student advisory Council um Miss Rachel Cory good evening school committee tonight I will be speaking on a new event that Ur
a PR as well as a great accomplishment by W of V clubs uh the senior class officers Cole briges Molly fza Hannah buman and myself l a bors event on St Patrick's Day this event was a game that all students and staff at the um the rules were as follows you can buy
as many necklaces as you like and then play Rock Paper Scissors through the day with someone else that has necklace and then the winner takes all the necklaces that the other person has at the end of the day we took a group of students that had the largest number of necklaces and had them do rock paper scissors battle
to find out who our champion um Junior Kaden Blake came out Victor over 100 beads got a $100 gift card of his choice to chip as a price this was such a fun event that the senior class office hopes will become a br tradition um also the
DEA Business Club competed at the state competition in Cort Bost we brought our nine District qualifiers my friend Selena georgis competed in quick surve Management in placed fifth in the state I competed in personal financial literacy in placed first in the state we
both came out Victorious and now qualified to attend the international competition in Orlando Florida we will both go to ICDC from April 20th to and it will truly be an amazing time where we will get to meet Deca members from across the globe and engage in ICBC Deca traditions we will get Deca night
at Universal Studios where the entire park is going to get shut down just for and so wish Selena and I luck as we compete against the best of the best I hope you all have a wonderful night and I know good evening everyone um I would like to
share a recent win for the winter Color Guard program at uh the high school they placed first at the New Bedford Color Guard competition an award they have not received in years they are off to Color Guard finals this Saturday in SAA Massachusetts to finish off their very successful season the next event I would
like to speak on is Mr V which is sponsored by fogra there were 10 contestants Noah Perry Lewis Colin Fitz Simmons Mason Payton te Hamlet jce penard Owen King desan Hulk Brady maton Matthew Holton and myself there was the
boys dance to kick off the night the funware section the talent portion then form aware dance in the procession to finish it off for the form aware section tuex toown by Bano is generous each year to let the boys wear his fabulous suits and show off his dedication to his his
business the winner of Mr Congeniality was Noah Perry Lewis best funwear was Owen K dressed up as a br cheerleader best talent was Mason pton and Jay penard with a Duo choreograph dance on roller blades and inspired jumpsuits
best former Weare was DeShaun pulk in an all black suit and the runner up of the event was Colin Fitz Simmons and the winner of VR was myself [Applause]
I'm very proud of this win but most of all working with the other contestants and members of phob was so incredibly fun to put on such a great show thank you so much and I would like to welcome Sophia to the [Applause]
stand good evening I'm sorry for being late if you run in no you did not I walked um good evening Mr chairman School Comm depend powers and audience I hope you all well this evening today I'll be speaking to you about updates
from TJ squ robotics um and robotics team here at our school we recently completed in our two District event and while we did not win we ended as finalist at both um and we were not only did we go very far as getting second we were also honored with prestigious
awards at both which is not something we always get so we were very very proud of this fact at our first competition we were awarded the Jud award meaning that while we did not get a specific category of awards we deserve recognition despite that they found something within our team which I will not able to find the
answer to what but they found something in our team um that they found deserved recognition and honor so we were given a banner and new award at a second competition that we went to we were also bestowed the team spirit award this
award declares that we have the most enthusiasm and teamwork I like to think it's also because of our we are obnoxious with it um though through all of our hard work we have become eligible to participate in the New England District championships and as of
yesterday the day before we actually were accepted so I can now say at the time when I wrote my report that we are going we're very thrilled and we are very excited B our drive I would love to see any of you there and I would love to introduce you to the world of Robotics
so if you do come come find me we'll be the as I said obnoxious tie-dye people um the only condition if you have to wear it we have bandanas with us thank you and I now introduce Kayla to the
[Applause] stand good evening on March 6 Miss Waton and myself went Middle School to read drs's owe the Places You'll Go to the e8th grade class as part of read Across America week we
also answered some questions that students have prepared for us giving them an insight into what it's like being a student at the high school it was great to go back to my old school and give advice to a group that I was once a part of and see students eager to know more about their future environment additionally students at the
high school recently completed their course selection for the next year freshman completed theirs at the beginning of sophomores chose theirs mid-march and Junior final theirs last week there was also an opportunity for students to college fair hosted by V
guidance during the school day today colleges have Representatives at tables answering any questions that the students may have and pass out fers about their scho these were great opportunities for students to discover where they might attend someday thank
you and I welcome to the stand good evening on March on Monday March 24th the Culture Club and student council started this hallway decoration contest the first FL theme is you girl girl the second FL is to handle and the
third is you do it's our hope that this contest will make the Halls a little more interesting during this time of hway will be on another note the sophomore student council is planning a fundraiser for even collecting gift
cards and Bas andn will and is King anything further uh just one thing Mr chairman um I do want to thank the student advisory Council for being here um and as you heard from report um
I'm always so excited at how many accolades they received um these students give their report every month um there's so involved at so many activities and everything they're involved in they're winning awards they're out there in the community they're participating so I really want
to thank them for doing that um and I also wanted to note um I did sign them up um the student advisory Council myself and Mrs curlyy their adviser are going to be going to the day on the hill um which is put on by masc on May 6 um
so they have a whole day um about different things and how to Advocate with your legislators and I set up a couple of appointments with um Senator Doney with that duner rather with them as well as um representative Galler so that should be a great field Tri for
them and that concludes my report thank you very much Mr K um moving on in under educational reports mcast report Mr Po good evening I did want to provide just a quick update on mcast and then obviously I know I'll stay up here for
the read collaborative update um really not much on in the way of mcast I just wanted to clarify because we have started the assessment season uh you know when the voters uh voted to remove the competency determination as part of incast uh in November at the elections
that did not uh they did not vote uh to do away with mcast just to remove the determination so I just wanted to clarify uh districts are still required to administer mcast uh We've obviously started here at the high school and we'll continue on throughout the spring uh and those results will be used um for
our accountability ratings that the department puts out um so we you know we have sent correspondents out to families uh just encouraging them to make sure that you know the students are taking it seriously I know our schools are having those conversations as well uh because you know they still will have an impact
on the district in terms of Weare rated going forward and so we just wanted to stress uh the importance of that we obviously are developing local competency determination requirements that was part of the law that the responsibility is now back on the district um pleased to say that you know
the state is making some progress it seems as though that they may go back to establishing some type of Statewide uh requirements but more to come on that it may or may not happen but they put out some initial correspondence uh we have internally developed a competency determination for the short uh short
term um and I'm pleased to say that uh any of the students in the class of 20125 that hadn't pass their mcaps uh would they either show proficiency uh enough to earn their confiden termination um or we have a couple students that U you know are alternative
path um then we'll look ahead to the class of 26 uh and then beyond uh hopefully by then we get some additional guidance from the department but again just to clarify because I know question came off about whether or not mcast is going away mcast is is here to stay just the only thing that changes is the
competency determination question questions for Mr poers see none thank you Mr Powers for that report and as you said why not stay up there for Reed's collaborative update please thank you uh I did share this information with the budget sub and just
wanted to share with the full school committee as well uh Reed's collaborative one of our local uh special education collaboratives that some of our students do attend and and receive Services through uh are in the process of potentially purchasing building for their deaf and hot of hearing program uh that program is
currently housed over at uh within the Norton Public Schools um Norton unfortunately is running out of space and so they're not sure um long term if they're going to be able to House the full dep hot of hearing program um and so Reeds has reached out to their other
local govern districts seeing if there was any space uh certainly tried to accommodate I know other districts did as well you know potentially a classroom here or classroom there but not able to House the full Def and H ofing program so that that has prompted them to look
to either lease or purchase of space uh they are right now pursuing uh the purchase over lease um and obviously uh the cost of that purchase will be potentially assess back to the districts that are sending students to the deing
program which we currently do uh we do have a new staff member uh this year teacher of the de and hon hearing so a lot of the services that we were using reads for uh We've now been able to start to provide in the house uh so that assessment may not necessarily be added
to us if the boat goes through I know a lot of member districts have concerns about absorbing that cost for a new building um it looks as though that potentially right now with obviously um you know executing the the s it could potentially be an additional
