we're recording Welcome to the April 16th 2025 jointly noticed meeting of the Brookline School Committee and the Finance Subcommittee of the Brookline School Committee Um before we get into
the agenda I'm going to call on Representative Tommy Vatollo um to provide some information to the school committee that we'll discuss a little bit later in the agenda Tommy please go ahead Thank you Good afternoon and and and I appreciate uh lending me
just a minute for this meeting Uh as you may or may not know the House budget was released today It's a very big document I'm not done reading it Um but I can tell you this In February the school committee met with the delegation and
asked us to do our best to get some more money from the state for funding of public schools in Brooklyn And we in the House that is myself Representative Honen Representative McGregor and Representative Schwarz have delivered And the way that we delivered is this uh
we uh and our and our colleagues uh have put together a house budget that creates a minimum per pupil spend of $150 My understanding is that wisely and cautiously um PSB was budgeting about
half of that And this delta the delta in dollars is just about a half a million dollars between what PSB was budgeting for Chapter 70 through the minimum student aid and what we have in the House budget released today Now I want
to be very clear The House doesn't even vote on this budget until most exactly two weeks from right now Then the Senate is going to do a budget Then it has to go to conference Then the governor has an opportunity for a line item veto Right so it's not done yet It's also the
case that there are other changes in the budget that may impact the total amount of revenue that Brookline receives from the state through non-educational and other educational line items And of course there is a town school partnership that you and others in town
have to navigate Uh so I cannot tell you with any amount of precision what this dollar amount ultimately has in terms of impact on uh the current school budget gap What I can tell you is that you asked us uh to try
to get some more money and that the House delegation uh responded with a half a million dollar increase uh in chapter 70 funding and we're very proud of that uh and hopeful that this will provide you uh a little bit of movement in the direction that you all are
working so hard to get to Happy to answer any questions I know that there's not an opportunity for discussion at this time and I apologize I can't stay uh but I wanted to share this great news uh with this subcommittee that I know is working so hard on this issue Thank you
Um I'm not sure if this is a question for you Tommy or from Melissa Um but at what point does the like does the dollar amount get incorporated into Melissa's projections do you know that's a question for Melissa Okay Susan
you don't know Do you know um I had a conversation with Melissa earlier and um as soon as she gets the cherry sheets which have um all adjustments to state aid then um then she can update the revenue projections So hopefully they'll
um have that soon the next few days I hope Okay Um I I would expect that's right And again just to remind folks right the Senate could do something different Historically things have only moved upward but that's not a guarantee for this year or any other year in the
future Thank you very much for the update Tommy Much appreciated And thanks for making time Um Helen do you have a question for Tommy um well no it's probably not though he may know the answer Uh I can't remember with um
additional income Is that split 6040 or is that um or do we get all of chapter 70 susan is rushing to tell us the answer Yes Which one so it's uh it goes through
the split process That's what I thought Okay So it's 60% on this one Well it would be whatever the net is So um Melissa had shared with me that um so I'll I'll tell you what she said Um she
said chapter 70 went up uh by 516,000 but other um areas went down by 171,000 So they'll need the full cherry sheet to understand the impact And when they have each of those components of the revenue will be adjusted That's
gross revenue Then of course it filters through all those other components So the above the line costs get um netted out and then we ultimately get down to the split So it really does depend upon what other changes were made to other assessments uh other state aid
components of the assessment I don't think there should be anything above the line because that's all funded No but the the but the gross revenue is above the line Helen gross revenue Yeah Right So whatever shifts are made in the gross
revenue numbers up and down have to be taken into consideration Yeah Yeah That Yeah that's what I'm trying to say Any more questions for Tommy i know Tommy you said you have a short time frame so I don't want to hold you Okay Well thank you so much again for joining us Much appreciated And we'll
look forward to getting the updated um budget info from Melissa and Susan All in due time Thank you again for all of your hard work And uh get back to it Goodbye now Bye Okay we'll now return to our regularly
scheduled programming Um so first item on the agenda is approval of the February 26th and March 5th finance subcommittee meeting minutes Um do I have a motion for approval i'll move it Yes Okay I'll take Sarah as
a second Sarah how do you vote yes Carolyn yes And I vote yes Um next item is approval of grants Um and we have one grant that is up for consideration which is a METCO grant um for
$15,000 um to support tutoring for 9th grade MECO students um in physics and in English Um any questions from the subcommittee go ahead Caroline Sorry because I'm just catching up with
this a little bit now Is this the same one that came to us before but maybe it's revised now yes And so is this when does the tutoring okay it's after school
correct malcolm did I see you here yes I'm here Okay Oh there you are Great Thank you Um Malcolm do you know how many hours that represents the 15,000 i've never calculated that way It's it's
it's um it's one day in person a week with options for virtual support Okay So that one day is roughly um 90 minutes in person But particular if like there were an exams or something or if you wanted
to go over a draft um they can get help in other subjects but the biggest deficiency we've seen with our micro students in transitioning from 8th to 9th grade is in physics and in English and so that's where the primary focus is um but like if they do they could give virtual support like at an agreed time
during the week So um yeah so I've never calculated exactly per hour Um and this was the contract um Livia Prep had negotiated with MECO headquarters when we applied for the grant Got it Thanks And I think we're looking at this later
too Is there a late bus that the METCO grant funds for MECO students so not for high school but yes there is a late bus that we fund for K through8 So because u the high school uh has a
green line stop on campus Okay and four buses that drop off with four MBTA buses drop off within a half a mile Um all Boston residents get a free tea pass Okay And so we don't provide transportation for them beyond that
Okay And sorry And is this is this a um the first time we're doing this program or did has this been before so this was a very specific grant that came through the MECO um REI program initiatives and so yes this
is the first time okay so hopefully you'll have great participation we we've had really solid participation um and um our adviser who's there has been really solid about making sure particularly at the end of first quarter
there were nine kids that were really struggling in both areas making sure that they were there but also as we got word and you know there are kids who drop in as well um and that's beyond mechco kids sometimes So um yeah so we've had really solid participation
Thank you Thanks Malcolm I'll move favorable action on the grant Is there a second i'll second Okay Sarah how do you vote yes Carolyn yes And I vote yes Thank you Malcolm for coming I appreciate your
approval Thank you Yeah Thanks Next item on the agenda is approval of gifts Um Mariah I might just mention um since it is a jointly posted meeting these typically have waited and gone to the next full regular school committee meeting I don't know if you want to entertain having the full school
committee vote on this now or having it go to the next regular meeting Let's have it go to the next regular meeting because it'll just be consent agenda at that point Correct Okay Um next item on the agenda is approval of gifts We have three gifts but I'm going to park one of
them Uh I can't find the document that I was looking at earlier Are you going to pull it up Betsy oh thank you So um the first one is um an anonymous gift for $2,500 um for the high school's outdoor adventure club in memory of James Penner
Um the second gift is for and also anonymous for $50 from the for the queer student union at the high school Um thank you so much to our donors Um especially for the first gift for James Penner Um and that is very meaningful
We're very grateful for that Um and we're going to leave the $8,000 gift for now because there I think there were some questions that weren't totally answered before the meeting and I didn't hear anyone saying that this needed to be accepted um tonight So we will park that one for
now Um can I get a motion to accept the first two gifts i'll move that Sarah do you second i'll second Okay How do you vote Sarah yes Carolyn yes And I vote yes as well Um
thank you And then next item on the agenda is um new position report Do you mind making it a little bigger Betsy we'll try Yeah I haven't brought my microscope I'll kind of scroll over We lose a bit
Um can't quite get it all but Okay Susan are you going to walk us through this i am Thank you I am Susan it's big enough to see Uh that's as big as it's going to get so we'll just go with it there So there have been some cleanups uh that
happened since the last um report And at that time um I had added positions uh as placeholders based on information I received from principles and directors
who had um submitted paperwork um through our process that hadn't I hadn't yet received um uh and and approved by the office of student services So it goes from a director or a
principal and then to either if it's an OTL related um request then it goes to Jod and if it's an OSS related request it goes to uh the deputy of OSS and they review it Um they have conversations
with folks and um if they approve it they sign it and they send it to me Um so um in order to be able to provide you with uh some information the last time I plugged them in so we wouldn't lose sight of them with the transition
of the deputies and the budget season um in full swing Uh so anyways I was able to clean this up with Karen and so you you would have seen a number of these in um January a January listing You'll see
that's gone now Um so we were able to see where there was um repetition of a principal let's say had asked for a position and the same position there was paperwork submitted by a director but I didn't have the ability to reconcile
that So um uh all of those shifts have been made and I've eliminated from the document um redundancies The other thing I did for this one is I as I made note of like where the funding was You you recall that some of them said TBD the
last time because they hadn't uh really finalized what our plan to close the gap would be Um and so now you'll see under fund type it says general fund or if we're going to use revolving fund balance um or a grant then I've cleaned
