##VIDEO ID:3qvmAPlWHEA## e e e e e e oh wow this is a little louder today okay someone turned up the mic um welcome to the February 3rd 2025 uh school committee budget workshop and like every meeting uh we will get started with the Pledge of Allegiance United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all all right I'll stop by reading Danver Public Schools mission statement Danver Public Schools is a dynamic community of independent Learners dedicated to respect responsibility creativity and the pursuit of academic and personal Excellence this meeting is being broadcast on danver's community access television um is anyone in the audience recording the proceedings okay no mention um we do know that today's focus is on the uh budget Workshop but we do want to bring up one item of interest um which is you know the you know the recent you know um you know things that we're seeing in the media and hearing within the community uh specifically around you know um the immigration status of you know uh some of our you know neighbors and citizens and um some of the concerns and fairs that have been kind of being spread there's little U misinformation going around so um I was happy to have a conversation with u Mr bow about it um good to hear that some information has been shared with the faculty and some of the administration but um I've asked Mr bow to you know share um that communication and there'll be some other things coming forward but I had invite any commentary from the committee and I'll hand it over to Mr Bower great thank you chair Lopes um indeed we've been working on uh the item um as one of the things that's really important to us is safe School environment for all students and certainly as there's been an awareness of immigration and student status we've done a lot of work collaborating with our school attorneys we've collaborated with the chief of police we also collaborated with the district attorney and we also uh followed the attorney General's guidelines in terms of safe schools and particularly the release of information so we did share information with our administrative team so that our principles and our administrative team understand uh the process that if there's an immigration status challenge that we have a process that we follow uh and again we follow the code we follow the law uh but student rights are protected as under the law so we sent an email out to our staff at the end of last week because there are questions that arise and we want to provide information to our faculty to let them know that we have a process and a procedure that we follow as a district um and we're also working at things at the the school level to support all students so the email it said uh stated that we emphasize we adhere to the guidelines established by the Attorney General of Massachusetts concerning the sharing of student information and access to student school facilities so there's a set of guidelines that we attached uh from the attorney general an updated uh set of guidelines and we protect student information and consultation with our school attorneys we as I mentioned we talked with Chief level as well as our da Paul Tucker of Essex County so a federal agent would arrive at a school the principal would contact the superintendent and request that that person go to the central office and that would be for if there would ever be a question for any student for anything that they would need if it's not the parent or Guardian they would be directed right to my office and the protocol is from there you know if there is a warrant or a need then we would consult with our school attorney and ask for guidance if there's a criminal warrant and will adhere to legal advice as we would in any case uh we do not have the authority to release children into the custody without the order of Court competent jurisdiction or the parent or guardian's consent this is consistent for all students we've discussed our protocols with the principles and the administrative team and the principles they'll follow up in faculty meetings are early released on Wednesday with our curriculum directors um and they're always available to answer any questions the reminders that are important to note is that all school age children Massachusetts are entitled to attend school regardless of their their or their parents immigration status and two we do not gather maintain data relative to immigration status there's also Desi guidelines that we've submitted to our staff and to our administrative team and I think it's important that we state that our schools remain committed to providing a safe and positive learning environment for all students first of all Danver Public Schools mission is to educate all students regardless of race gender religion ethnicity or immigration status and the other thing that i' like to add too is is that you know with with heightened awareness you know we just also want to reiterate that know hate related bullying or harassment are prohibited in all Massachusetts schools and schools must investigate any alleged incidents respond effectively and take steps to create a positive School climate where students feel safe supported and respect it our our administrative team are aware of that and certainly if there's any items that appear of any retaliatory nature or any harassment that our administrative team will deal with promptly and if any questions anybody should reach out to our Administration or uh reach out to me directly thank you for that any comments go yeah um I'm glad to hear you you were taking proactive step oh I knew you're taking proactive steps and I'm glad you did that um but what it comes down to is I think it's um it's a policy of the school committee that everybody every student feels to the extent possible safe feels secure in their person feels emotionally supported in their schools feels welcomed for who they are as an individual feels as though um they are connected to their schools feels as though they have the educational supports that they need to get the most out of their abilities and to get the best education we can give them it is that simp whatever people want to call it whatever names or acronyms people want to put on it the fact is that uh what we want to do is give all students regardless of white black brown regardless of sexual orientation regardless of anything all the students who come here should be safe and get the best education that you all can give them and so we support you in doing that and we'll stand behind you as we go forward thank you M as I I shared with the superintendent a couple days ago it was brought to my attention that there were more than several parents and concerned citizens over this issue so I just want to thank you for sharing our policiy publicly um in that to just reinforce that safe and secure schools are a priority with us and um again thank you okay thank you for that and again thank you Mr B I know we uh spent quite a bit of time with that um and now we'll go into the uh fiscal year 26 budget presentation great thank you Cher Lopes and thank you to the school committee uh this exercise or Workshop will be