$30,000 uh that we would be assessed um obviously much like other superintendents of expressed concern obviously Express concern to the budget sub uh we'll have to vote U when I say me meaning the superintendent that make up the board uh at reads I'm not sure how that vote is going to go because I
know a lot a lot of other superintendents have concerns about the district taking on that uh car cost that wouldn't mean that the dein out of hearing program would be dissolved it just wouldn't NE be able to be housed under uh one location like it is now so
it's not as though those Services would be going away uh if the purchase did not go through but obviously more to come on that but I just want to provide you a quick update because I do know that is a conversation questions on reads it sounds like no action is needed
at no questions on reads thank you very much Mr Powers okay down to the main event of the evening here um budget subcommittee report from Miss King before we get going on that I just want
to say a few things um everybody up here at this table everybody in the audience our friends from the uh Bridgewater Town Council I thought I saw Bridgewater finance committee member or two in here
I'm not sure I see a rham uh uh selectman at rham finance committee members I see Mr Barnes the Town Administrator over there in rham and I'm sorry if I missed anybody else it's a big room and my classes don't work very
well I apologize so anyway everyone here wants what's in the best interest of the district right and what we're trying to do is figure that out and it's a balance all the time because we we have other
parts of the town that need funding and so on and so forth and everyone's heard this before we had a public hearing and you know what when you do when you have a public hearing you do it to hear people and I believe the budget
subcommittee heard people at that public hearing uh the budget that M Kenya is going to propose and suggest came from the budget subcommittee unanimously and is significant larger than what was proposed two weeks ago
here um I'm sure there's still a lot of people who won't be happy with it as I said uh two weeks ago at this time uh I'm sure there'll be people here who are not happy because it's not enough I'm sure there are people here or watching
on TV who won't be happy because they think it's way too much um but I I truly believe everyone wants to do what's in the best interest of the district um and so with that with that hope in mind and that that thought in mind uh I Believe
Miss Kang has a slide presentation um thank you Mr chairman I have a quick update for Budget subcommittee okay um and then I will do I put together a very short slide deck just we sit out front U let me do my um
and then I'll let you know I have to turn on the slide okay um I did prepare a slide deck just because the budget did change significantly so so I wanted people to be able to see what changed what the reasoning was and what the impact of that was um so just quickly
the budget subcommittee met on March 18th 2025 at 5:30 in the superintendent's conference room um at that time we did have a base update um Miss oen updated budget sub as to the current status of the base revolving
accounts through February and Trends throughout the end of the fiscal year although the prek based and RX Cas we're still running in the red all other programs are trending to be in a positive by the end of the year um an estimated um positive
89,000 um Mr McCrae of Park and Rec has agreed to look into licensing and a space to absorb the armac program also starting the next fiscal year um so we will probably most likely be able to take the armac program offline there's only maybe about 10
students in that program right now so no action was taken but we did get an update and I did ask um the business office to give us a final update at the end of the fiscal year um to make sure that we were still trending and that we ended where we believ that we should be
um Mr Po is to give a reads collaborative update which he just gave but to the full committee right now um we did look over the Declaration of surplus of library books from the Mitchell Elementary uh which was approved by the consent agenda today um
we had a lengthy fiscal year 2026 budget discussion um wherein Mr fitzg updated the budget sub regarding the budget working group as well as his meeting with Senator Driscoll and representative Gallagher um we discussed any updates
that we had received regarding the budget regarding emails inperson meetings and meetings with officials from both towns as well as various scenarios of the budget and what in what each increase would mean regarding Staffing and class size we also discussed how much more we could
possibly potentially um contribute from end or reducing Capital um from the school committee as well as attempting to reduce any cost drivers such as transportation and special education costs Mr Powers gave the members of the budget subcommittee a draft of an FAQ to
put up budget information on the district website um to help the community keep updated on answers to questions they had been um sending us regarding different aspects of the budget process uh we approved the March 4th 2025 budget
subcommittee meeting minutes on March 24th 2025 the budget subcommittee met again at 5:30 in the superintendent conference room um we again had a lengthy discussion regarding the fiscal year 2026 budget um Mr Fitz gimons updated the budget sub regarding the
budget working group um and what they had um discussed at that time and going forward how that would work um the budget subcommittee discussed any updates they had received regarding the budget again from emails inperson meetings we had been going to and meetings with officials from both towns
again we looked at various scenarios and what level of extra funding we felt could make an impact on class size and special education we looked at specific ways to reduce cost drivers especially the transportation um health insurance and
special education Mr Powers updated the members regarding the FAQ he had previously presented um and budget documents which had been added to a tab on the district website for the community to access um we also discussed what impact an increased budget would
have regarding space and if it would be sustainable year-over-year as well regarding Staffing um regarding facilities used um as we assessed all departments for cost reductions and increasing Revenue Mr Po indicated that Mr Chaka had indicated
that he would like to bring forward the facility fees for review and a potential increase but sub pointed out that they had not been reviewed since 2019 and requested recommendations for our next budget meeting no other action was taken we did also approve a declaration of
surplus regarding facilities surplus of furniture and IT Supplies which again was in the consent agenda this evening uh we approved the March 18th 2025 budget subcommittee meeting minutes um finally at this time I would
like to present the fiscal year 2026 budget to be voted on and approved hopefully by the by this evening by the school committee um again I have a short slide presentation of the committee would like to move to the front Che
um so what has this budget subcommittee been doing since the March 12th of 20125 hearing um we did hold budget subcommittee meetings on March 18th and March 24th 2025 as I just stated um we had those two meetings um to discuss
various scenarios and also to work out um what different members have been having direct for meetings and telephone calls and emails regarding revisions to the bud budget um we did attend rham fincom meetings um budget working groups
meetings and emails with senators and representatives emails meetings and inperson discussions with community members parents and town officials um since March 12th we've taken all of the feedback from Community Town officials
other school committee members um and put this into this budget tonight what was taken into consideration we took the member input from the public hearing we do need a two3 vote we need at least six members
to vote and approve this budget so we did take their feedback um when we made these revisions we also need the town to approve the budget so we need both sides the input from the public hearing as well as emails telephone calls text
messages in-person meetings community members and town officials discussions regarding the status of the budget of each town will an increased budget be sustainable year-over year and how will this increased budget impact students directly if we increase this budget the
level Services budget we presented was not going to impact the students in a positive way it was simply turning the page so we didn't lose any staff but it was not going to positively impact our students um and this hopefully will
increase our per people spending was another talking point at the public hearing we are one of the lowest per people spending districts right now this will tentatively looking at the numbers it potentially would bring us up to 18 or 19,000 which is still much lower than
where we should be but we're hoping incrementally to bring us up where we need to be um so I did put the N the Thousand series budget up here just because things have changed so much regarding the level Services budget versus this
budget um to point this out this middle line um the proposed fiscal year 26 budget in that middle column um this is an increase the subtotal is now up to $16 million which is a $15 million
increase um we are the majority of that we did put more to the instructional Services which is teaching and staff again that also affects our fixed costs because now we also have to add in health insurance
costs and that would be operational budget a 17% in increase and overall 15.45% increase this is the total fiscal year budget I do have slides for each town as well the total budget of Bridgewater
assessment capital and debt 45 million to Bridgewater for their assessment which is a 19.44% increase Rainham assessment capital in debt 26 million which is a 19.24% increase
overall adding in capital and state aid Etc it is $11 million which is overall a 15.45% increase if we remember the level Services budget was I think maybe a 133%
total overall budget however the original budget the towns were presenting that they could fund easily was only a 3% and a 4% increase um this is the breakdown by member town for Bridgewater with their assessments
capital and debt which overall is a 19.44% toan and rum assessment 2.76% total overall 19.24% [Music] that we could reduce any Capital that
was not critical if they wanted to divert those funds towards the operational budget um so that was an option as well that we did speak to the towns regarding so what is the impact of this budget versus the previous level Services
budget class size will be a priority in this fiscal year 26 regarding Staffing decisions limitations of class impact numbers based on our current enrollment moving up to the next grade U which is 35 students more since October 1st if we
look at the data every year year-over-year for the past several years we have added a net of 100 students at this point right now in the year we are up 35 students um this also does not factor in any students moving in or out of the
district for the rest of the year or kindergarten registration which is ongoing until school starts um at this point we have low kindergarten registration but we cannot anticipate how many students will move in um so this is fluid as enrollment