that up as well So um so it looks a little different this time because I did a lot of adjusting um to uh reflect um uh that that had been approved uh through the through the various deputies
So can I ask a clarifying question sure I have a couple for the first line eliminate senior director position is that when you we are pausing the um bullying initiatives and civil rights position for the current year Okay So that's why it's even though it's actually paused for next year in our
budget talks we had also it's gone unfilled for this year and the person who was okay is not is not contracting anymore Okay And and then the nurse Okay So can I you just clarify why is the net cost 24,000 just so I understand
that like if the senior director position was completely eliminated isn't that a zero because or was there other things that you use the funding for well the the rest of the funding would go to close the gap I see
Okay Yeah So and the 24,000 is because it's a partial year as opposed to a full year of a par Okay Yep Um and then what is tuition revolving fund that is material I think you call it material fees but Okay The material fees Do you think we can update that just to say
material fee just to keep our terminology is that okay when it's to revise it okay Just cuz I didn't know what the tuition revol Um other questions from the subcommittee or other members of the school committee i have a I think I have a question
Um so Susan just to be clarify what you just said we're using materials fee funds for sorry now that's not and I wait I
got to move my screen or bring it Thank you for So does that mean that the student in question whose IEP calls for this parah is a materials fee student in both of these
cases or you just using that fund because that's a general fund the latter Okay perfect Thank you Thank you Other questions from anyone okay thank you so much Susan This is really helpful again and just to note
that um I had asked earlier January February and March we didn't meet in February and March and January um those were temp those were sort of semi they weren't totally nailed down So this if anyone noticed and wonders why there's nothing January through March
it's because of our meeting cadence and just how how the positions have shaken out over time Um Helen can we just see the bottom line i don't think there is a total is there no No Oh okay
Yeah Um sorry Just quickly I just I really just want to second what you just said Mariah Susan I really appreciate that you've been providing this all year It's really clear It's really helpful and I I feel like it's really great communication to have this sort of
frequency of just like here's what's going on on a on a micro level So thank you Welcome Um okay Next item up is transportation contact contract renewal I think Am I remembering right
yes Yes Susan do you want to take us through it yeah sure So we have um a couple of different transportation contracts and you approved a three-year contract for the special education um contract last year And so that's a
three-year with two one-year options to renew Our regular education which is before us uh tonight is um it comes in two parts the Metco um transportation is provided by this local motion um and and
um Malcolm um just spoke to that and then Eastern Bus is the purveyor that provides um transportation uh for reg what we call regular education or before and after school Um so that's your um K8
and your uh South Brooklyn bus Um and so uh as you know we reduced and con consolidated some of our bus runs And so in the FY26 budget now there's $421,000 Um and in the METCO grant there's
$385,000 Um and so all of that is like nice and tight in our budgeting process Um and now it's time to um renew those contracts for next year um a quick look at what was going out in the market because it is a choice when we are
looking at renewals Um after the the set number of three year the the three initial three years then we have the option And so what we'd like to do is exercise the option Um before we do that we kind of take a peek at what's going on outside if you go out to bid um you
know to determine whether or not um you know we'd do better if we went out into the market Right now it does not appear that way So looks like the rates are ranging between a 9% to a 20 26% increase in transportation contracts um
around uh um the area and our contracts are increasing by 4 and a.5% for the eastern and um 2% for local motions So uh the director of operations uh Joe Albuquerque is recommending that we extend the contract um with Eastern Bus
and Local Motion for the FY26 um school year Thank you Susan Questions from the subcommittee Go ahead Caroline Thanks Susan Um of I'm obviously not questioning
these choices at all but I'm curious I'm interested to see that our in town which I think you said we have three buses Is that right we have the two South Brooklyn BHS and we have two um you know for the K8 that
go around Yeah So I'm interested Our in town is more expensive than our metco which is 300 plus students coming from Boston to nine different schools Is that
just what the way it works just how the bids came in okay And in fact um when I look back on the bids because I didn't bid this um on behalf of the the community but um it could have all been awarded to Eastern
Um but the bid was split this way because of the pricing Uh the pricing was more favorable to split it between these two vendors So um I don't know what the factors were I didn't put the bid together but Thanks Like the rates are pretty good So yeah Thank you And I
before I call in Helen I just have another verification So this year just so I can remember so there's two buses for MECO and then the current year we have four buses in town but then next year is reduced to two buses Is that correct well we we have we have the six
because we have the high school the two high school and we have the four um K8 And so we've eliminated two at the K8 Okay And we still have the South Right Exactly and and of course um the busing
remains for the Pierce school piece that doesn't come out of our budget that comes out of the building project but okay we retain that as well so just so people Thanks Helen go ahead and then we'll I think we'll take a vote this the question is about buses but it's not these so the buses for athletic events
um that we is that through Eastern bus or through local motion and do they give us the same rates as they do in terms of um these other buses Um I that's a good question Helen and
I'm I would have to look into that Yeah let us know I don't I just not on the top of my head Yeah No no And that's that's paid for through the athletic budget isn't correct Yes As as our field trips Um but I just don't know if we
have the contract has exclusivity So sometimes when you write bids you'll rise write write it with exclusive rights and sometimes you won't And I don't know if ours is written that way And I don't want to rely on my memory have and and mix up a prior um contract
term I had with with Brook Lines I' I'd rather I'd rather not One thing I'd rather for finance members to keep in mind for a while Eastern Bus was the only one bidding on bus contracts I don't know if that's changing but just
to to be aware of that Um one other question I have Susan this is for these services Do we have to revote the special education contract later in the spring in your is that's because it was just recontracted last year for three years correct okay great
Thank you Okay I'll move favorable action I guess I'll move recommendation to full school committee to accept um extending the contract Is there a second yes Okay Uh Sarah how do you vote yes Carolyn yes And I vote yes Um okay Thank
you Next item on the agenda I think is where we turn it over to you Andy Is that right um yes I guess so Um okay In fact I will turn the first one over to Helen because it's an approval of a change order for the Pierce School Um
Helen is there anything you'd like to tell us about this one before voting uh so yes I just if if people want the explanation it's $8,000 And the reason being that uh we are building right up next to the neighbor I think it's on
Harvard Street I can't remember the exact address Thank you so much 68 Harvard Street And there were some problems with the foundations and steel columns that we were concerned about if we were to do any building around there that those would hold up the building
the building wouldn't come falling down and we'd be responsible So this was money to the designer to do the um uh the design work to and investigate the foundations and the steel columns Uh there'll probably be a change order also
for uh the actual um work that needed to be done to shore up those columns but that's not here Thanks Helen would you like to move it yes I'd love to move it
Uh second Second Thanks Mariah Any questions or discussion before we vote okay I don't see any Um all right It's hard for a little hard for me to see uh who all is on the meeting so I'm just going to um call out each member Um
is it Carolyn yes Jesse yes Mariah yes Sarah yes Stephen yes Um Suzanne yes Uh okay Hold on I'm having to look for other members Helen you didn't call in Helen All right Helen Yes And I may be
the last so I vote yes on that as well Okay Um good So this takes us to um item number eight which is continued discussion of the fiscal 26 budget Um I did want to give a brief update on a couple meetings earlier this week with
our town partners Um so as you all know at the end of uh last week's school committee meeting we'd come to the end of or at least we'd considered all of the um proposed cuts that the superintendent was willing to put before the committee So this was a good time to um to check in with uh town school
partnership and with the select board So on Monday we met with town school partnership Um Susan sort of led everybody through um our blue and green spreadsheet line by line Um there were some questions about individual items Um some factual questions which uh I think
u town school partnership is scheduling another meeting where uh where those can be answered Um we made everybody aware of uh the May 1st deadline for sending out pink slips if we do need to um to do uh reductions in force Um there wasn't a
whole lot of general uh discussion at this meeting the town administrator said that the goal is going to be to get the the select board school committee and advisory committee um aligned um before town meeting So that was sort of where where we left things after town school
partnership Um Helen and Mariah you were part of the meeting as well Um did you have anything to add to the summary i was also there Uh sorry who was that carolyn Caroline I wasn't part of the
meeting but I was there I I believe I saw Sarah and Carolyn um on the on the call as well Um I don't think I have anything to add Just that um in case anyone's confused it's not a blue and green spreadsheet it's a red and green spreadsheet Oh did I say blue
and green yeah I heard blue and green Just in case anyone was wondering if there was a different spreadsheet they didn't know No there's no secret spreadsheet That's that's it Okay Okay So u moving on to select board last night So for this meeting um I don't know who was watching but at least um
Susan Lionus and I were on the call Um so the building department budget was discussed just before school budget Uh these were fairly brief discussions There's quite a bit of push back on the action we took at our last meeting um cutting the um building maintenance um