very similar to last year's we felt it was beneficial to get your feedback as we put together the best budget possible ultimately the goal is for the 24th of February to come back with their budget hearing to settle on our final number that we will send forward to the select board and go through that process um so the annual process it it it's yearround and really picks up steam November through through February really where we look at our budget priorities we look at our needs receive uh the the budget priorities from the town then we present and work and try to go through multiple iterations of the budget to ultimately bring our final well at least our working budget to the school committee tonight for further work a public hearing as I said at the end of the month but then in March we go to the select board April to the F finance committee and then annual town meeting and then before you note July 1st we have our fiscal year begins and we start all over again um and I just want to note that as we go through the process Pam Crum our business manager is here Mary wers is here as well and they'll assist with any questions that come up as well as our presenters but this budget really is not the work of just the central office it's important to note that it's a collaborative process we work with their leadership they work with their schools and departments uh we look over what we accomplished last year and areas that we need to grow for this year and certainly look at areas to sustain and growth um we made multiple presentations we had a dry run of this last week and appreciate our AC team for really working hard on this um and I think the number one thing is to realize that we have budget goals and the budget goals set forth by the town as well as the budget goal that we've taken under direction from the school committee is to create a level service budget right so the Lev same level of services as last year and that's we we put together continue to improve special education programming we had a number of audits last year and we actually have another audit coming up this spring for a therapeutic look for data to help put together planning for improvements and then I think the key really is sustainability with any plans we put together so we have to be fiscally responsible but also responsive to the needs of our students and our staff and then also looking at our district Improvement plan strategic plan how can we support and improve student achievement which is critical as well as the sense of belonging which we just talked about earlier so the wrong way did I um the budget pressures though that we Face the real um just to go over a high level that our Chapter 70 funding which we find out really about two weeks ago or so uh we're at the foundational level this year last year we received $104 per student on top of our financial budget this year at7 $5 per student so it's less that has come in we also know that we're working to do the best that we can to flatten the curve without a district placements and again that that es and flows of course the needs of our students that's first and foremost um and as we build programs to support students uh to hopefully reduce that Transportation costs as we know are um certainly we're trying to do the best that we can to flatten the curve and control the uncontrollables I know that's an oxymoron but but really something we're working on contractual obligations and I feel proud that the school committee um and our administrative team work really hard to successfully negotiate all four contracts last spring and I think that's a big big plus you know the community showed the support for our teachers and our support staff um and and that's something that we're working with to make sure that we're able to provide for our staff curricular needs always change and shift and then inflationary increases we always look to maximize resources so as we go through the process of looking at our needs we also couple that with areas of our resources knowing that we're very appreciative of the large allocation last year and knowing that we need to put something together that you know at times we need to make sure we look within ourselves to be as efficient as possible we're a large organization but we need to make sure that every scent that we have is being spent appropriately so you know on the salary line which is most of our budget you know being able to utilize and reallocate anything there that's possible through retirements attrition moving on um that's the number one thing that we always try to do with Personnel the non-salaried piece which is not as big but very important um we we look for grant opportunities and Mary and her team did a fantastic job of doing that because those are items not in the budget and try to push off those non-salaried needs if we can those one times into areas that might be supported by the grants or other things such as our town warrants and again flattening the curve of transportation and we'll talk more about it uh David pulsifer our director transportation we talk talk more about how we've added Vans we're looking to add two more Vans and then also our plan to hopefully reduce overall expenditures on Transportation by 10% and out of District cost they continue to rise but we continue to build our our three strands our autism strand or therapeutic and language based programming um and last year we were provided a large allocation to help make improvements with that but we know that we have lots of work to do so the grant funded um opportunities over $684,000 that brought in to do a number of things so Mary if you wouldn't mind just talking to a few of the grants sure um so you see the list of Grants up there we have two major grants that were over $100,000 one was the um supporting students social emotional learning behavioral mental health and wellness and um we've talked about that a few times at these school committee meetings where we're building that multi-tier system of support so that not only do we have a strong um Baseline curriculum for for this work um which we call tier one but we also have interventions strong interventions that are matched with the student needs so that's the work we'll be doing this year with that and then also this was a a multi-year grant that was worked on by Jim Sullivan and Peter dearo myself it's called the a skills Capital technology and Equipment Grant and we're really excited because this helps us build out our career pathway at danas high school and so it's in two areas where we were in need of getting more equipment so that it was a more robust pathway so it's around the um health and the social services area that's one area where we'll spend a lot of money and then the other one is um in environmental engineering so these are exciting um projects to be working on uh the other grants are some of them are continuation that we appli for again for a second time and got so the Carnegie Grant up at the top are um curriculum programs that the Carnegie Foundation is funding um along with Department of Education to get materials so that was great and then U the second one is the 