needs of the students may change and we may have to reallocate um this is all basing on the numbers we have now if we have students move into the district at a particular grade or part of the district that will change those numbers classroom size impact with
average class sizes um we did it by grade level on each side of the district um as it stands now without any additional staff if we did the level services for kindergarten um we're anticipating about
37 extra additional Staffing give or take depending how this works out um using that staff right now the numbers would be decreased or stay the same as needed for kindergarten we anticipating on the Bridgewater side to bring that
down to 24 um not anticipating to take put any additional on the braem side as kindergarten is anticipated to stay at 21 based on current enrollment um for grade one in Bridgewater we're currently at 26 um adding teachers we're
anticipating to put that down to 24 and Rainham we're currently at 24 anticipating um going down to 21 by adding the teacher that we did not fill last year when I'm done Mr coward I believe also has more specific where he
was looking to add um grade two 31 in Bridgewater anticipated going down to 25 and ringham staying at 24 for grade two in grade three in Bridgewater 25 to 23
and in Rainham 27 to 23 grade four at 30 um going down to 25 and rham 30 going down to 23 in fifth grade Bridgewater 29 to 26 in Rainham 27 to 23 grade 6 28 to
25 and Rainham 28 to 24 grade 7 28 to 26 Rainham 25 and staying at 25 grade eight in Bridgewater 28 going down to 26 and in Rainham staying at 26 again this is
fluid it's based on current enrollment moving up to the next grade um laterally not laterally rather moving up um resources and Staffing may be reallocated based on future enrollments and needs of the students District impact so the
potential increase of this budget is up to 37 Staffing positions which would mean classroom teachers at the K through 4 level where it would make the most impact classroom teachers at the middle school level adding in teams that are missing right now unified Arts teachers
at the K through 8 um for this reason if we're adding teachers at the K through a level we need unified Arts teachers because those teachers need prep time so they need someone to be with those students at that time um electives at
the high school restored or expanded the high school I believe is right now is down six teachers it's hard to do class size at the high school because GR 9 through 12 are very different there's AP classes there's General um Gym classes
there's a lot of different classes but they are down Main English social studies science classes um and business as well which is very popular and I know they're down one business teacher so adding those back in So Mrs Watson can
have a better schedule and offerings for her students um also something that we've talked a lot about is special education positions to remain in compliance um this is also a big cost driver to the district when we are out of compliance this costs the district money and it hurts our students that are
not receiving the services that they deserve and need in a timely manner so we also need to look at where we need special education um positions to remain in compliance for those students um this would also fill retirements um we currently have 16
positions this year that are currently set to retire um so it would keep those filled um if we recall last year we were down 24 positions um all but four of those were retirements that we did not fill and four were layoffs that we did
not call back I think that's the last so if the committee wants to come back um we can answer questions and Mr Po stilles have more specific gu to Staffing than he was thinking okay thank you Mr King for that
presentation um are there any questions from the school committee first about the budget Mrs King presented through Mrs king or through the superint M congr Le uh my question is hypothetical if we pass this budget
tonight and then it goes to the towns and the towns need to submit potentially for an override and if that override does not pass pass what happens at that point I'll I'll take that one
so the the the hope would be the expectation I should say is um in May the Bridgewater Town Council has first shot at appropriating the money that we've requested uh on May 9th I believe
and and then uh the Rainham town meeting a week or two after that and to appropriate the money if they don't appropriate the money or they decide to put a different number in the budget then we have a real big
problem uh if they appropriate the money and then call for an override vote which I would anticipate would be in June sometime I believe uh the two towns are going to collaborate on when that might
be um and then the vote passes were good we have the budget we want if we don't we don't have a budget yet so at that point um we um we we we we don't have a
budget and so we will end up going into July essentially on a 112's budget and I know the superintendent talked with desie about what 112's budget really means and if you'd like to elaborate on what that would be sure I I mean
essentially in simple terms uh we're using f year 25 uh and dividing it by 12 um it is designed to be a short-term budget um not something that is uh sustainable long term but it does allow the district to uh pay as pay its bills
and expenses uh as we continue to work with the towns there are you know some other nuances obviously the state will come in and determine really what that final number is that uh is driven by the uh that drives the budget for the 112 uh it does take into consideration
the FY 26 Revenue that we would get in terms of Chapter 70 chapter 71 so there are some new dollars applied to the FY 25 budget uh but so the the budget could potentially increase because that increase funding uh but it's certainly
not going to go up significantly so it's essentially the FY 25 budget divided by 12 with some additional revenues built in and then and then the school committee would have to reconvene to have a meeting to send back
to the towns to say um okay we don't have a budget here's the budget we'd like you to approve and again it would have to be appropriated and if necessary although you know that's that's a town decision
have another override Vote or just say you know this is what it's going this is what it's going to be this is what you told us we can afford I believe M Davenport might have a couple of thoughts on that maybe I don't know you want to save them for later I was going to sa okay she's going to save them for
later that's fine um so that that's what happen does that make sense yeah no thank you okay other questions for Miss king or the superintendent at that point all right I have a question oh sorry
M I didn't see it down there um so my don't work in addition to the slide deck um we were provided some additional information um to for this meeting and one of the um footnotes was that um
mentioned that increased costs associated with outfitting new classrooms where space allows can you speak a little bit more to that sure so that's certainly a concern for us when we talk about not just space but also Staffing Miss king um mentioned that this budget is
reflective up to 37 staff members um you know one of the things we want to make sure before we actually move forward with hiring 37 staff members is that we can sustain that Staffing level now obviously these numbers are were just coming to us uh as of Monday Night
depending on the vote of the school committee tonight uh we obviously may have to make some adjustments but I know the business office has been working on uh projections um to make sure that looking at our uh costs that we know are going to be going up uh contractual increases add additional staff could we
sustain uh those 37 positions uh and then obviously we need to look at costs associated with increasing staff and so you know if we're adding U new classrooms obviously we have classrooms that are the space is currently there uh but we may may need uh additional
resources for those classrooms so if we're adding uh 37 you know classroom teachers we're going to need 37 new teacher editions of whatever curriculum materials we're using so there there could be additional costs associated with um you know obviously bringing on
additional staff members um certainly you know right student has a the theory has a a seat so we'd be able to repurpose and and move furniture around but there will be some some cost associated with opening these classrooms that either once were closed
or once were open and have been closed or that we're going to repurpose in space to allow anything further m m I do okay and so when you mentioned the additional um materials uh the deta new detail budget
included 200,000 for curricular resources is that what is that speaking to the additional resources associated with the additional correct yes in you know anticipation of having to purchase new resources for those classrooms for
the the teachers so we we basically um you know when you looked at the increase from the public hearing budget to this evening it's approximately uh you know 3.6 million obiously a large portion of that is going to salaries we did have to
obviously set money aside for um health insurance and benefits in the event that any additional staff member does take advantage of our health insurance plans um but then we did set aside uh some funds in the facilities in operation and
obviously instructional areas just in case uh we needed to uh you know incur any expenses expenses getting those rooms uh up and running uh in terms of maintenance and operation uh obviously those rooms are not being used right now but they are
you know cleaned on a regular basis but obviously uh you know will not be cleaning them every night uh there may be work that needs to be done on the lighting um depending on you know what they have in those classrooms in terms of technology so there's there's all of those potential costs that
existes and and then m b if I may add to what the superintendent said and Miss King will correct me if I'm wrong um one of the things that's really important is when we say we're adding
staff right um not all staff are created the same uh as far as what their uh rate of pay is going to be the following year generally when you hire a new teacher uh they get they get the cost of living
increase that that is attached to moving a grid up a little bit uh each year but they also get a step raise as well so if we moved a grid up 1 2 3 4 5 6% whatever it is they get that but they also get
the step increase too so it may be you know 6 7 8 9 10 that that that particular teacher who was hired next year gets as their increase and so to be able to make sure we could balance that
over the long term and not create structural deficits which is really what we're facing right now and why we're in this position is we we we've created a structural deficit for ourselves um and so to not create structural deficits we
have to make sure we're very very cognizant of projected costs going into the future so that we can match expected revenues from the towns and the state to those projected costs and not go above
what those revenues are going to be because if we if we decide we can we we want to spend 5% a year but the towns can only afford three or three and a half% a year we can paper that over for a little bit and cut here and cut there