budget So there's dispute um both on uh whether these cuts are prudent and on whether we're even um entitled to make these cuts at all um on our own initiative Um so there's certainly going to need to be further discussion about that Um when it came to the school
department uh Susan presented a highle overview Um and I would say the the main outcome of uh of the discussion was that the select board tasked uh the town administrator to come back to them at their next meeting which I think is on
the 29th uh with options to close the remaining gap um and sort of some discussion about the consequence what the consequences would be for you know town services and um and town finances overall So uh that's a very brief summary of the select board meeting It
wasn't a very long discussion Um but that was I think the the main takeaway Um so I don't know if those others who are present have anything to add to that summary Uh Caroline
Um thanks Yeah so I was at the town partnership and I watched part of the select board Um I would add that um select board member Paul Warren asked
about the uh advisability of taking or using one-time funds as a practice Um and Dr Gillery responded that he um well he could say what he
responded Um and I would say that um I I think town administrator Carrie was um kind of pretty clear about were there
to be um an ask for town funds kind of where that potentially could or couldn't be Um and I think he made a point of of saying that were we to look at the affordable
housing trust that we would want to um think carefully about how that would would play Sort of pitting um the school department against the affordable housing trust So
um I heard some of some of that preliminary discussion Yeah I mean ideas that the town administrator has floated publicly up to now I would say they include shared service consolidation which I think for now mainly means legal and he's clear that that doesn't result in significant savings in the coming
year Um this looking at reserve funds on the school side So basically our revolving fund balances um which are some of them are sizable at the moment um in what he calls onetime bridging funds and he's brought up in that connection the um the design phase of the Lincoln school
playground That's what he's mentioned publicly so far but you know it's really only at yesterday's meeting did the select board really task him with coming back to them with some some options So uh he's expected to do that at their next meeting And uh again we we've been
emphasizing the May 1st deadline uh for for pink slipping So there so there's some urgency uh on all sides right now Um okay sorry I lost track of who had their hand up first so I'll start with Sarah Um so I'm unclear if we're only discussing right now those two meetings
or if we're on to general discussion about the budget Um I think we we can have any any discussion we want that's uh generally about the budget The other thing I was expecting to come up was um this um this pink slipping deadline and um uh you know what Dr Gillery has to say about
the approach to that because obviously we don't want to go there but I think we that's what I was going to go on to So I don't know if you want to hear from Dr Gillery first or if I should just go ahead and say my comment I personally would really appreciate if
Lionus could sort of speak to his plan and then we could ask questions if that's okay That makes sense Thanks Unless even and or Susan has a comment to make that's specifically about what I what I or Caroline just said and then we can just move on to Dr Gillery
I was I was going to comment about um uh the task um of the town administrator and one of those was uh to review our revolving fund balance There's two things I just want to uh mention one is that they're looking at the very
balances that we're we're going to be using in order to close this year's gap So what they're seeing is what I've already mentioned to you but um in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration um we'll be meeting with the our our
town colleagues tomorrow to review our revolving fund balances so we're all on the same page and they understand um how we are using um those balances and our revolving funds to mitigate the impact of um our uh our gap So I just wanted to
make you aware of that Thanks My my comment also Yeah Yeah My comment my question was just to ask or if you wouldn't mind providing a little extra detail on um what the select board said on whether the school committee has
the authority to um change its contribution to building maintenance Uh I think I don't I don't remember what everybody said and not everybody weighed in Um and the select board certainly didn't take a vote or anything like that I think um I mean there was general
unease Um I I think one member basically said like you know which member uh John Vinskoak um I remember him saying that you know if we decline to uh pay our assessment uh in the amount that the town would like us to pay this year then
they'll simply take it out of our next year's allocation Um I I think the way that the way the town administrator explained this um is that the town quote unquote assesses the schools for um for the work that's done
on our buildings And so it's part of our school budget but it's paid to the town right so the town could assess us We could decline to pay but I don't know I don't know where that lands us Okay Thank you Mhm I just I I think I've said this before but
I'm not sure Th this began with the school committee actually uh taking but when we took our budget vote when in the past we would take the budget vote and then vote to uh move money from our
budget to the um to the building department for our maintenance repair and maintenance Uh that went on for years um it stopped at one point and started the town started to do it and that's I don't remember exactly when
that was I don't know Mariah if you have any recollection about that but I remember I thought that was tied to that um the matrix report wasn't it tied to the matrix report in 2011 or 12 Yeah So up until then it was always our money
that was voted in So we knew what was going to be coming out of our budget uh when we when we did that um this change I mean I understand it but I think also you know the money does come out of our budget so there's a some discussion that
needs to happen I think right so of course I voted yes for this last week but I understand all the reservations and I agree with them even if I feel like there was just a bad choice or a worse choice and I made a bad choice but I didn't particularly love it But with that said um I do hope
that the even if the decision is that we should not take the entire 600,000 that hopefully we'd still be able to make decisions like we're not going to wash windows this year and still be able to reach some sort of collaborative agreement at some lesser amount So I don't know where that's going to end up
and um but I am certainly supportive of um if the 600,000 is an issue that we see if there's some smaller amount again you know maybe it's that in the painting things that really could be delayed So that's my only thought is hopefully there's a a middle ground
Okay If there's no more discussion about that then let's move to Dr Gillery um just to discuss like a general approach to uh the contingency that we would have to send out pink slips uh on May 1st So thank you all and again thank you for your engagement uh in this very
difficult process Um so we're at the point now where we're getting close fast approaching the May 1st deadline And part of the um the thinking here has been and I again I'll be very clear I don't want to go through the pink slipping process I don't want to do that
at all But I also recognize the um the commitment that that places the district in So what I've asked the senior leadership team to do is to set up um meetings when we return back uh from break to look at how we would do some
form of a controlled um identification of staff that may that we would impact or notice if um we are not able to um close the gap or at least identify where funds would come from to close the gap
Um we have some notice now of the house budget So that's information that uh is fresh and hot off the press So that will have some impact on uh the numbers I certainly want to look at the attrition aspect of it There's also a number of folks that um will receive non-renewal
notices outside of the riffing process So all of those pieces in conjunction are together uh we'd work with our building leaders um and budget managers to identify uh selected staff is the process that we'll be using there Um
this means that um in some capacity it will uh impact it may impact decisions that the committee has previously taken So uh my order of operations and Susan can speak a little bit more because she's teeing this up along with Dr
Fortuna Uh but my order of operations would be certainly looking at attrition or retirements looking at where we would could minimize impact at all Um looking for other opportunities that building leaders may have if they know something
about their enrollment trends um and classes that may be able to um um if there are adjustments that could be made there and they can move staff around in the building while also um doing a consolidation And so we're going
to try to take advantage and that's the wrong term to use but try to take the opportunity to minimize the impact but knowing that a a gap of this size will definitely impact some folks but we're not doing some widescale gross
um um blanketed uh grab of positions I think that's been referenced to in the past Now um my desire is that we don't go through this at all but I think um it's our responsibility or my responsibility at
least um unless directed otherwise by the committee not to do so but to uh prepare us in the instance that we are not able to um meet those financial obligations or get the the budget closed
Thanks Dr regularly So I see Mariah and then Helen Thank you Lionus for that um for that answer and and I appreciate particularly that it's going to be really leveraging attrition leveraging um just where we
can make these changes My question is how so say for example that attrition might impact a program which we had the committee has in its recent votes prioritized and decided to retain So if
you were to take that attrition spot and then choose not to fill that position next year it would still damage that program in some way though even though the committee had just prioritized it right so how do we make sure um that subsequent decisions on this
um process don't if that money is does not appear later on that that that somehow that money I'm being very inarticulate right now but somehow those programs aren't somehow that damaged later on down the road because we are if that
money does not come to fruition Does that question make sense i feel like that was the worst question ever I think I was I think I was following Did you get the gist okay I hope so Um so it's it's it's going to be we're going to do it very carefully in conjunction with um
with all the folks there together um all of our principles um and directors uh as such And I don't want to put out specific examples because I do have some in mind that I know about right now but I don't want to put that out because that causes a frenzy uh around that But
let's say we have um a retirement um out of snow skiing um and snow skiing um has five students in it or that person had five students Well those five students may be able to be redirected to either