18 Discovery program which um Holt richond Middle School is was accepted to this year and they're um and then uh the Danver High School is continuing on year two and so the year two gets more money because work gets harder and you're expanding the work through the high school and that's around applied learning so again we have that Capital skills Grant um that's going to help us bring those Pathways and then we also are working with all teachers to really expand out so that we have more student engagement and we have more authentic learning experiences in classrooms um um other grants are the early college grant that we work with at Northshore Community College the hate crimes Grant which allows us to work with the north Eastern's um Center for sport and Society um and then do some great things like um NextGen fund the work of NextGen and the activities that they do and then we continue on with the Civics um grant that we've gotten for a second year so that we have we can really strengthen the um Civics projects that we do at the middle school and high school level as well as bring um a Civics curriculum into the elementary and the remaining grants are helping um some of our needy Learners um that the department of Ed has allocated extra money for so we vote for that and got those and then oh the last one that's exciting is um the supporting arts and uh cultural Vitality teams that just came it's a small amount of money but it's really to work on articulating our vision for Arts um Visual Arts but also instrumental in um musical arts through k through2 so we're going to have a nice vertical alignment um of our program and really be able to Str you know we already have a strong program but really bring that into line so I think it's important to note that that's that's substantial amount of money that we've pulled in uh through a lot of hard work but the key is if you break this down it supports our student achievement sense of belonging which is critical but also ways that we can be Innovative with our practices so that we prepare our students to be best prepared when they walk out of our doors and it ties into our por of The Graduate work um emergency assistance program um is separate funding as it was last year and this uh fund comes in from the state and so positions that we've brought aboard to support our newcomers um those are not reflected in our budget and and will not be again this year we have received funding um separately to provide anything for our students including Transportation as well as curriculum as well as Staffing um and we're fortunate that we've received an allocation recently and we're hearing that we'll receive further allocations through the remainder of the school year with the governor's supplemental budget so U that's very important because the expenditures allow us to do a lot and I will say that you not only has this money helped us with our newcomers but we've used this to help support all students in our district so um as we know the shelters are coming to an end and the funding will be at the ended it this year um but we're working really hard to coordinate Transportation reimbursements some under mckenny ventos some under this program and any remaining money that's left we're able to move forward to next year and that that was a big help to us this year to fund these positions because they're not on in the operating budget but they're desperately needed and although the uh shelters themselves are are closing down our needs of our multilingual students will still remain and we'll still have a a substantial number in our in our district and we also have all students that need services so we're able to take this and utilize this funding to help help support our schools um but the funding is coming to the end as well as the shelter programming and strategic planning for the future I think really as we talk about building or special education programming it's key to note that sustainability is important right and and I think we were very thoughtful last year um as as we we noted with the substantial ask we've been able to utilize those positions and quite frankly many more positions that we've been able to provide with some of the alternate funding to provide the best experience for students build our programming um and we want these to not only be phisically responsible but stand the test of time as we build and I think that's important it's a it's a you know we know the economy is teetering right now and it has been and certainly we know that we are in good shape we're sound financially as a district and we have a good collaboration with the town and and schools are support it but we need to continue building the programming right the work is not done uh and the audits as I mentioned earlier will provide directions to continue building our programs but we definitely need more support for each program and build up that level of Team chairs which will help change our practices again to keep flattening the curve there's some things that we're just not going to ask for this year because we understand we're still in the process of building right and taking the audit information and being smart in in putting together something that's sustainable um the other thing is we're working really hard to save in transportation the regionalization of Transportation through the north northeastern educational collaborative um is is coming to fruition and that is taking all 22 member schools looking for ways that we can connect and share Transportation with hopefully a 10% reduction in in those costs which is Big David will talk more about that as well as our IND District transportation which is exciting um and then also again looking at our our staffing and being able to move with best fits we have and support our our staff but also we're on the verge of our strategic plan that we're developing it's in progress looking for the future portrait of the learner what is important for our students to have when they graduate from our schools how can we drill this down cave through 12 uh and ideally planning our budget our budget ask in the future to meet those needs so at this time I'd like to turn this over our team has worked really hard and each team member will come up and present uh their slid slides and obviously be available for any questions um throughout the process before we begin though are there any general questions before we bring the presenters up okay so our first um presentation will be from Jim Selvin our director of technology and integration Jim has put together a great budget presentation and I'll manage the slides for good evening this is a great setup here um good evening my name is Jim Sullivan director of Technology thank you for having me um here to present the budget uh request for technology for FY 26 um just on the the cover slide real quick I wanted to highlight the the two pictures here um the one on the left that actually they're both generated by AI which I thought was kind of interesting so I asked uh AI to create you know a picture of technology in a classroom today and that's what it presented on the left with the smartboards