but at the end of the day you have to pay the piper so that I mean that's just my two cents did I say anything wrong Miss K uh M Conrad lto I just have one other question um Mr um Pow with the increase
in Staffing and you talked a little bit about the the like need to outfit classrooms and all of that kind of facility cost do we actually have the physical space in our because I know some of our schools are busting in the sces sure that's a great question we have the physical space so obviously you
know when you look at uh where we in Miss King's slid when we talked about class size and you saw certain grade levels uh going down uh or not going down at all um that was reflective of of a couple different things one already looking at what the class size average was projected to be and two U our
ability to have space to actually lower class size I will say this I think you know looking at the projections that Miss King shared with you uh that is using available space that we currently have that wouldn't necessarily uh Force
us to uh have to get Super Creative um you know having classes on in the St AG on in different areas uh it doesn't right now Force any of our unified Arts teachers onto carts U obviously we need to be mindful of the enrollment as it
currently is versus what it's actually going to be when we open in September and so again I I just I I say we always want to make sure that any position we add is sustainable but also you know these are projections based on enrollments as of today um and our
enrollment as Miss King you know has already gone up from October to now plus 35 and that's additional classroom rate there um we've gone up approximately 100 students every year so that the numbers that you saw this evening about class size average could look different uh
come September and you know that and so you know there will be some adjustments made to that chart those are simply just predictions as uh enrollment comes in over the summer and becomes more evident or even uh throughout the spring uh these will be adjusted so that you know
there may be some of the Upper Grade areas that we've made some movement that we may not be able to make any Movement we may have to as I said and as a slides that reallocate some of those resources to the low grades um again this is just reflective of looking at an individual grade level and an individual town we
know that come September or again you know we I say come September because that's when we're opening school but prior to that obviously it would happen we may still need to balance some of these numbers up we we you know realize that if we have some CL 25 and some classes 2021 we probably need to do some
balancing there but those numbers right now tonight are just reflective of the individual grade level in the individual Town um and again still some movement would would take place uh obviously if we you know start to see an increase in class size at the lower levels uh that
will present somewhat of a challenge in terms of finding space uh this is reflective of using uh as you know the Mitchell Elementary U was constructed with three addition CL level that would be utilizing all three of those extra classrooms which are currently being used right now or two of the three are
currently being used so that would require us to Now find spaces for those classrooms that are being used in other locations so it just it's now taking up uh you know future available space on the Rainham side we do have uh at Merl at least we didn't fill one position
going into this year so we do have available space there um we could repurpose some other classroom space there lot will be a little bit more of a challenge again that may start to impact unified Arts um depending on how many staff members we have there the Williams
rham Middle School Bridgewater Middle School they do have space if we were going to add a significant amount but obviously our primary rate now is really looking at the primary grades where we can and certainly the high school has the space if we're able to add additional staff along those lines and I
know Miss king um shared this but I just want to again point out a C other points about you know Staffing as much as we want every staff member to be um in a classroom teaching our core subjects uh we do have other needs and so when we
look at you you know uh special education we want to make sure all of our special education students are receiving not just a compliant education uh but a high quality education they're able to receive their services uh you know in an efficient
effective way okay uh that that is actually making a difference and so we are being mindful that you know of those 37 if that really is the magic number um a number of those will go to uh student services with special education and then the SCH did AUD you know as we start to
add classroom teachers um we will need to add unified Arts because our students have to have those same opportunities that the current students are having so we will need to add potentially music art PE and sub the element obvious
and Mr Powers if I may just follow up on that um it's really I and I'm really getting to the philosophy of how you're going to approach this not the exact numbers or Etc is lower elementary class
sizes and ensure special education is funded appropriately and then fill in where we can that that's that's the philosophy that you're approaching it with corre and with the with the money you have as things evolve you'll figure
out where to deploy the resources thank you other questions miss m let my go oh m l I'm sorry I missed you my bad no worries uh so uh
superintendent just similar to my question in last meeting um are you confident in this budget that we'll start to be able to address and make some progress on some of the issues that have really become systematically problematic for the district in the areas of special education and class size I I am I mean obviously we're able
to increase uh up to 37 staff members as I just mentioned that you know a portion of that that number would be directed toward student services special education um you know we could certainly use 37 additional staff members and student services but uh being mindful of
what we would be able to allocate I am confident that it would address the needs and start to lower um case loads class size all within the special education okay m m um I from the presentation that Mrs k
um shared it it it mentioned that 2 million will be transferred possibly from that will be the district's contribution to the budget uh correct and that number has been the same throughout so it's not an additional $2 million in this budget it's the same 2
million that we've talked about yes what would be the once that transfer is uh 2 2.2 so once we transfer this two if it goes through with the vote we'll have 2.5 because we
anticipate putting additional money in at the end of this year as well so being able to use that what we put in taking out that 2 million 2.2 so just don't I'm sorry M can I follow up on that just because it's a be in my Bonet
sometimes then that we we we keep rolling over money from me and D year after year so it's really almost not e and D it's money that we saved this year because we know we're going to have to
spend it next year we end is meant to be a a quote unquote emergency savings fund you know and something goes bad we need it if a boiler goes if something goes that's what we're going to look first
because the budget is the budget and so I I'm I'd really like to wean us off that 2 million doll myself uh every year uh I understand it is what it is at this point in time but you know that's just my two cents on that one and that's
helpful because you know for every year that I've been here two years i' I've asked that the spending being reflected on these presentations and you're you mentioned again here that we periodically um or every year we're rolling over this 2
million what gets in the way of reflecting the spending when you're presenting in in this format and putting it on um a presentation we we show what we've asked for we showed what we've received year after year the historical
data what gets in the way of showing in the same format the spending from one year historic in terms of being D or just spending in general in general when we're looking at a budget I'm I'm accustomed to looking at the historic and having that inform the pro um and
I've been asking about making sure that when we're presenting it especially to the community that we also show show the historic spending last meeting I was here great idea y we'll look into that but again the presentation doesn't show spending I have to go through the
summary um the the budget summaries and and tally this up on my own um so I just want to I don't want to be insensitive to and keep making that request I'm just wondering what gets in the way of presenting the historical spending when
we're looking at the Historical ask and award uh well I think when we were preparing any type of presentation we try to take a feedback of all of the school committee and and present a you know presentation that uh if and when we can is reflective of that uh if it's not
it's we've already factored in spending Trends in in other areas obviously we're looking at spending when we're developing our budgets uh it I'm a little confused Miss man and I I just I'm I'm confused myself and I think I
understand what you're asking I think it makes a lot of sense is okay you know we said we we we set a budget of call it $90 million and we actually spent 88 or whatever but that that might be that
that's one side of the equation the other side of the equation that we need to look at is we assumed certain revenues and maybe certain revenues were higher but I think what you're looking for is like an actual to budget type of a report at the end of the year to say
you know okay we assume this much revenue and this much expense and now we've got you know we had this much revenue and this much expense so we were able to throw whatever into is that what you're kind of looking for yes and I know we have information that you know
maybe not in a concise way I did ask for that uh form over the the summer received it but when I tried to tally it up and and tie it to other information it didn't tie in but it's more so for the public as well right if we successfully advocated for this budget
increase I think it's just respectful to also show what our spending and how it's been spent okay yeah no that that makes perfect sense we can talk about it you know and uh I'll certainly touch base with you offline about the format you might like it and maybe hopefully we can
get that you know before our next meeting or within the next week or so for everybody because I think it is very helpful to understand actual versus expected and you know and where did where where did we where were we under
clubbing sometimes we under Club deliberately did we over Club you know like for example special education we're always chasing that ball but we know we have the circuit breaker M coming so you know ex you know just have all those
moving Pieces come together in one document yeah it's just a holistic story yeah yeah thank you thank you other questions Mr de thank you Mr chair M uh Mr Powers a minute ago you
had stated that uh based on Mr Lo's uh question that you're confident with what is proposed looking at your proposed preliminary budget back on January 29th has your opinion changed because in that