to another sport or to another section of said um uh uh activity so that it minimizes the increase on in other areas In some cases folks are planning for or have been thinking about this when we're
going through the budgeting process hence some of the recommendations that were actually made Um but what we're not going to do is go and whole hog um as a department undo and I'll use that frame
undo what the committee has has uh said not to do but recognize that that level of impact will will trickle into those areas we think right now um we'll look we you know you certainly get your retirement notices and those types of things or people moving out of state or
moving closer to home we get those notices all the time and so it's a moving target um as of such um but we want to do it uh in collaboration with uh all of our leaders as such so as possible that's can I can I just make a
comment back Andy on that like just because I'm just reflecting on for example last year we did we voted to retain um edtech at one per school and then this year Lincoln the edtech position went away And so I think that like there
is there's this balance between um we talk about like this system of schools versus a school system right and so it's helpful for I think there needs to be this balance hit between making sure that we're not um that we that if
you go to one school you still sort of get the same education as you do at another school in Brooklyn right we know what a Brooklyn education is And just making sure that like that's still being preserved And again my my hope was that none of these um any any potential riffs
would be rescended um in the near future but if any of them were to stay that we can still say yes an education in one school is what the the what we all understand it to be and that it's consistent across the system That's all through this process Thank you Very much so And then that notion of as you said
and I didn't close that piece certainly if if and when the money is restored then we'll go back and start inviting those people back and hopefully again my desire is not to go through that but I recognize that I also need to prepare the organization for it as well Thank
you Helen and Carolyn for this and thank you thank you for taking a scalpel and not a sledgehammer um and really looking at at at uh pe the attrition and the resign um people who
are retiring because in the past that's been um has happened to be quite a bit of money um when people retire Um my question uh or I also wanted to just comment on the fact that I saw that you put out a letter I think it came from
Megan I'm not sure uh about what people's plans were for next year When is that due back Susan do you know um got it remember they generally give
them a a couple of weeks I think to respond to it And I know I was talking with actually two principles today about that and that's sort of shifted what they were thinking about their sectioning for next year So that's why it's you know I'm being careful about what I share out at this juncture
because it can change at any moment But that's you know an example of what a principal was thinking for next year I have seven sections but I know that I can possibly reduce that because I know some students are going out to private school some are moving out So then I can
consolidate or close a section Um and then I can move that section to another opening that I have in my building and I reduce one but I keep I'm able to maintain my staff And so that's what you know that's a a great example as well as
to what um what our principles and and leaders are thinking about Right And our kindergarten registration has that been is it tracking the same as it had last year or do you remember do you know susan do you have I don't have any
updates on K kindergarten just yet yeah Once we go through the kindergarten registration only represents a fraction of the population Yeah So uh Megan and I were planning on meeting um after the break uh she had asked for a little
grace um and that we would look at the numbers at the beginning of May So um based on the April um information that I have there's a few hot spots Um um but in general there's
nothing that we can see at this moment that that would cause us to say "Oh you know we're going to make a a huge shift in our projection for kindergarten at this point." One thing just to keep in mind and I think you probably know this already but
people outside might not Often times when new people new kids come into the system and if they're going into a grade where there might be you know a questionable number of kids we offer the family the ability to to go to the
another school nearby usually um that uh has a lower um population So just you know keeping that in mind that we do our policy does allow to to enroll in any school and offering that to to parents
sometimes they they will decide uh that that makes sense for them especially if they're new to the system way so but I'm telling the rest of the committee who may not be aware should I go ahead Andy basically Um
thanks So a few things One is quick Um I just want to say out loud I've said this in email but I don't know where that goes I know it's work but I really really hope that at some point we will have a document that is a much updated
version of the initial budget request Um we've spent a ton of time unfortunately talking about what's not in the budget Um I personally think it it would be our responsibility Um and it's certainly my
hope to to be able to ultimately look at what is in the budget what our budget is and our program is um after all the changes that we've made So that's just a request And then following up on what I
think was said at the TSP and select board I think um Linus or Susan when talking about the um positions in reserve mentioned that you're already looking at three places where you
anticipate using those So I'd love if you could talk about that happy to you say what those are and then I have another point and question after but yep well actually there's there are a number of hot spots we have our eyes
on right now uh Driscoll um at grade five is one of them so I'll just give you the hot spots y uh Driscoll grade five um uh Hayes grade two Lawrence grade four grade three and uh FRR grade
two Okay thanks Yep Sorry how many was that total that was five Sorry I just Yep there's five I'm not saying we have to add them Those are the ones that we are monitoring closely because they're right Um and as as you know from like last year sometimes the enrollment
starts to go down So we've got a few less overr FRR but it doesn't so it's not rising Um but it's still not sufficient enough to take our eyes off it So there's there's five hot spots for sure I I think that uh we're going to
absolutely from what I'm looking at right now need to add the grade five at Driscoll Like that seems essential The other ones um we have an eye on them um just because they you know even in the budget document you'll see that the
numbers are are are high They're like right on the edge there So a couple students or eight students go you don't need to add it Um but if it stays at or starts to increase then then we're really going to have to do something there In the other areas I'm not seeing
um anything right now Certainly we'll keep you aware of that And then once Megan um and I have a chance to sit down in in the beginning you know after the school vacation week we'll sit down and then I'll provide you with an update on um you know what class sizes are looking
like Okay that form that Megan uh referenced I think Helen may have asked about it earlier that directly impacts um sort of those decisions So when you got when you initially received sort of the um section breakdown uh that was a
point in time and so it shifted uh it's been a month or more now since you've received that and so it's continuously shifting based on family decisions and choices And so and then obviously I mean the even though I appreciate you know if
we're talking about um uh reducing the budget through in in positions even if it is that people leave um that's sort of less harmful and achieves that that
budget cut but of course then the impact is in the classroom So thank you for answering the question about the reserves that you had your eye on Um but I hope that we'll be you know having a comprehensive conversation about what
the impacts are even if the only losses were through attrition Related to that I need to reiterate something I've asked a few times in email that table that was linked to one of the FAQs is terrific
and chalk full of information I don't know who made it Um but I do have to point out and it's really important It had some fundamental mistakes in terms of the building capacities Um that beautiful table shows Driscoll as a
three section school Um our big expensive new Driscoll is a foursection school Um and one of the nice things about that table was it had a a row for like seats available while staying out of hot
territory So it seems important for that to be um accurate And it also didn't take into account I think it had Pierce in its old building I don't know how different it is what the capacity is at Newberry and
at OS Um and it also shows the Baker School as a four section school which it functions as um barely but Baker is built as a three-section school So I
would love if as we're having these conversations I it would be helpful because that's part of that holistic um piece And I'm just going to say one more thing um as we're starting to talk about this
potential loss of educator jobs and possible pink slips Um I mean the implication and the statement from Dr particularly last week um was that there's no more on offer from staff Um I
guess I just just want to you know we're continuing to get emails from the community Um you know we I don't believe we were presented with a rationale um for all of the
um all of the work uh that's specific in the school department in HR Um I don't think we've been presented with a rationale
um for the full staffing in uh Office of Teaching and Learning Um and I'm just going to say it because I want to say it Um I think that if unaligned staff
um had took a pay freeze took one for the team uh that's probably three educators So just want to say that Thank you Okay thanks Uh so we got Stephen Helen and then I think maybe we should move to
an update on Brooklyn Adult and Community Educations to follow up on our conversation last Thursday Stephen Uh thanks Andy Um uh two questions and a brief comment So first question uh is Dr
Gillery I just am wondering if just recalling the last time the district sent out pink slips I'm wondering if there's been any opportunity to to um talk with the BEu about any joint messaging around the possibility of pink
slips to explain the the district's position and our intentions to uh possibly reduce the level of alarm around this and how we're hoping to quickly walk them back in hopes of
negotiating with the town or if that has not been a possible communic communication strategy So Justin and I um as well as the BEu team and the district leadership team have been meeting rather frequently um
around this and keeping each other uh informed as such And so we will continue um down that path And when we get to that juncture point we we will um certainly join forces um as well because we we've been discussing this for about
a month or so uh internally Okay I appreciate that Um my second question was following up on Carolyn's comment on sections Um I guess this is for both you Dr Gillery and for you Dr Given Um some