and the laptops which I thought was interesting and I asked it to also ask tell me or show me what the classroom of the future would look like which is this very interesting picture on the right of um some kind of VR AI uh really cool thing going on there of the future I can't really explain it but that's what AI is telling us is the future just in case you're wondering so um but next slide so um my uh presentation today uh there's not a lot of um new or different in the presentation today but it's really accounting for a lot of um you know a lot of things that have been you know purchased that we've been using that were previously covered under grants or they were covered under you know different funding sources and you know bringing them together under our um you know our operating budget moving board as some of those um projects have come to uh and also looking at um we have a a new position in the technology department that actually started today around data processing uh and working with the schools and Power School um moving forward as well which is great uh so the first up which is the salary request this is um the new data processing Administrative Assistant this position uh is new but it um it was a position that was repurposed from inside the district um the difference is which why there's a little uh cost attached to this is position that moved from like a level one to a level two position because it's a little more technical but the the person in this role uh their goal is to work with the school offices to um you know make sure that you know school and student data is up to date and that they you know support the school offices in their needs around power school and data management and also working with our uh data manager who uh who actually is new as well um just started this year after our database manager Lisa retired after 13 years um so this is a uh this is a support role really for all of our schools not just for technology but uh you know the goal is to make U you know create some efficiencies and also you know make sure you know the data is you know valid which we know is very important in our world ask a question yes can you explain that total cost so the total cost that is um the difference between the original position was um a level one administrative assistant and it was trans position to level two position uh because of the the more Tech okay so it's like the net between yes before thank you in terms of non-salary requests uh these are some of the licenses and softwares that were previously purchased under um grants whether it was Esser or other funding sources um that we still actively use in the district and we're looking to bring those into the uh technology operating budget some of those include um Zoom uh our um our new emergency alert system of formac cast it's available at all of our schools uh elevation which manages you know works with our ESL and data reporting programs uh the The Vape detection software that's used in the bathrooms at the middle and high school um notion which is our our technology documentation we were using the pre version ran out of pages we hadr uh but also some of the learning software uh selus which is um music notation software that's used at high school and Apex distance learning uh which do some additional licenses for to support students uh one of the other requests admins munis so this is um as I think most of you know this is the financial software that the town uses to uh manage things townwide um historically the the town the schools have always paid a portion of that software which hasn't changed um however up until now it's been something that's typically just been charged somewhere it's been unbudgeted so just in terms of um you know Pro you know promoting a little more transparency or adding an actual line to the budget just to account for that cost that so that already exists uh one of the other things that we're looking to do is um the the district has never had a line of um of funding to maintain some of our safety equipment such as two-way radios um you some of the alerting um or Access Control pieces that we have throughout our buildings uh so typically when something breaks or something stops working or we need to buy something new um you know usually I work with Cam we try to find some Source throughout the district but um you know we're hoping to add you know a line just so that we know uh that there's funding available for some of those uh safety um I have one one question on slide on the apex apex distance learning software is that for unlimited students or do we have a cap on that and what we do have you feel that we're utilizing we are utilizing it so this is actually to is accommodate this year we actually added more students to it and this is to accommodate those additions just one quick question before we on to the next slide so I know it's lumped into that 33k but the zoom software do we still are we still utilizing Zoom districtwide we are we actually a lot of um it's used a lot at the secondary level but also at the administrative level as well um so a lot of the meetings that we um that we we stream out we use um the webinar version of it as opposed to like the the different seats but um we had some some people have transitioned to using Google meet as well so um between the two like there are some different feature sets you know that some people prefer Zoom so we don't have as many licens as we used to we really cut it back but there are so we're not budget my I I should have just asked some more direct question but we're not budgeting for every student to have a zoom license no okay nope thank you uh oh sorry probably would fall under this is um safety of student information and data and I know that uh last year there was an issue with power school not our system but power school but um are we positioned well in terms of preserving our you know specific student data and personally identifiable information we are so we you know we make the the best effort that we can to protect our information uh we work very closely with the town so the the town the municipal it department does take the lead on some of our cyber secures uh but we have implemented um certain cyber security um um U you know processes or software you know such as um you know obviously antivirus but also EDR and you know looking at um looking at what the computers are doing how they are doing it to try to you know detect any anomalies things like that so we have we have everything we have that on our servers also all of our mobile devices and we're working on covering um we're trying to cover all of our computers over so we partner with the town that they fortunately they do cover majority of the cost of that uh but we do share those services with okay thank you you're welcome and uh the final slide here this is um Capital requests so the items that are on this slide are not reflected in the school operating budget this is um a capital request that we put in annually in conjunction with the municipal it department and the library Department as well so um between the three between the three groups we put