presentation you had indicated that the 109 and change was what we need and what the students deserve so if you could just clarify you know your stance sure great question uh absolutely I I will still stand by uh Mr Marino that that
109 is reflective of that 100% I think it uh provided obviously additional staff in in these areas to even further reduce case loads further reduce class size uh it added uh educational support professionals to assist as well um it
also added additional related service providers um and and when I say you know add an additional not just one which we might be able to do here it could be multiple um it also added uh obviously we about this uh in link before uh it
added a special education administrator to help obviously with our compliance and oversee our programming as we add more staff we obviously have to add more supervision uh and it also provided for um Team shairs uh which would help facilitate the I team process um so
taking again some of the responsibilities off the special Educators uh the school psychologist and staff um relieving them of those particular duties so that they could spend more time with our students you know unfortunately not having those
stent chairs they'll still continue to have to you know assume those responsibilities so that 109 budget was reflective of again trying to ease some of that burden uh making sure that um you know we did have additional staff
where and when appropriate uh but to your question uh the number of Staff right now that we have rejected Services I am confident that that it will have a positive impact thank you thank you other
questions m k i just sorry um I just W to somewhat comment to Mr Dan Marino I know obviously Mr power's budget his first one that he presented in January is the ideal budget um it would make the
district going forward exactly where we need to be um the budget sub has struggled L with listening to this feedback and presenting a budget that is making a positive impact in students with special education class room size
offerings but also knowing that even my level Services budget they could not afford the towns today's budget with a 177% increase they definitely cannot afford this will have to go to an override so when we thought about an override and
what impact that would have to the towns and their budet budgets and would the town's people of Bridgewater and Rainham support that we tried to be mindful of keeping this figure to something that a taxpayer could agree to and also see a benefit is it going to positively impact
their students what are they getting for the tax increase the level Services budget would still need an override and they would not be getting anything back they wouldn't see any difference I think this budget they would see lower class sizes they would see more offerings they
would see the special education offerings and supports that we need and so they would be getting something back for their increase taxes and I'm hoping that the town's people would support that so that was our thinking with this number without going too high that if we
get over $1,000 would taxpayers be able to afford that um and I don't know if they could we tried to keep it at a number where we were making a positive impact but also being mindful of the towns thank you Miss k
um any other questions for the superintendent um will regardless of which budget passes will an audit still be be done by Department to ensure efficiency that will happen regardless
uh well we have there that takes place every year so we have that we have external audit recommend yeah I'm not talking about audit I'm talking about efficiency like departments going over making sure that um the vendors that they've selected have gone out to viid
we have the best prices and all those things that's a little bit different than are you talking about an operational audit M instead of a financial audit correct yeah and that that I think we're estimating around
$100,000 or more and uh you know I'd certainly advocate for that you know as as something that you know would be appropriate so you know if you're asking people for a whole bunch of money you probably want to assure them that we're running the most efficient ship
possible and if even if we can't afford um a third party to do that um heads of departments can can certainly do that sure is that a commitment that I think they do that anyways but they will continue to do that yes all right
uh further questions for the superintendent all right see none one's going twice all right thank you uh Mr Powers um M King the floor is yours for any motions you'd like to
make thank you Mr chairman um pursuant to this Mass statute these motions have to be separate for each thing that we're appropriating um so it will be a series of four separate motions um the first motion would be to
approve the transfer of $2 million from The District's andd fund to support the fiscal year 2026 budget is there a second second second by Miss Conrad lento M any further discussion no we did have a lot of
discussion on this amount and Miss babola confirm that she feels comfortable with that number M Conrad Alberto any further discussion any other discussion I would just note that this is not the budget this is just the school committee's contribution to
whatever we're going to spend next year okay so that that's what this motion is want to make sure everyone in the audience is clear about that make sure everybody at home is clear about that make sure everyone on
the is clear about that so we're all clear right yeah just I have a question yes um um what factors or data went into being comfortable with that number just want to get some insight to feeling com like what
that means it it it essentially and Miss K again will correct me if I'm wrong um and is that that's the number we have done historically uh in the last few years put into the budget I know
historically before that it was much smaller um and it looks as if we're trending to a positive number on end for this year so that it would be again available for that rollover which we were just talking about earlier um and
that's that's why I think everyone on the budget subcommittee felt so just want to make sure understand the subcommittee felt comfortable with the 2 million because you've always done it that we've done it the past few years we actually if Mr
Dolan is in the audience or watching on TV um he's probably rolling his eyes saying that's way too much money you should you should do less it has ranged between 1.5 to 2 million that we've contributed to the budget um based on Trends that's how much we will have
available to roll over and still leave us some in case of emergencies and for the next fiscal year should we need that um again we don't want to leave that too short in case we have an emergency like a Pro collapse or some catastrophic
event um but also I look at end like we are we are putting some money in as good faith as well we are investing in our own District so we have generally put in 1.5 to2 million every year as you know we can't go over our budget um because
we're Regional we certify our budget the F the towns fund uses that is the amount of money we have we cannot go over that amount so we have to be conservative and come under budget every year so based on our looking at every month and every
subcommittee um for Budget we are trending the same um and we should have those funds available thank you anything further M just I I'll restate what I heard um historically we transfer 2 million 1.5
to2 million to the budget as good faith and at the end we tend to have about million on spent that we roll back into end is that correct essentially yes that that's why we're not we're not building it up and we're not you know what what
towns want to do is build up there they call it stabilization we call it EMD uh because you never know when that emergency may hit you never know when um there may be a recession and you want to make sure you're able to uh carry the
town through room without layoffs of police and firefighters so you have money in the background so you can kind of spread it out as a rainy day fund so to speak we need to make sure we're doing that as well but at the same point
in time if we're asking our towns to you know contribute a significant amount more we should at least as a district contribute something meaningful and positive to it is kind of the Fe thank you yeah
anything further on the 2 million number all right uh we're going to do roll call votes on all of these um budget motions just so we have it down for the record so u m McDougall if you'd like to call the r yes
Mr yes M yes Miss dport yes La yes Mr yes and M yes Mr F
yes sounded like eight to n all right now we're moving on to the second motion which in fact is really the budget uh the heart of the budget which is the assessments to the town that I'll turn it over to M K thank you
um I would make a motion to recommend that subject to review and verification by the district Treasurer the school committee vote to approve the final budget for fiscal year 2526 excluding debt and capital costs in the amount of
$16,250 849 the final budget figure of16 m258 49 to be reduced by anticipated Revenue totaling $37,988 and an end appropriation of $2 million
leaving the amount of 66,329 127 to be paid by the member towns as follows greenham appropriate apportionment of said cost is to be the state's required minimum contribution of
2,396 255 plus the non-discretionary charges of 4,161 $383 for a total due from rham in the amount of 2,557 638 Bridgewater's apportionment of said
cost is to be the state's required minimum contribution of 33 million [Music] 97,7 plus the non-discretionary charges of 6,692
512 for a total due from Bridgewater in the amount of4 mlion 663 and [Music] $663,000 sub committee for you know going back to the drawing board and coming up with something that does at
least start the process uh however I would like to offer up an amendment to adopt the superintendent's proposed budget that was presented on January 29th of this year and therefore uh the motion would
have to be uh adjusted appropriately uh to reflect those num all right that that's an amendment so uh the amendment take pres is there a second second
by m monelli okay um therefore Mr D Marino you have the floor as the motion maker so just you know as I said the last at the public hearing this is my third cycle and the first cycle I
remember Mr Dolan saying you we're going to you know tell the towns that we need this they need to you know support us we need you know while we do have some Revenue you know we rely on them and we're going you know essentially put our foot
down we came back the presentation was essentially status quo last year we cut positions this year we you know while what's proposed is a good first step I I
can't get past the fact that what was proposed by Mr pow is needs and what our students deserve and it's been too long that we've been kicking this can down the road [Music]
and Regal School District to support it thank you m Mar you speak second discuss okay no that's fine I totally agree the budget that we proposed this
evening I know if you're looking at class size my whole thing of course we want to lower the class sizes in K2 but three four five we're going to be going from
30 to 23 in the fourth grade in ring 30 to 25 and Bridgewater in the fourth grade so I think what we have is a is a solid