of the feedback that we heard at PTO's was that if there was sufficient data showing that um that there was in fact going to be a need for additional FTEES
at schools Um it was it possible to allocate some of those reserve sections earlier rather than later given the the inevitability that the hiring pool would dry up by August or at least be a lot smaller in August than it would be now
Um since we know for instance that Driscoll as you said Dr Given is extremely likely to need that FTE is it possible that the hiring process could begin immediately rather than start in August as as Dr Glay I think was your initial strategy
i guess I I'm asking that to either Dr Gibbons or Dr Gillery So Susan I I'll punt it over to you but I think uh what we were saying Stephen was uh and what Susan was just saying a minute ago is that the um she and Megan
are going through doing a cross check on enrollment now And so um it would be to our advantage especially if we're looking at displacing uh educators to take advantage of uh those uh individuals that we know um especially
if we're going to add a section um to a school so that we're not going out uh but we're leveraging our internal resources there So Susan you want to round that out uh sure So as as we look at uh the
process of identification we need to start with um I think to Mariah's point we can't we can't take them randomly but right we can't eliminate positions randomly And
so um you know we have talked before about there are seats and there are people that fill the seats So what we need to do is identify what seats and then from there we go through this process that takes it's it's it's quite
um ownorous um but we go through this process of identifying if those seats are eliminated what staff do we move where And so when you have um folks that are retiring then um that's great
because then it doesn't bump somebody that's in a seat But the process starts with identifying the seats and then placing as many of our educators in the seats that are left as possible And we have to follow the riffing language when we do that So um just to you know assure
you that that that um it won't be and it can't be random because there's rights under the contract and an order in which we have to place people that has to be followed So um so yeah once we have the enrollment information um we're meeting
with principles uh the Monday that we return and that is the nature of the work that we'll be doing I was looking at these numbers today before the meeting because I wanted to to uh refresh my memory about you know what's it looking like now But I don't um we
usually update the information um uh you know multiple times during the year and when I reached out to Megan to get fresh numbers even for today and she's like I I just you know uh she's juggling a hundred things and and trying to get
some of these um uh enrollments placed This is a very busy time for our churn and so she's working um uh feverishly to get the data as current and correct as possible so we can make good decisions
Thanks Dr Given Yeah I'd just like to make one brief comment also Um I just want to thank you Dr Given and thank you Dr Gillery for iterative iteratively bringing proposed cuts to the school
committee um and for looking into areas for possible cost efficiencies and further cuts Um it's my very strong understanding from the MASC course that we all took as school committee members
that school committee members may uh request areas to look into or can vote a budget up and down but it's really not our prerogative to request ration for whether a position should remain in a budget from year to year in a budget
conversation much less request that a specific position or activity or specific program or direct cost be justified in a budget conversation I think that's for us to defer to your expertise when defending
the excellence of the overall education program put forth So I just want to reiterate that I appreciate the iterative process that we've gone through and I think it's an overstep to request specific cuts to to specific personnel or activities by the school
committee Thank you All right Uh got Helen and Sarah Then I'd like to um ask Mariah for an update on uh Brooklyn adult and community education This is just a a quick question Um I it
when we had been at uh Driscoll school I visited both the third and fourth grade which will be next year's fourth and fifth I thought that both grades were sort of at that pressure point but what I hear you saying is only one of them is
we had addressed one in the budget process already Oh I wasn't aware So so the the fourth grade there will already be let's look at uh I checked a few of them that were
problematic now and the only one um at Driscoll that was on the Yeah So next year's fourth grade we had added a section Oh okay I I didn't I had Next year's fifth we held on Okay Um and so
it's the fifth grade that may in fact right now based on our numbers uh the class sizes are very very small in next year's fourth grade Okay great Well under 20 Well under 20 like in the
eight you know 17 range right now Okay Okay great Thanks Sarah Andy I think you'll be pleased to know that I got the answers to all my questions over last Okay Um All right then Um Mariah would you mind updating us on some
conversations uh sort of following up on um last Thursday's discussion of uh base yeah Before I do um I want to take a moment to see if we can do the motion adjusting the vote for OEE that we didn't take last week because of um the
order in the agenda So I just want to get that out of the way really quickly before I get into base if that's okay with you Andy That's fine Do you have do you have a reasonable wording for that motion yes because Betsy sent us reasonable wording for that lang for that motion So thank you Betsy Um so
this is the motion that I'm going to make which is motion to clarify actions taken by the school committee on March 20 13 2025 relative to the elimination of the office of educational equity The vote included savings realized by eliminating two OEE staff and related
materials and supplies from the operating budget It also included savings realized by eliminating the equity lead stipens charged to the title 2 grant The March 13 2025 votes did not include 23,500 pledged from the Brookline
Education Foundation for FY26 OEE initiatives The FY26 operating budget savings therefore should be recorded as $381,545 not $45 uh45 as pres presently shown on the
running tabulation of reductions Thank you Betsy I'm not known for my brevity unfortunately Um all right Is there a second yeah I'll second it Okay Thanks Jesse Um yeah so this came up as new business last time but we weren't able really to
discuss it So is there any discussion at this point um I just have a quick question I see Suzanne Steven and now Caroline Yep Yeah Hi Could you just explain are we reopening whether we are voting for OEE
or we are No that's that's conversation is not for now But that BEF told somebody I think Jod but I don't remember who that they would not allow us to reallocate those funds for a different purpose which was what we our original vote well what some people's
original vote um would have done And so this is just saying um if we get those monies it's only going to be for those OE purposes Right now OEE is eliminated So those monies are off the table If the OEE is returned they may you know
as there is a community drive happening for then though they could reallocate those funds but those funds don't contribute in either way They they are dedicated to specific purposes that will only exist if OEE exists So a yes vote means
um means that we still accept those funds We can still accept those funds in the future just we don't get to take it as a credit on our um reduction on our budget gap reduction Right Right That's how I understood it Yep
Okay Thank you Okay I see Caroline's hand up at this point And to be clear we never accepted the BEF money Correct I don't think we have accepted it yet I
don't think it's come to us yet Okay Yeah I think that they've notified the district I don't know exactly sure where we are but I think they've told the district very recently in advance of the budget cycle Um but I don't think any of the actual formal notifications have
come to the committee to accept yet Is that correct Susan to your knowledge correct So it was just a wording mistake where the thing was worded that we would reallocate We're just not taking We
never took it to begin with Fine Right Okay Um I see no more hands so let's take go to a vote Um Jesse yes Carolyn yes Helen yes I think you said that Mariah yes
Suzanne I'm abstaining Steven yes Sarah abstaining And I'll vote yes as well Um okay uh summarize you would you like to update us on base yes I will um update on base So
following our meeting last week and the conversation that the committee had um about base um when I thought was quite strong support for base um and sort of our struggle with this challenge
around funding I reached out to the director of recreation and the parks and recreation commission um to inquire about their willingness to at least discuss um the idea of um base
being consolidated with recreation Um we had a positive meeting earlier today It was Susan and I one of the commissioners from parks and wreck the recreation director and assistant director um the base director and the chair of the base
advisory board Um and at the outset I sort of explained from that it was very clear as I just mentioned from our conversation last week that school committee really wants the types of offerings the successful offerings that base has and the base legacy to survive and that also that base brand and
history is compatible with how recreation runs its programs as well Um and I think it was a really really as I said positive meeting Um the recreation staff and the PSB staff are going to um
follow up on this conversation Um Wreck is going to get some of the sort of background um data numbers analysis from PSB to understand um what kinds of programming and which programs
could work from their perspective within the wreck framework I guess I'll describe it as um they're going to consult with CHAZ to you know see where he stands on this and consult with their commission and they will come back to us Um because of the timing obviously it
would be incredibly it would be impossible to come back before our May 1st deadline So we wouldn't really be able to wait on making a decision for base on what Rex said But they did say that um of course um they hope like I I think it was within one or two months Is
that about right Susan yeah they just need to be able to do the the work the collaborative work um with PSB staff to really understand how this could work Um and of course you know there's no commitment from them at this time because they haven't done any of this background knowledge gathering that they
need to do But again it was a very positive um discussion and and I think that there I'm I'm enthusiastic that there might be a path forward for bass that really works in terms of the synergies with staffing with systems with um the many other things And both
um the rec staff and base staff um the rec director and the base director um noted that they're already working together like they run summer programs in out of the same buildings in PSB And so this is already you know a lot that's they're already doing together And so um that was a very again I was just really
grateful um for the the willingness to come together and to talk about this and um and it feels like a positive conversation that may generate um a good outcome So the way I see we we're sort