together a warrant article for technology throughout the town of daners um so what we've been using our portion for for the past few years is to improve and upgrade classroom technology across our schools so um what that primarily has included is uh replacing non-functioning or broken smartboards or interactive projectors throughout the district replacing those with clear touch interactive displays is and um as well as retiring some of the older desktop computers that teach been using replacing those laptop mobile device uh which gives them some more flexibility in terms of their work as well so we've been doing um we've been doing this you know at all three levels to try and upgrade you know everybody sort of more uniformly um over the past few years at the elementary level we've done grades five all the way down to first grade so we're hoping to be kindergarten next year uh at the middle school we've been working on upgrading the classrooms by floor and the same with uh the high school as well so uh we're looking to continue those upgrades to make sure that you know teachers and our students have access to the latest and greatest in the classrooms uh and we're supporting um supporting them with with training and professional development uh one of the other things that we're looking to upgrade at high school as well is the Digital Arts in media lab uh right now that's one of the oldest Labs we have in the district the Mac desktops there are about 13 years old um so they've they've served us well but it's time to upgrade them so that we can make sure that we provide the students and the teachers with the latest uh graphic design software for their for their classes as well so that's our that's our goal with the capital funding this year one of the other initiatives townwide is to also upgrade the phone systems so right now the the the town has their own phone system the school has have their own phone system um both are aging and reaching the end of life so we're going to collaborate together uh to go to one phone system um townwide which will uh which will give us the you know the opportunity in the coming years to have some efficiency in C uh that's being funded through the town and also through Capital town and that's what I've got any questions no questions great thank you so much Jim does a great job in fact the upgrades in the NBR happen this summer warrant right microphones projection unit and I think adding that I think the one piece when we talk about reallocation and moving things around was upgrading that position for the administrative assistant because the data is critical so as accurate as it is it has to be 100% accurate when it goes to the state because funding relies upon that but also our administrators they're stretched as well as our admin assistants so this position is designed to help that with scheduling and any other data needs so that was a good move a lot of collaboration to the middle school with their admin assistance to make that work so um I think it's going to help us in along thanks uh next up is transportation so our director of Transportation operations David pulsifer whom I believe you metant last school committee meeting good evening good evening uh my name is David pulsifer I'm the transportation and operations coordinator and I'm going to review the transportation budget FY 26 uh first first slide here is just a little uh District information um you know we have four vans running currently uh providing in District uh special education transportation we have h four buses we run on the town uh we have a couple spare vehicles on the Vans one spare bus and uh we have our contract with Sol the transportation for 10 buses um you can see our students you know we have a significant amount of special education um and then 1,200 students on the big bus that's about a third of the students that attend damis high school um pointed on the first slide here the yellow bus contract is up uh this year we have one more year and you know like anything else there's increase of about 24,000 um and I expect to have some competition in the next bidding which would help hopefully keep the prices lower in District and looking at maybe changing the number from you know 10 buses on the contract to you know nine and running five in town they kind of even lower that cost you can see here that the special education uh has increased astronomically but just to point out from 2023 to 2025 it's up over a million dollars so you know I've put a lot of of eyes on different things that are causing that and it's really just um you know more oversight on how we're bidding out the roots and what we can do differently like danan mentioned with the uh Consortium putting together something you know cost sharing with other districts possibly so there are there are some ways to curve that cost I want to talk about that more go through the presentation so some of the strategies um I'm hoping that at a minimum I think 10% is very reasonable to hit um I'm hoping to hit more because that just puts more into the school to provide you know other services that again mentioned are important to the education well so know adding a couple District Vans just to start you know I'm not looking to build a fleet of 20 but I think we can you know chip away at a little at a time um reviewing the roots that we currently have trying to identify a better consolidation of of in District and out of District I think there's a possibility by Contracting with B with vendors um for a better price that we could kind of lock it in control the increases and maybe get some decrease maybe given a company some more business and reassurance that hey like you know let's say we're running you know 50 roots with contractors now it's possible that if we gave somebody 20 Roots at a certain price it could offset some cost and if if I can interject chair it's okay one of the big things that's important is that the town has worked well with us because there is a fleet of vans that are available as they look through and see what we can utilize for example we had two Vans added to our Fleet last year that for extracurricular Transportation Athletics huge savings and they found two vans that that are in good shape that we can add to bring to the root so there's been really good collaboration with the DPW and David's done a nice job of closing that Loop has end thank you uh just just slid just more for a visual purpose like an out of District transportation versus our driver using one of our drivers vers hiring outside is you know 20,000 per student and I mentioned you know bringing IND District Vans but it is possible that we can kind of do some out of District stuff but the bottom line is that the savings are there um the more we can use our own uh transportation services uh just some some things you know we've added the position in the district here uh so it's been great to be here I'm glad to assist in in helping uh provide the transportation there's no extra cost for the van drivers they're already in our budget we just AR we just aren't utilizing that that um and I'm proposing to add uh money for a spare bus driver