plan however it's not yeah and we understand [Music] that we are make progress okay other other comments Miss Conrad
lberto I appreciate Mr Dan Marino Miss Martelli said I agree we we need to get somewhere I I'm appreciative of all of the audience the the stakeholders families teachers community members and
all the comments that we've received over the last few weeks on this and as much as I would like to vote Yes on the 109 million I am concerned about this passing and an override and passing this on homeowners and the increase in our
taxes fiscally at the state level at the federal level there's so much uncertainty with elderly even all of us with our jobs I just cannot see passing on that much of an increase to homeowners at this point in time I think
the 106 gets us to a place where we are making steps in the right direction it is fiscally responsible um and I just I again as much as I would love to go with the 109 I don't think it's a time and the economy and with our seniors and with
everyday citizens that we can pass that much of an increase on to homeowners for the comment M St just to really ech what Laura said as well sorry just to really Echo what Laura said as
well and I know in reham there um we still have the dedic impos on taxes yet for the safety building I bet there's some similars bridgew so when hopes it for like I mean I think everybody would love to get the $109 million no doubt
but we need to look obviously to what what has potential to pass and okay for the comments yes Mr L so I I definitely hear both points and I I think both being very reasonable but
I think the question is then when when does this happen because right now are we going to end up being in the same position for next year are we going to be putting forth again another over ride to get to the place where we want to be because it's
significant it is I completely acknowledge that so when do we actually do that we're going end up in the same spot going through the same things over again in the same process it's going to be like Groundhog's Day and I'd love to think the state is
going to change the the funding structure and they're going to come through but honestly we've been having the same conversations and people have been sending the same emails to the state year after year and there has been limited to no change thank you Mr Lo further comments
questions issues I want to kind I want to follow on and get some clarification on what Mr said is it possible that we would be back here and then needing to discuss requesting
another override is is that what we're looking at with the lower number I mean I think that's what we have to assume because saying 109 is where we need to be the class is where they need to be to start making progress on things like reducing out of District
tuition bring kids back within the district so we can educate them within their home Community to get our kids the education they deserve and what Ryan for originally I don't see any other way M
K I understand what you all are saying but I do not think it is fiscally responsible to put a $109 million Budget on the towns at a 30% increase there are so many unknowns it has to go to Bridgewater Town Council
rham town meeting and pass to go on an override vote then voters would have to out and vote for that that would be a huge increase to all of their taxes and I don't know that they would support that much of an
increase and if it fails at any point we are then to a devastating 112th budget and then a 3% 4.6% budget which is still devastating just to make a point and I
would rather put forward a budget that we have a huge change up and make a positive impact and also voters can get behind because they'll see the impact and it would be manageable with their taxes because if this fails yes it's
going to make an impact on the everyone's going to know but it's going to hurt our children and our teachers that are in the classroom when we cut 40 teachers or more it's going to hurt the kids so we don't want to make an impact
on our kids right now we want to make a positive impact that we have a chance on thank you forther Mr you know I've heard both both sides I mean obviously I I put forth this motion I I support my motion you know I just
wanted to bring attention to the committee you know I had an opportunity to speak with a teacher in our district you know this past week as many parents had and she had brought up about um having a friend in Dartmouth and you
know we've seen in recent weeks in the news the newspapers yes I still read the newspaper I'm kind of arcading that way um that you know other school districts Regional and non- Regional are having
difficulties I get that I understand that but Dart meth has lower class sizes and again it could be apple and oranges and have all the details about Darth but they're already looking
at concerns about their class sizes being raised they haven't had that yet in their budgets they're already looking at that we've as again seen it year after
year when is enough now I understand and I I I I get being fiscally conservative making sure that we can for something that on don't over the public would come out I'm going against what my parents
want but I always hearken back to something that I heard coaching baseball with the Monty tournament do what's right just because it's hard doesn't mean it's the right it's not the right thing to do so I'm urging my fellow
colleagues up here to do what's right for our children thank you out further comments questions concerns another question just for um so on the slide deck um the slide
that shows the difference between with without additional staff and with additional staff um that those figures are with for the 106 million correct yes and that is also
based on current number of students correct and historically we know that the numbers have increased am I on the right path like I've it depends on your view of history but yeah recently recently okay so the
likelyhood based on the developments that has happened in in over the past two years is to Mr paris's point that these numbers are are fluid and they're already they're still pretty high because we're going from you know High
to a little bit lower it doesn't mean that the class sizes are still not High um at the 106 these numbers realistically are likely to go go higher okay as far as the class
sizes that's what I'm interpreting based on the information shared tonight am I incorrect it could yeah yeah I mean we we don't could predict the future you retired in Florida
yeah um and further M okay uh anything further from the committee uh quickly a question from me Mr de now yes um
if this if your your suggestion for Budget passes what is your uh solution if there is an unfavorable override vote to be 100% honest with you Mr fitg
I think we go to a 112th budget I think I understand the concerns about taxes and everything but we're messing around with our children's future and education and at that point those that are against an
override you know we need to understand how important it is to fund the regional school distri so so you're you're a comfort that going forward sometimes you have to make it hurt to get what you want okay yes M
then kids who pays for the kids the parents we're not we're not talking from the audience please yes um I would just I think a one 12th budget is so detrimental to our kids obviously I have two kids in high
school and all week and last week my kids have come home and asked me because they've been asked by other kids in the high school what's going to happen if we lose Sports my kids are talking about it they're hearing teachers talk about at the high school level that sports are going to be lost
the don't call kids out but again captains of sports teams are talking to my children who know I'm on school committee asking what's going to be happening if we do not have this team next year that is unacceptable to me I can accept a 112 budget and a 112 budget
would have a detrimental effect on our Sports and on everything in our town our extracurriculars and I don't think we can move forward I I could not imagine what that would mean to our kids it would mean higher class sizes and special at being out of compliance
is what it would be goes beyond the budget yeah so Mr marelli I I didn't I didn't quite understand if you were in support or not of Mr motion yeah but because I was
going to ask you the same question because you sat through all the budget sub commmittee meeting so you you understand where all the different numbers come from so uh any further discussion seeing none I will ask mdle
to call the road on the amendment on the amendment am Mr yes Mrs no no Mrs no Mr
yes Mrs King no MRG no so that's a 5 to3 against well I passed I just passed well it's effectively a no vote when you obstain
she didn't abstain she said pass what are you going to what are you oh then it's 5 to two that's fine you you abstain from your V Vis May would you like to I didn't want to abstain I just wanted to pass here that's not appropriate when you get a roll call
vote but go ahead make your vote yes yes okay 5 to three 5 to three against the amendment okay so um is there a motion for reconsideration made by m
d second by Mrs K are we going back to the original no we're going to reconsider the amendment just in case anyone thinks they can change people's minds now that they know the vote yeah we we're going to have a motion to reconsider
I second second by Miss Conrad lento with that now we're discussing whether we should should reconsider it or not so does anyone have any further comments about reconsidering the vote we just took no no no one okay so seeing that uh
Miss McDougall will you call the role on a motion to reconsider would I on if you want to keep talking about the amendment Mr demarino proposed you vote Yes if you don't if you want to stop talking about
it you vote now no Mr deino I'm sorry M no do you want to keep talking okay Mr Mrs k no Mr
no okay so with that we're done talking about that Amendment are there any other amendments uh that anyone would like to make on this uh number before we go to the main motion seeing none all right uh so now
we're back to debate on the main motion M King I believe you made the motion so you have the floor I don't have anything further to say I feel strongly that this is the best budget that we can put forward to make a positive impact I know that it's going
to be a slower incremental impact than some of our members prefer but I think it's being fiscally responsible and making an impact thank you and I forget m m is the second on the main
motion I apologize Mrs conad Lao so M Conrad lento you're next I would just say is you know this is I think the budget is the right step and it makes a positive impact for our kids I mean 15 16%
overall increase is no joke I mean this is one of the biggest budg we pass increase that we have passed since I've been on the committee so this is a significant step significant step right direction further discussion on the main
motion m d yeah I just wrote something up here so I just want to thank everyone for being here today as members of our school commit of our school Community we all have one shared goal to provide the best possible education and experience for our students achieving this goal relies not only on the dedication of our