of the three paths forward right now Um and I guess there's four I'll say the there's four Um the first is PSB chooses to fund base for next year The second is PSB ends base after the summer uh the
summer program The third is Mariah that first one that you gave PSB funds base for next year that's with the supplemental money they requested Yes Right Well I guess the 267,000 at minimum I'm just trying I'm laying out the entire like universe right now Um so
funding funding base for next year ending base after the summer program pausing base um pausing base after the summer program um at minimum I would say for the balance of um the next fiscal year or base transferring to wreck Um
and does any is there any other universe possibility that anyone wants to mention that I might have omitted can I just say Mariah that endowment or something I guess but that's not well that's not currently on the table Go ahead Susan I was just going to say that
option number three to pause it for next year we would still have to lay off all the staff That's right That's right And so to to this point both both whether we end it or whether we pause it essentially that still means that for those staff there is no position
following the summer program um this summer Stephen do you have another universe to suggest i don't know that it's a whole universe but I guess I'm still not totally clear on why we we can't offer say half of what's being requested or some portion of what's
being requested and say this is all we can commit to and we need you to work within that budget to to continue to operate Well because PSB is bound by law to close the deficit in the revolver at the end of next fiscal year either way But
to say that you that they can't overspend this amount I guess why why they why they are able to um to to incur funds beyond what we what we all lot to
them I'm sorry to incur uh to incur costs beyond what we we guarantee I think there you know it's important um to kind of step back into what um Michelle Michelle um had shared with
us and that is that they had uh reduced their staff significantly and have been growing staff back but at no point in the last five years have they been able to um run
a program that um was profitable and so the trying to rightsize base is been a strategy that they have followed It hasn't um unfortunately resulted in an improved financial situation for them Oh
no I I know I'm not saying that they need to get rightsized immediately I I'm just saying can we buy them time with a certain amount of funding since the our current options seem to be all or nothing while we while they have time to
negotiate with other government bodies while they have time to to pursue other courses of action That that's my only question If if that is a non-existent universe then I'll just stop talking right now And I remember your comment from last time Dr given is that these
business models simply may not exist and I may just be dreaming in which case these are things I don't know Yeah I I think if we weren't in such deficit this year and having to use every uh fund balance that we have to get through this
year that maybe there would be some options I I just don't happen to see them Stephen unfortunately Okay I appreciate that Yeah So thank you Stephen So I guess with you know given these four options in front of us I guess the question for the
committee is you know do we want to make a motion tonight um or are we still um are we still wanting to defer the decision to me the most palatable
decision Hang on one second Helen I'm gonna answer my own question and then I'll call on you or I guess Andy will call on you Um to me the most palatable decision is to pause base for the balance of um
FY26 Um I think that we want we I that would leave hope for Wreck to be able to come in following our decision and pick it up um that would again retain the summer programs that we've already committed and that would not foreclose
on any future possibility for base to be um restarted But it just recognizes the financial situation that we are in for the upcoming year So that's sort of my my feeling is that's the best of the options but I'm not um I'm not sure I'm ready to make a motion yet myself Just
to clarify that option means um laying off the entire current staff of base right those positions would be eliminated I I don't know how it works Again just separating positions versus people They there may be bumping rights associated with some of those people Um
but I but yes those positions would be eliminated Yes Hey Helen And then Suzanne So I'm unclear I know that we we did vote correct to continue to continue base through the
summer I don't see the urgency right now while they're in negotiations with the recck department to make that decision today Well the only thing is that I believe we're still bound for the union members
to to notify of them of or anyone who would be impacted by the base elimination whatever that riffing might do in bumping I don't think that they are part of the BEu or any of the other
they have they have I think at least two visa secretaries right yeah Correct Secretaries Okay Well I think that would I I still feel that we could wait on that My opinion the other just I'm not disagreeing with
you I'm just saying that there's $53,000 that is pending that decision in our calculator Yeah I I also don't see the urgency for tonight I would really like to give them a little bit of time to work something out with wreck and you know we come back and look
at it I don't know in June if they've had two months to figure out something or just to see if they've gotten something I mean to pause it would mean to shut it down and then they're not around to do the work to make it work together So I would like Oh sorry um I
didn't mean to interrupt My understanding is that whatever we do now or don't do I mean there everybody's around until the end of August Um Right Right But if we're saying we're going to pause even at September 1st then come
September there will not be any employees of base to keep working on on some kind of negotiations or you know work together So I'd rather not make that decision tonight I'd rather give them some time to see if they can come up with uh something that'll work for
them for base and wreck together Just just want to note that by delaying means that we will not be able to um take advantage of the cut to preserve additional um reductions
Can you explain that i'm saying that if the action is taken during the budget process then the $53,000 um is then applied towards the reductions that we make If you wait until September it
doesn't we won't there won't be any can with we can't take we we won't be able to take the credit against this budget carrying I my understanding was we're not carrying any deficit in our budget for next year in that in
our that it wasn't in our budget the deficit for next year is it in our budget for next year and by making a decision it would go down 53,000 our our deficit is that what you're saying there so there's two parts there's the deficit
that is not in our budget the the 53 3,000 in benefits is something that would have a positive impact on reducing our gap because it reduces the costs
um it reduces the it increases the revenue available to us and that would be and that's prorated through September It won't it um September who has already counted in when right
Susan when you already Susan already fractionally said that we would still run a a positive balance through September right due to the summer programming would be covered so that would be the total 53 yeah right so if you wait until September then it has no
we we will not get wait until another two three weeks when they can talk about it it will have an impact just to be clear they said they didn't would not be ready in 2 or 3 weeks They said they needed more time than that It would be closer to 1 to two months I
also don't see how we could wait until September because uh we have to present a budget to town meeting in May And if we don't sunset base now then we have to we have to add something to our budget to cover their expected loss for next year or whatever portion of next year
we're proposing to keep them open So you know we can't just defer this until September we have to actively add money to our budget if we don't sunset them now It's an and both to Andy's point We don't get the reduction and we
have to cover the deficit and we have to have an appropriation uh within the budget to do that I think this is a long longer discussion I mean I'm not prepared to vote to sunset them now I thought we were going to give them some time I know
we don't have much time but it just um if you sunset them it's gone September one And I I don't know that that's what we're ready Maybe we're prepared to vote for that I don't know I'm not But Jesse has had his hand up for quite a
while I'm sorry Jesse Go ahead please Yeah Um I just wanted to point out that I I agree with where Suzanne is going in terms of giving them more time but I most certainly agree with you as well Andy that um the fact that we've gotten
to base as a discussion item at the in the second half of April now is just the reality The other reality the the re in the same reality or the same universe is a need to balance the budget And I think whatever is happening as a result of us
catalyzing this discussion with the rec parks and wreck and other community people who are now aware of what will happen after the summer that we need to we need to act decisively not because we
don't believe that bay should continue but that we know as Susan said that we're going to lose on one end and also add something that we can't afford So I would say that we delaying our vote isn't going to change the base um result
right in other words they're working separately Now I mean look I I' I've been working with people in the community to see if we can gather a group of people to help help them Um there are other people that have asked me through other liaison that I'm on to to ask them to reach out to Michelle and team and work with them So there are
people looking at it It's just the timing right now doesn't really allow us the the luxury of delaying any longer than town meeting as you said and we don't really have a lot of school committee meetings between now and then anyway maybe two or something like that so two or three So my my sense is even
though I think the community is very well aware that everyone on the school committee agrees that base needs to stay as a town program I think people also will see that the school committee itself looking at our budget can't uh
afford to keep it on past August So I would suggest we we act sooner rather than later As difficult and as painful as it is but with the full realization to the community that we're we're 100% on board with keeping it it just won't be funded by the school department
Would you like to make a motion i would move what I just said I mean the mo the mo the motion would be that we um we move to Sunset Base following our our recent decision to um support it through
the end of the summer because as Dr Given has shown us there's sufficient money so that we don't go um so we don't have to pay extra it will provide us some savings and that we continue to work with all community partnerships to
find a way to continue it after um August 31st Is there a second to that motion is sunsetting the same as pausing no I mean the effect here what I think what this motion does is it it says that