Athletics when we have to contract out same thing they cost us double the money uh and I feel like if we can get you know we have four drivers now for example that are doing Transportation but only two of them assist with Athletics so they're have to send out half of the runs to another company and so have on driver um should will pay for itself there plus shave off some on the athletic side too and Dan did mentioned that the two Vans I talked to the athletic director and they do utilize them they also get utilized for field trips and things like that which you know don't come out of the school budget but they do help the cost to the community on the uh on the teachers and in students and this just overall I mean you know having a better oversight and Baseline on Transportation uh like I said earlier will reduce reduce the costs and you know some of the strategies it's just kind of a phase I'm right now I'm in the process of looking at Phase One going into phase two just kind of more data um you know we did like like I said we did a survey earlier just to kind of collect feedback from the families on how we were doing for Transportation uh how are we holding our vendors accountable you know kind of giving them a performance review like Hey we're paying a lot of money like are we getting the service we need and uh working with the uh central office there's a lot of uh different staff that that bring in the the information from setting up the student to the billing to the reporting so just kind of centralizing that within the central office group and I think by doing all these things you know we can see significant savings the the budget for 2025 is 2.8 million and so 10% is going to be 250,000 uh right off the bud but like I said that's not guaranteed right but it's it's there if we we look at it is there any questions do you think it's going to be a heavy lift to find a couple more drivers High you more drivers uh no I do not I I put it app actually I I put a ad out uh two weeks ago and I've already got one Higher which starting in a couple weeks and I have a couple of the applicants that showed interest so I was I felt good to have that and uh you know when you put it out there you're going to see what you can get so I think that's a small two to four is definitely realistic based on what thank you so thanks for this I I like some of the creativity in this I think it's you know really heading in the right direction one of the since I've joined the school committee it's always the a district transation that continues to go up and it's hard to predict and we don't know how many families are going to move in how many what's going to require that and I guess this might not even be a question for you maybe it's a question for for us but do we take a bold stance and just put a little bit of a padding on on that just understanding that there's no way that we're ever going to I figure whatever number that we throw in there is kind of almost arbitrary right we it's hard for us to predict that but for from a percentage increase standpoint does it make sense to to pad that a little bit that has been our um typical approach in over the last few years and really the the the increases have outpaced our ability to to um just just budget based on normal sort of Market expectations of 3% 5% um and so forth I I think that the investment in a transportation coordinator and the ability of someone with a lot of knowledge and expertise about the industry his ability to um leverage that to realize some savings um and start to turn it around I have a lot of hope I think we as a district have uh as District leadership have a lot of hope that that is going to is going to be effective um if if it goes up by 3% I I think we'll still be okay what we don't want it to do is go up by another $400,000 next year um and so so I think investing in the right people to be doing the job is is an important um step in the right direction for this yeah I was just goingon to Echo everything that Pam said and in kudos to you and I know very early on one of the first things that uh Mr bow brought to my attention was we had a transportation program within the school that there was almost no oversight it was you know whatever rate or whatever bid we got that's what we paid and that was it um so I I just kind of want to acknowledge your foresight and bringing him on so we can have some visibility and so far fingers crossed I mean it's almost a self-funded position you know that's come on board so hopefully we're getting savings on both ends so I'm just as hopeful as Pam and the whole District that we can save some money here but um again I mean kudos to you know to Mr Bower for bringing this on and having someone just focused on this because I think we're already seeing some savings but um who more know thank you chair for saying that I can't take all the credit our you know administrative assistance as I said they stretch thin and they were overseeing you know the transportation in collaboration with former principal Adam Rico too it was a lot so it's huge because now we can say take care of it come up with creative ideas something that's worth noting though uh Josh's point is that the collaboration with the town is key because on a warrant article we have transportation built in every year for about $150,000 this year going forward we feel if we add take purchase a bus with that that goes through town meeting then if we add one more bus to the fleet and that would then allow us within our contract to reduce one bus that we'd rent off Sal that's that savings itself almost offsets the inflationary increase not quite but it's it's close and even talking today where if we're able to take one of the two Vans use the bus driver consolidate our IND District special education transportation for example those that may need to go to Smith or those that may come to Holton Richmond it was an incredible amount of money that would be saved as opposed to you know putting that out the bid so to your point that's the goal and and we're optimistic you know but cautious because things you know can shift but um we're really hoping that the regionalization gains traction and I and and we bring the final budget numbers at the end you'll see that we can't count on these savings yet like we can't build it in but projecting out you know that will give us some relief too knowing that moving forward I think and and we've taken a lead from the school committee how can we flatten the curve you the costs are going to go up how can we flatten the curve so kudos to David kudos to our admin uh and the admin assistants because they were the ones that really worked hard so we need some oversight here thank you yes um so first of all I love what I hear in terms of the focus you're bringing to finding efficiencies finding ways to save money and when you talk about the um that jump from fiscal 23 to fiscal 25 projected you talked about you know sort of lack of oversight and was it simply that we weren't we no one was charged with Andor naturally sort of looking for those efficiencies yeah yeah I I think like Dan said the the the town uh the staff