teachers and staff but also the resources available to us as you all know at at previous meetings two different proposed budgets have been presented being at the superintendent's initial proposed budget was which which was an increase of over 19 million from last year while the level Services
budget came in at roughly 12 million more than last year since even our L Services budget would need an override on the ballot I am willing to vote on this budget that land Us in between reducing the student to teacher ratio our classroom sizes should be the focal point of this additional money I know I
have received and responded to numerous emails from parents within the community regarding the proposed budgets I mentioned not in good conscious vote for an even larger amount without having the funds secured as I'm afraid of ending up in the2 budget situation or even potentially depleting resources from our
departments within our towns however after attending F further budget subcommittee meetings and discussing next steps it was assured to me that if the override does not pass that we can then come back and pass a budget that is Affordable to the town at that time I had mentioned at previous
meetings that if the towns were to bring this to the ballot it may have been May May interest of including an efficiency type of audit to assure that our funds and resources are utilized to the best of their ability and I still stand by that statement this will assure residents especially who are not in
favor that we are doing what is best with their hard-earned dollars I am more than happy to have the town officials put the override on the ballot and ultimately have the voters decide I do ask that everyone accept the will of the voters whatever that turns out to be regardless of the outcome of
the vote I promise to continue to work dently alongside my other school committee members as well as Mr pow and his team to assure we are providing the best possible education and experiences for our students at at um that is within
our needs thank you thank you Mr EV other comments on Main motion see yeah miss m no I was just going to say that we did work very hard many many
meetings to come up with this and I think it is in the best interest of everybody thisd yeah I I I'd just like to add if no one has any further comments I'd just like to add I think we heard from almost all the people in this
room represented um that class siiz is the most important issue um to to the district right now in um you you dwarfing dwarfing every other concern
uh that that we may face and um so we we we tried to be respectful and responsible and responsive to those voices after the public hearing and significantly increased that level Services budget uh because we heard you
because we we we had emails because we had in-person meetings text calls Etc and and that's what that's what you can do as a as a as a group of public and now we're rolling the dice on on a big number if this budget passes tonight
um we're rolling the dice on a big number and everybody here who wants that big number needs to get out and work hard to Ure that that big number is actually in fact funded we have a very very small uh needle to thread here with
two towns and two votes right both appropriating authorities the Town Council and the town meeting of rham have to agree to fund the budget we're going to vote for they have to agree to that if they don't
that's a situation I don't want to contemplate right now it's bad enough we we we have what we have in front of us but I don't want to contemplate that so I'm assuming both the town meeting and the town counil will appropriate the money the towns don't have this money to
pull out of draw or Tak in taxes next year so they'll probably have to call for an override as I've said all along the only two boards who can call for an a special election for an override are the board of Select in Rainham and the
Town Council in Bridgewater and if if there's support for spending the money by the appropriating body I would hope that those two bodies then schedule a vote and work together to schedule a vote on the same day
as quickly as possible before July 1th so we don't get into any trouble with the state and that's my plea to both towns here tonight um and then once we do that then we need to you know to to
get this budget in you know in effect that vote those votes need to happen positively uh going forward from each of the towns and that that's another big challenge that all of us here are going to be facing this is not a school committee problem it's not a teacher
problem it's not a parent problem it's a community problem okay and we all have to work together to ensure the best outcomes we can get uh for the district and for our two towns uh so that so that we're all able to move forward together
and as I've said before to be be able to do more with more because we can't do more with L anymore so that said um M McDougall if you'd like call the RO on that b oh Mr miss my before sorry that's
all right I forget about me on um you know this you know I'm always going to advocate for more and I will say you know my my point was not to harm children as it was alluded
to um I want what's best I I've said it time and time again you pointed it out tonight I am a product of this school district I have pride in this school district it hurts me to see what we're dealing with right now and I've talked to
classmates I have a real close friend classmate that is on The Advisory Board of Bridgewater and we've had our arguments about this you know um but you know my concern and why I brought that amendment I think was echoed by Mr Lo
that I are and I'll say you because I'm I won't be here um are you going to I we going to be here next year doing the same thing and now looking at cutting these
positions so while I think this is great um that you know there is some reduction in class sizes we're going to be in compliance uh with special education I just hope that this is a starting point
and not let's just throw some additional money and then Retreat thank you Mr deino any further com seeing none M mcdouall if you call the rooll on the main
motion motion pass Miss mville yes you vote Yes or No when your name is called please no Mr
yes Mrs Martelli yes Mrs DAV yes Mrs Conrad Lao yes Mr yes Mrs King yes Mr Fitz GI yes that's
seven in favor one against and that passes that that is over the 2third majority needed to pass a budget so we're good there and M King has two more motions on Capital and uh whatever
else yes de um I would make a motion based on October 1st 2024 enrollment figures Capital costs will be assessed to each town as follows Ram's portion of the capital cost of the Bridgewater rham Regional School District is [Music]
$16,300 Bridgewater's portion of the capital costs of the Bridgewater rham Regional School District is $976,000 97613 $138 for a total capital of
$1,692 500 is there a second second by mport discussion m k m dport any further discussion see none M mdou if you could call BR
yes Mr Marino yes Mrs yes yes Mr yes that would be unanimous V thank you and one more m and the last vote is the debt um I would make a motion to recommend that subject to the review and verification by the district
Treasurer the school committee vote the final budget for fiscal year 2026 debt costs as follows brinham costs with bond interest and principle of$ 55,1 1487 to be reduced by state
reimbursement and Grant distributions in the amount of $0 for a total due from rham of $ 55,1 14 $87 and Bridgewater's cost with bond interest in principal of [Music]
3,565 n2263 to be reduced by state reimbursement and other Grant distributions in the amount of $0 for a total due from Bridgewater with bond interest and principal of [Music] 3,565
n2263 for a total debt of 4,813 $50 there a second second by m marelli um is King any further discussion any other discussion seeing none M moule call
the yes Mr Marino yes yes yes Mr yes yes Mr yes unanimous on that thank
you all right so we have a budget Miss King is that correct yes um we will certify that the um may I say something Mr um I just want to thank the budget subcommittee and Mr Powers and the whole business office we put in lots of hours
at a million meetings and telephone calls and working through this and I want to thank all of the members of the officials of rham and Bridgewater that are here that have also been in contact with us and at meetings about this and
all of the public this is I've been on the committee for eight years and this is the first year that I have seen so many parents and community members engaged so I hope that we can keep this up and we can get this passed in both towns for our students so please really
this isn't the last of it we need you all to be keep involved with this so thank you I would I would Echo that Miss King i' I quote Winston Churchill this is not the end nor is it the beginning of the end it is if anything the end of
the beginning um that said I do want to congratulate and thank all my school committee colleagues whether we agreed or not on the right amount for the budget I know everyone came from a place where they wanted what was best for the
district and I appreciate all of you and working with all of you and uh you know we we all have love for the district we wouldn't sit up here go to the meetings we do etc etc if we didn't love the district and wanted to succeed and I
thank each and every one of you for being here tonight making your voice heard and being part of moving things forward hopefully in a positive direction for our district thank you uh that said we're moving on to policy subcommittee report Mr
Deo thank you Mr chair uh the policy subcommittee met March 20th and the superintendant uh conference room in attendance was myself chair Mr Lo Mrs David Bo Mrs
cono superintendent Ryan Powers as well as assistant superintendent bar uh before us was one item uh policy DBA school committee powers and duties um
there was a proposal to amend the policy to kind of look at um some trends that were happening and uh settlements uh you know so we could craft some policies uh
there were concerns regarding confidentiality as well as where the L between what the administration um is doing with that and where it's also reported um there was a
31 vote to table it to kind of reassess it get again look at the uh School committees council's recommendations as well as the district's councils uh
recommendations was there it will be taken up the next policy subcommittee meeting uh we voted to pass uh to approve the minutes of our last meeting which was January 15th and that concludes my rep thank you Mr dearo no
action needed by the full committee none thank you uh unfinished business uh proposal of 2526 school calendar we'll turn that over to Mr P actually U Mrs has the information on
the calendar we'll turn it over to miss Barry thank you um in the interest of time I'm not sure if you want me to just review uh changes that we made since the initial reading I'm getting on okay um so we made some changes since the first
reading um that you did as a committee um in December and January um there was a suggestion that um we look at full days on December 22nd and 23rd as the start of that holiday week right now we
have a full day and a half day um on the calendar we we kept it a full day and a half day despite getting that feedback although appealing um if we move ahead with that change we would be getting out of school two days later um and there's always a possibility that that would be