we are not going to add money to our our budget to cover the base's expected loss next year A consequence of that will be that base will stop operating after August 31st Right so sun setting at Steven means that um when the sun sets on August 31st
the relationship budget-wise between the school department and base would end Right So what would a pause entail that's why my hand is up Oh there you go Um personally I would not I would prefer
to vote for um pausing the program Um I think that we have heard um a strong desire in the community to have this kind of programming So even if PSB cannot afford
it for the upcoming full year I would prefer to say that we are pausing it and that would give us that would have makes make clear our signal or signal our intention to um include it in our in any override that would be next spring to be
able to bring it back that following year We're close to there Since Jesse's motion hasn't been seconded yet go ahead Susan if you have a comment on that before I do the parliamentary thing Yeah Yes Um I I just
want um clarity around that description of pausing Would that would that mean uh that it would remain a school um program or I think it would give us the flexibility if Wreck comes forward
to say we've got a great plan Then we can say this is awesome you know we're gonna work with you to transition this whether it's partway through 26 or 27 But I think that it said it also sends a signal that like we if wreck if wreck doesn't have a way that they want it to
that they can see that makes it a really great program for the community because ultimately I think as school committee I think you alluded to this Jesse we are we are less it's not that we are clinging to it in PSB we want it as a service to the Brookline community and if it can thrive in wreck that is a
great outcome and if it and if it can't then we want to still be able to sort of say but wait We want to be able to reconsider this um given the potential for future funding but it imposes no financial obligation on us Correct 26
Correct But to me it signals our um that we are not satisfied with the program being sunset We are voting for it but as a financial decision not because we believe that the program should go away So right I agree with
Okay So since your motion wasn't seconded yet um if you want to accept that as a friendly amendment uh to your motion you can do that without the committee having to approve Yeah I would accept what Mariah added
Yes As amended Um so is there a second to this amended motion so I I'd like to second it but just to clarify what I'm seconding this is a motion to suspend funding to base for the 2526 school
year or to pause funding to base for that year for fiscal year 26 For fiscal year 26 after August 31st because that's in the fiscal year Thank you Yes I I'd like to
So So it's a motion to pause funding to base for fiscal year 26 after August 31st Oh just so I'm clear there's no difference in those two things because it's it's going to be cash flow positive through August 31st anyways right Susan
very likely Okay I I second that Yeah that is what Susan told us Mariah is that the way the the fund is that it'll be drained by the end of August well it'll be cash flow positive but there would be a small balance at the end of August I think Right Yes
Okay So thank you Stephen for the second So I see Caroline and then Suzanne Um thank you My hand was up for something else but I'll just And to be clear that means the six staff positions
will be eliminated Okay And I think Oh Don I one of the things I just want to be clear about too and maybe we we can um clarify this
with Michelle is that if if the program this spring is not going to run um you know uh in a sustainable way that that we should not be offering you know some of those programs So in other words
when she and I sat down together and we went through it she gave me the best case scenario I asked her then for the worst case scenario If it's the worst case scenario it could be problematic in terms of the fund balance if you remember that presentation that I made Um so I will you know I will have a
conversation with Michelle about ensuring that as we close the year uh that we're not going to run any programs that can't at least break even um this spring so that we don't run into a problem with having to cover expenses
from base in the current fiscal year Thanks Dr Given Yeah go ahead please Yeah I'll just give it one more try I'll probably vote against this because I feel like we told Michelle that we would give her a little time to come back to us with either a
balanced budget or some kind of program going forward It doesn't mean that eventually we don't have to do what we're now talking about but I feel like we owe that to her and we owe it to the community Um I don't know that this was uh posted that we would be voting on
this I don't know Was it um but I I feel like that this will surprise the community that we're now taking this vote tonight And I felt like we told Michelle that we would give her a chance to come back and at least present something to her and we could ask more questions
So yes and Carolyn I actually agree with Suzanne I think that it's it was posted that we might take a vote on any reductions or increases So that I mean it is covered However I think that it's
it's not fair to that community and it's not fair to um to do it today We do have a meeting on May 1st and that's certainly within the time framework of what we're trying to do everything Um and I I I for one would
would feel much more comfortable voting this knowing that they were on their way to making an agreement with um uh with Wreck Uh I'm happy to try and facilitate that or do anything I can to make that happen Uh because it seems like two
months is a long time to try and figure something out Uh that should shouldn't have to take that long Carolyn with true appreciation for the work you put into this Mariah and and the care I
agree with Suzanne and Helen Just to be clear um you know I thought it was important for us to get that conversational ball rolling but I also you know I I don't feel like I like I said earlier I was not going to necessarily make the motion tonight And I think that we don't necessarily have
to Okay Thank you Yeah So let's go ahead with a vote I mean just I'm going to abstain because um for the same for the reason that Suzanne gave I think um you know we did ask um Michelle to come back to us So um yeah Yeah So I mean um uh
Andy in light of what we've heard so far I think it'll we'll save time because we're running late anyway I'll just withdraw the motion and we'll uh move on uh you you know uh I mean I as I started my first statement I uh was care I was uh I emphasized that I was on board with
Suzanne's philosophy of giving them time so that no one misconr that wasn't the intent uh it was more to move us forward in terms of what we said about knowing that the end of August we're going to run out of money and if we pause it there's uh there are
as Carolyn pointed out um significant impact on the staff and so um giving them a little more time if that will help sure I'm 100% for that so I withdraw my I would withdraw my motion then okay the only issue here is the May 1 um well that I mean everyone who's
commented not to move forward knows about the May first So I'm happy to withdraw it and there's 14 more days So okay It's fine Just on the May 1st thing Um either way well I guess Susan you could proceed
as Well no I guess you can't because you don't have direction from the committee right correct So so Mariah if I understand this correctly when we get back together again say it's a full committee we're not we're only have like you know a day
or two or three or something to make a decision before May 1st And and that and that's still most likely not going to allow the base folks to assemble everything that they need and set everything into place So I'm wondering if we're just in a very impossible time
frame as I said earlier like do we really have to do something that the next meeting if that's what we have to do then as Andy said we just may not have more information than we have now Yeah Is it is the May 1 deadline for visa as
well as for the BEu no just just for the teachers Oh so so what is the what is the deadline do you know for um for visa employees i would have to look up the date Andy to be honest with you I don't have that off the top of my head
I'm going to guess probably June but don't Okay Well maybe that'll inform that'll that could inform our timeline Obviously we still have the town meeting timeline but that's at least for this case that's a Yeah the relationship
isn't the visa right it's it's what dollar amount do we need to reduce in terms of paying slips to teachers in order to um close the gap and that gap you're saying Susan is the
53K Yes Okay That's the relationship between the notices on May 1st It's not that we have to give notice to visa it's that if we don't take the 53,000 I'm not arguing either way I just want you to be clear I just that's why I'm saying I
believe what I said earlier was correct that if we don't make this decision before May 1st that 53 ends up is still in our gap and has to be then covered by a pink slipper or or alternative savings somewhere Right Thank you
Well Jesse asked to withdraw the motion um if there's no objection by anybody then um then it can just be withdrawn But yeah I um I'm doing this on the fly and I'm very torn because I I really don't see any universe in which we're able to step in and fund um the expected
loss next year And so why are we postponing the inevitable in a way that's going to create operational problems well we do we do have one school committee full school committee meeting before May 1st Is that right so
essentially that we have to docket this decision then which is like two weeks from now or something I mean as you say Andy the the the the difficult position we're in isn't going to change
unless some solution is found within before the next meeting Yeah Just sorry I is our next meeting May 1st right it would be too late in two weeks right well then we need to schedule another meeting before then and make
sure that Michelle has the date certain so that she can plan for it Yeah currently the next meeting is scheduled for May 1st We could we could do a short meeting like just for this purpose Um if um well even if there isn't something new to present we would need to take a
vote Okay So will you do that sure It just needs to happen early enough to inform uh the um the work that goes into trying to do the pink slipping in an orderly way So it would need to happen fairly
soon Okay Well let's let's work to schedule a meeting uh we don't have to do that right now But um yeah I I think uh I agree with Suzanne and I also agree with Jesse Um there's there's nothing good about this
Well there is a curriculum subcommittee meeting on the 29th that might be able to be a joint meeting I think that would be really hard for staff who need to figure out riffless to wait till the 29th 63,000 is not gonna it's not even a
full FTE I don't know It feels really late But what it asked the committee is like what new information could we possibly receive at this point that would cause us to um you know to add money to our budget now in order to sustain base in
the next year Is there anything we could conceivably learn at this point that would make that seem possible or desirable suzanne well you know it it is possible that they could come up with some preliminary something not the full which