that was working on Transportation they they I I worked with them when I was at saled they they did what you know they they would what they knew right and I think the bottom line is you have to get the kids to school uh when I one of the things I first looked at when I saw the list I'm like okay like how do they how do they do it and it's just really just putting stuff out to bid and I think that's a good way to get a low cost but I think what was missed the fundamental piece that was missed is that there's a you know there's a element there say there's a high school run that that should be x amount of money and there's an elementary run that should be x amount of money and simply put those two Roots together I feel should be one cost right whereas you're almost paying the same cost for for Elementary and high school so when you put them together ver separate them you're paying almost and I think that's why you see that million dollar increase or $400,000 plus because you're almost somehow like doubling it just kind of looking at different ways to do it and how do you put it out you know that's why I was looking at contracts and different things and I've talked to some other vendors and there's a lot of opportunity I mean this is America right people people want more opportunity right um the district gets a lot of phone calls for for transportation right but uh you also have to look at you know their reputation right so there are a lot of good companies out there that use to our advantage to help cost down and just the point of clarification I could share uh to Mr Crane there was oversight in terms of making sure that students had Transportation collaborating but I think what David's providing is that deeper level being able to because he has the time in the industry knowledge to dig in deep and find like how can we maximize that's right I mean that's kind of my assumption that there were efficiencies out there yes not that the the internal oversight was like you know bad bus routs k no what I'm talking about is um someone like say with the knowledge to go in and find you know efficiencies and maybe it's partly re I don't want to say recalculate redrawing roots in a way that is a little more efficient even if it saves a few bus runs that's a few dollars here if it's something else in terms of how you use your drivers or your buses that we own that's a few more dollars and before long it adds up right so exactly I think that's what it means that's why I wanted to clarify what you meant about oversight yeah it's a b baby step process you just a little out of time chip away at it it's not you know we're not we're we're not a transportation company right like but but we can we can look at the those small things things and and do our best to to reduce the cost that's I appreciate what you're doing thank you glad to have a pot have an opportunity to do this for you guys thank you thank you thank you David uh we're moving on now to our school-based presentation so if our elementary team can come up and they'll do the presentation I think they've rehearsed this presentation so we'll see how this goes good evening everyone this is fun give me a mic wow good evening um as an elementary team our priority is to support our students both academically and social emotionally in order for the needs to all of our students we are asking increases in the ELA math and social studies supply lines in addition we are committed to the continual support of our special education programming the additional support we need in this area will be included in the special education budget oh hold on okay um so in terms of non-salaried requests you'll see an increase um overall in our Ela budget um and this is due to two components the first is is we currently use an early literacy screener in progress monitoring tool K to 5 um previously K to3 the K to3 portion of that tool was funded by a grant last year we paid for four and five out of the budget this upcoming year we would need to pay for K to five out of the budget so that is to be able to continue to utilize um our literacy screener across grades K to five across the five schools the new item that is listed up there um is that our phonics curriculum that runs K to5 came out with decodable texts that are aligned to each grade level ideally we would love to be able to purchase this across k to5 um but knowing that we needed to be strategic about where we're um spending our money our proposal is to move forward with providing those texts for grades one and two across the district um that's a cost of $1,000 per classroom across the five schools um and if we're able to fund this we would love to as looking towards next year we'd love to head into kindergarten in third grade um and start filling out um the rest of the grades but we're making Based on data we're making a strategic decision um to start in grades one and two in terms of math you'll see an increase um as well that is not due to anything new that is due to the cost of the workbooks the student workbooks going from $35 per student to $38 per student um in addition um I've also learned throughout the years to originally I would budget 24 kids here 21 kids here um this year and that always leaves me the numbers that we have now are not what they are in August or September um and so this year I just did 25 per classroom so the combination of the increase in the workbooks and the enrollment the variability in the enrollment leads to an overall increase as well the third item um is the continuation of a social studies curriculum that we have began in K2 this year again previously Grant funded um and we would love to be able to continue to utilize the curriculum we were able to with the grant purchase all of the books that go along with this curriculum so all the onetime costs are already covered this is the um digital access for the teachers to the curriculum so that is the increase at the elementary level in terms of the nons salaried requests ask a quick question here in in regards to item one uh lit L literacy instruction which is something I I'm sure which is important to us yeah which is incredibly important to everyone yes what is the difference in cost for the entire K 5 package versus just grades one and two it's $1,000 per classroom so for example at um Riverside where there's two first grades and two second grades that's a total of $4,000 in ter Highlands that's three grade levels at first grade and three classes at second grade so now you're at 6,000 so at a school like Riverside where there are six classes per grade level um or sorry two classes per grade level so 12 class so be $122,000 for Riverside to have those decodable texts in each classroom and what these texts are so we have a phonics curriculum which we are now in our third year of utilizing um our second year excuse me our second year of utilizing they've come out with texts that match the skills that you're teaching so when you're in lesson 2.1 and you're teaching short vowels you then have a class set of texts that students can decode based on the scope and sequence based on everything you've taught till then you can