extended due to in CL weather days J June can get pretty hot um the made since the uh first reading was based on feedack around having um an inservice or half school day uh close to a holiday break so we had originally had February
11th 2026 on the calendar as one of those days um we changed it to a full day of school because it's the week before February break um after the first reading we also made a change to the early release day on March 25th 2026
adding that there'll be no prek sessions that day again that's new since the uh the first reading and the reason for that is having no preschool that day allows us to do uh screenings as well as subsequent evaluations um rather than
them taking place in June um and then um as Mr Po stated earlier today mcass is not going away we still don't have the dates for next year so is as is often the case um as much as we um think that we have the calendar
finalized do have to go back to school committee to make some changes once we have mcast stes from the state thank you Miss Barry is that it that's it okay so uh is there a motion to approve the calendar as
presented by m Barry to approve made by Mr Lo second by Miss Davenport any further discussion on the calendar seeing none all those in favor opposed unanimous thank you very much M Barry
thank you very much to the committee all right moving on to new business um we've got approval that posted on the districts yes going out so sure that and
then thank you okay um moving on to new business approval of payroll warrants dated March 6 and March March 20 2025 is there a motion to approve made by Mr de Marino second second by m King
discussion see none all those in favor I opposed it's unanimous uh under new business other business that may properly come before the school committee after the agenda is posted um this is more informational for
the school committee um I want to um I want to uh let everybody know that Miss Martelli has decided that as she's leaving the committee after the election uh she'd like to step down from her uh
positions on the negotiating and budget uh committee uh to that end i' think Mr Lo she can accept an appointment to those two committees and uh I will be doing that uh as my point point of power of the chair effective immediately so
thank you Mr Lo for doing that uh that requires no discussion or vote it's it's the chair's prerogative um moving on to public comment uh we'll open the public comment again uh this time if anyone has a
comment uh again try to keep it to 3 minutes but we'll try to keep you know give it a little way maybe up to about 15 for public comment at this point so anyone feel free to come up identify your s uh name and uh address for the
[Music] record yes ma'am Elizabeth Shar 1000 sou Street um I just want to say thank you to everyone on the school committee Mr Powers mcdouall back here um especially the the budget sub thank you for all of your hard work I know it was very fluid
um you were listening to the community you weren't just I think you had one thing in mind and then you heard our voices and I and I know you're you're representing us and you showed us that tonight um I I definitely understand and hear some of the the um committee members your your thought process there
going for the 109 budget and I respect that um I mean yeah that would be great but I also think what was what was decided tonight was for the best of our community um I think it has the best chance of passing it makes a Major Impact it's going to make a huge difference for our school committee um
for our for our school district and I think it has a better chance of passing and I think it's going to you know really just get us going in the right direction I don't see us coming back here after after that having to come back and and say you know here we are again um so just a huge huge step
tonight so I just feel like I had to come and thank you because Lord knows i' I've spent enough time here crying and complaining and calling and emailing um and I know there's still a lot of big decisions coming up now with our Town Council our um select board um and then ultimately hopefully going for an
override so I know there's still a lot of work here and you have you have our support behind you um hopefully getting the community to see that this is going to change our community school district and we want a school a school Community but we can be proud of our district
thank you thank you m [Applause] Carly 22 Miss if you could step out from in front of the podium you'll get on
[Music] camera hi my name is Carley Hunter and I am a fifth grade student at rham middle school I promise I won't take too much of your time luckily you get to hear from me instead of my mom trust me you're getting a better
deal I would like to share that I would like to share that I'm here because my mom and my teachers have taught me to use my voice for good tonight I would like to tell you what it's like to be a kid in a class of 30 students right now
learning in a learning can be challenging large class sizes make it difficult for me to focus get help from my teachers and feel confident asking questions in front of everyone did you know we have 90 students in our gym class maybe you saw my interview on
Friday where I told Mr Paul Burton that kids deserve better I am speaking up for my friends and my little brother when I say we deserve better we deserve classrooms where we can actually Focus ask questions and get
help when we need it our teachers work so hard but if we don't get enough money things will just keep getting harder for students and teachers I want others especially kids to know that public education matters and we need to fight for it
thank you than you other public comment I challenge anyone to come up after child yes ma uh Christine Banky 36 magnilia away
um I just want to reiterate the fact that she's standing here she is the reason why we do this our children are the reason why we do this this is why we're here this is why you dedicate all of your time this is why you see many of our community members in front of you at all times asking you to make these tough
decisions so I'll reiterate what bety said thank you for coming to a decision that takes the step in the right direction um with that the foresight that things are going to be expected accountability is going to be expected going forward being fiscally responsible so making sure that foresight is there
thank you for coming up this is exactly why we do this I don't Carly right good job Carly s and Raina good job [Applause] Carly Patrick vice president of
V col great job Eng you um but this is more of a question I know you can't but something to think about maybe get back to us uh at the next meeting or so so I've
heard a lot about the budget procedure and the 112 budget uh which is somewhere where none of us want to go to all right but I haven't heard anything about the step before that which is a districtwide uh town meeting uh in which uh the
budget a revised budget could be approved so maybe I'm missing something but I don't think I've heard anyone mentioned that um so thank you Mr Patrick we can certainly address that question and a future 71
yes thank [Applause] you m Murphy it's a long walk from all the way in the back Paul Murphy 25 Ashford Lane in Bridgewater Uh current vice president of the Bridgewater Town Council I just
wanted to acknowledge folks and the hard work that's been done to get to us get to this point uh I want you to know that I as a counselor hear you I've met with folks oneon-one I don't know that many other counselors have stood up and advocated for you at these meetings I
don't know if my counterparts and R have done the same but I'm here tonight as the budget Now lies in our hands to tell you that I will advocate for this budget to appear on a ballot coming up because I believe it is our responsibility to put it for
the town to make those decisions I'm not up for re-election you have me for another year unfortun so I'm not campaigning so let me be clear there are four positions on Our Town Council that will be up for election this coming April and I implore you to ask those
folks what their plan is to vote on this because that could sway the decision so please reach out to those folks attend Community forums and ask them those questions and the last thing I'll say is please reach out to the counselors all of us and to the select board members
because one email one phone call it makes a huge difference I'll tell you I never thought I'd be understanding how the laws work for a while life in my town and why my neighbor can have 10 chickens and a goat but one email led me to look into that a little bit more and
understand it so that one email that you send to your counselor may make the difference so I just emplore you to take the time send those emails reach out to those counselors uh and really push them to make a decision on where they're going to vote on this because ultimately it's up to them to get on the ballot the
last thing I'll say to you is it doesn't end there right there is still a lot more work to do in some of the the school board committee members admitted to that tonight I personally have reached out to our state senator and met one-on-one with him to express formula
and Chapter 70 and 71 how that's being allocated isn't enough right and so there's work to be done St and that work has to continue it has to keep going on so again I implore you to keep having that battle and keep making that fight because we're going to make the
difference together so I just wanted to be clear on my stance tonight I don't think it takes much looking into from this point on I've spent the past three months with you all at these meetings and I want to be clear this is something that I will support from the Bridgewater Town Council so thank
[Applause] you I just say and then I'll reiterate what I said it's not a response to Mr Murphy I'll reiterate what I said at the beginning of the meeting we have officials here from Bridgewater and Rainham and I believe each and every one of those officials wants to do the right
thing for the district so I thank them all for being here listening to us and uh you know making sure that they understand uh what we need so thank you any further public comment going [Music]
on I don't see any so with that I'll take a motion to adjourn as long as it's not in response it's not in response um so I just wanted to address my my colleagues here uh as everybody
knows just like Miss Martelli I will be I didn't run for reelection um you know I got into this to make the school district a better place for not only everybody else's children but mine uh I put Family First and it was a hard decision to choose
between coaching my son's team in the summer and attending school committee meetings um where our next meeting April 16th I'll be down supporting my daughter at the world her uh open world
championship for Allstar cheer so I don't know if I'll be able to zoom in so I just wanted to thank everybody up here thank the public for trusting me to do the right thing and this won't be the last you see of me I get to be here thrown on the side just like uh bit and
Ashley and look forward to doing that thank you Mr de I thank you for your service and we hope you're able to come to your last meeting so we can give you a little bit of a s off um all right with that said is there a motion to
adure made by Mr second by Mr Lo uh all those in favor oppos us thank you