would allow the community to know that Bass is still going to be around and that they will work with WCK department We don't know what that might look like exactly and we're going to hand over base to the recck department or they will work something out but it's
possible in another two weeks that they might have some preliminary things I know they can't have it all worked out but that they could come to a kind of a a tenative agreement or they could come to some kind of a statement that says you know base will continue They're
going to work That's not going to happen in two weeks Suzanne though They were really clear that they needed time And I think it's only fair I mean I'm not saying that w we're not putting wreck in a position like you know this is an offer for them to accept or not but I think that like they need the time
to be able to work through this and they obviously they can't reneg if they were to accept it So I don't think I think we really need to give them the appropriate time to to do that analysis I'm sorry I shouldn't have interrupted you I just want to be really clear that
like the conversation earlier was very much that they need the time to do the work with PSP I appreciate what you say Mariah We not all of us in the committee have heard this before I mean you just reported tonight So sure It just happened this afternoon So right So that's right So
um you know some of us including Michelle might need time to just think about this I'm not so sure about the May first deadline in terms of pink slips I know about the um the budget that has to be due 53,000 as Helen mentioned is not
a lot of money uh you know we're still talking about a $1.7 million deficit So can I make a motion then in that case to direct staff to proceed as if the 53,000 um
uh to plan as if we are not saving the 53,000 for now It's only a fractional piece of one position but it'll it's allow it's allowing them to plan for how that might affect their decision tree of
any cuts It's only a small it's a it's a fraction of a person but it allows this committee to defer the decision so that staff could work in parallel Would that be helpful Susan or would that be worse if it's
worse say so And I'm sorry Yeah I I'm not sure how you would craft a motion like that would allow us um to take the reduction
without I'd have to Okay Well how would you how would you craft a motion like that i would just say to direct staff to what I just said to direct staff to you know presume that the 53,000 is um not going to be saved I
honestly as to Andy's point I don't see a universe but if we are allowing this to um continue to play out and to give space I think we need to give that space The issue is it's not 53,000 it's 267,000 Um
right The reduction off the gap is 53 plus you have to add minimum Michelle said 400,000 Um but well that was for three years She said that was well at between 200 for two years Yeah Okay
Um I mean I guess I I mean just to go back to the motion we had earlier Andy I mean um it seems like the week of the 28th doesn't give anyone enough time Is that right Mariah because it's going to be too close I defer to Susan but I would imagine so All right So so if it's
too close and next week is vacation and the people aren't available to meet I'm assuming Then here we are on Wednesday evening you know two days before a day before the school vacation where I mean Andy where are the other days to discuss this i mean I'm not trying to be you
know a bad guy here I'm just saying there are no days left Let's be practical It's also 7:15 tonight but I'm saying um let's be practical We don't have a lot of days I agree with Suzanne It'd be great to wait till July to do this but we have other you know
priorities Um so if we can't find the time between now today and tomorrow and then the Monday Tuesday Wednesday before our next meeting but that's May 1st is our meeting In a sense I mean we just have to I don't know swallow hard and say "Oh gee we don't have any days
left." So maybe we need do need to decide something now as tough as that is Otherwise we're just punting it until the Monday or Tuesday and we'll be meeting like this again to talk about it So Susan the Tuesday the 29th um the
curriculum subcommittee that I mean my sense is that the 53,000 I I don't know how how it will impact the the rest of the pink slips
that might need to go out But let let me let me pose this as a as a way forward Um when we do our work with the principles on Monday we
will do our planning um as if you don't make the cut You have the meeting on that Tuesday I'm guessing that that that's the night of the curriculum subcommittee you take it up
then and then we can always dial it back before the notices go out But there's a lot of work that has to take place on Tuesday once we determine what seats we're not going to have to identify how to maximize
um uh retaining the staff that we have right now It's a lot of work I mean it took us Jod and I uh no less than two weeks to do this just for the world language It's very
very complicated So um I I I guess to to marry up with what Mariah was suggesting I I will just plan as if you don't make the decision and then if you do make the decision then we can dial back one one of the reductions Do you know what I'm
saying but if you do that would you have to take an additional 267,000 in cuts i'm just saying we wouldn't send the notices out but I'll prepare as if we are right you know what I mean i'll I'll prepare for the worst case scenario and
then if the the scenario is better on Tuesday then at that point I can um I can I can uh it's easier to restore than it is to figure out who the the the population
will impact Do you know what I'm saying so my concern Susan was that we don't want you to do more work than you need to do because you're already stretched in So having having two scenarios is not is not fair to you If you want to go a bigger scenario that you can then just
trim back a little bit It's a little extra work but it's not like having to do two complete models Right It's it is a little bit more work because the ripple effect of different Yes Um certifications I have to look at
more who can go where it it is a lot but and in a very compressed period of time So um but we'll do we'll do our very best to I I'm just trying to find you a path forward that you feel comfortable with in a situation that's uncomfortable
Thank you Mariah I think in terms of the additional money we've made it clear that we can't afford that and we wouldn't be doing that I mean we've we've said they're only going forward through August 31st Well so again
there's four there's four possibilities within the universe Possibility A was we retain base Possibility B was we sunset Possibility C was we pause And possibility D was it goes to wreck So if we're not willing to make the choices of B or C tonight and we can't determine D
then Susan has to plan for A which is 267,000 This is like a logic like a a math problem or something that we're right now that we were pausing it in after August 31st No what we voted
was that we were conf committing to keep it open through the end of summer programming We have not said what we're doing for the rest of next year That's what this conversation is about Mariah could I paraphrase you is this accurate that like if we don't take the 53 in
cuts uh that implies that we're also committing to adding 267,000 to our budget correct I mean that's what it like that's the that's the practical implication of it Um is is there I mean again just an option
here when you met with town school partnership or with CHZ um Andy is there any flexibility on the town side to somehow find a way to help with base or from the AC to help with base or to you can't put in a last minute warn article It's too late But now that this is again
somehow sprung on us 2 weeks before this paint slip deadline is there a way out of the town side to find the money we need to keep this thing afloat so the program keeps going because the town recognizes how incredibly important it is and of course we all do but can we
get the town administration to help us out of this particular pickle that we're in it has not come up in my conversations I'm finding out about this today along with the rest of us I I understand But what I'm saying is is that we know we know for sure that all
nine of us agree that we don't have the money for it It's just that we don't want to make the decision because it's hard I get it Maybe on maybe what we need to do in the next week and a half is go to the town side and say "Look we as a community we need to keep this The school can't afford it You
already know we're trying to close 1.7 million How can you help us minimum money to just keep it keep it running we don't want to pause it because we should lose the positions It may have to be smaller at some point but that gives us another sort of valve I guess like
Mariah in terms of finding some funding temporarily through the town Hearing hearing this what you're saying Jesse I am going to make the motion again for pausing the program I didn't want to make the motion tonight but like as
we're discussing this this is a um path without a future to defer this vote Yeah And and and if something were to change that um that somehow more revenues could be identified we can always reconsider
it later on But at this point I don't see how our budget can absorb the 267,000 Um and so I'm going to make the vote I'm going to make the motion again And if we second it we can have the vote And if it passes it passes And if it doesn't then we have to reschedule this
conversation And Susan has a plan to proceed But like we're on almost hour two of this And I second it Okay great So this is just something where we can get off the dime Yeah Is there any further discussion before we vote i'm
going to support it I've changed my mind based on the the last few minutes of our conversation Thank you Okay I don't see any hands up so let's do the roll call Jesse yes Carolyn yes
Helen abstain Mariah yes With tremendous gratitude to Michelle for and her team for all of their hard work and understanding the situation we're in and hoping that we are going to create a path for base D
Suzanne no Stephen a sad yes Sarah um Sarah had to leave Oh okay Uh so that leaves me and I vote yes Where did that leave us four to 411 511
511 Sorry I'm going to be super pokey here Jesse said ditto Is that Does that Are you No no no That was I already voted yes The Ditto was on Sorry I'm so sorry I missed that I'm as passionate as keeping the program as anybody else
really I just didn't add a commentary to my vote but I agree with everything that all the commentaries to So again this leaves the door open for us to continue working with rake with
rake with wreck um to uh to support base through the planning that we can do on that and also through the summer program and if there's an opportunity to other opportunities that come up of course we'll explore them and it also gives Susan some closure on the budgetary
aspects as as she and the team work towards um May 1st All right thank you So um yeah my apologies for allowing that discussion to run so long but I think um you know it certainly reflects how torn we are about this and also just the operational
challenges that are coming into focus right now Andy I think it was worth the long discussion and I wonder if it's also worth putting out a communication about this Maybe the communications team can talk about that tomorrow Sure Okay Just
because it's already 7:25 So we move on to new business Anyone want to raise new business okay I don't see any hands So let's adjourn the meeting Thank you everybody Thank you