decode it um some of the fascinating ones are actually up in the upper grades and having books it's a challenge to write texts that you've taught everything you can decode but they are still interesting to third fourth and fifth graders um so we do think it would be a great investment we also just starting with one and two also allows us to try it out get it going and see if this is something we would want to continue with does that make sense and those are the two grade levels where they are learning the most amount of phonic skills in a very short amount of time so we felt like those were the two grades to invest in can ask a followup because knowing that in elementary school the kids are not switching classrooms is it possible to have like sh suppos yes share possible not ideal because our schedule stay so if Brian and I are teaching fourth grade together our Ela blocks at the same time our math block is at the same time our preps at the same time so that we're staying in line so we would need the texts at the same time does that make sense no absolutely but it would be interesting I'm not an educator but I'm wondering if there's any thought of Staggering yep no absolutely and it is something that even if we bought one third grade set or one fourth grade set and we were able to utilize it either during our mtss block or the reading teachers were utilizing it so it is an Avenue that we do want to when you know when we first began this work we invested a lot of money in decodable Texs at the beginning we're now at the point where we're like we we still need more in the younger grades well students are really figuring out the decoding part um and so when our curriculum came out with these like that makes sense for us to invest in this direction so that they're exactly aligned to what we're teaching and and I'll just say this to the committee as a whole because I think we've seen from the test results the the upward Spike and where our students were progressing and I I know we're looking at potential level set budget and and all these other things but the these are the areas where I get really concerned where you know looking at the budget in its entirety like where from What's the phrase I'm looking for not monst bable sounds bad but that's the word right you're you can help me with that but you've you've shown clear examples of benefits from the quotable text and we've seen the progress and we've seen momentum and we really have to think about the impact of stopping this momentum as opposed to potential investments in places where maybe we're not seeing evidence of the progress and I'm just putting me for everyone to to consider um and you just shared with me and I apologize if my ma math is off but is it a total of is it another like 50% looking at another 22,000 yeah if you look at it is one and two it's a third right one and two is a there're six grade levels that's two so it's you would need another two3 wait but I think their strategic was wrong then so there six grade levels we're accounting for two of them which would be a third of the CL does that make sense yes yeah um and what was and that was the cost in Prior it's $1,000 per classroom no but in in regards to the total investment in Prior years now we we're asking for a third of what you historically got to fund this okay so it's the only new item in the non-salary request um and I think it's an area that if we had to put our money anywhere in nons Sal request I think we would agree continuing to invest in our early childhood our early K1 and two those that prime those primary classrooms are incredibly important and the work that's happening down there if we can we recently at our professional development in January we had an outside speaker come um and she showed us some graphs that if we are able to make sure if kids on grade level at the end of first grade they are then on track for the rest of their trajectory so the more resources and support I'm also talking to myself but the more we can do collectively to support what's happening in K and one um will benefit us for years to come and we'll see that as they move through the grade levels and for me I mean again I opened with how what incredibly important this is because being able to decode text read helps you across everything across everything and that's just something that I think we have to from the overall budget as a percentage because this is something when it comes to especially people in the town and taxpayers the criticisms are always around how are we performing as a district and I think that's where we're particularly more engaged in what are we doing what are we doing and I I don't want to be sitting here you know allowing us to cut something that has a direct impact on that momentum so I mean I'll open it up for anyone else but this is critically important and also in the presentations this is where I know you know you're coming in and you're doing what kind of the town is asking but this is also an area where I I think it's important to talk about this is our trajectory this is where things are going this is what we spent but this is I just think I I I I it doesn't feel good to me so that I'm just going to share that openly and I'll open it up for anyone else but that's this is a really really critical place that we have to take a really really hard look at and if there's anything else in the budget where we're projecting and having progress in making an impact we have to look at other areas where can we afford to wait for something else if it comes down to like a real big budget and now finally just pass it on so there are no um looking at the salary requests there are no new positions that you're looking for correct so I can talk to that so we're not asking for any additional salary requests from just simply an elementary level what we are asking for is maintaining those level Services the additional funds that you um allocated to us last year were hugely important in providing us with an opportunity to create more safe and supportive schools for all of our students the as Miss power said at the beginning we are asking for additional support but that really falls under our student services so we're going to let our colleagues and student services talk about that but we are all here to say what they're asking for later is seconded by us we need those positions but most importantly everything we added this year we can't lose so that level funded level service budget is hugely important for us to continue to work that we're doing not just the materials but the positions that we added not only created additional support in classrooms um and um across the school day but allowed us to implement the curriculum more effectively for all students so effectively for all that you you guys do we have five elementary schools the entire increase that you're looking for is just over $49,000 do you're looking for a budget increase for the five schools of less than $10,000 a school well I don't know anybody who could argue with that from a if you're looking to save money but I do sort of share your concern Gabe that uh maybe it's too little and if there's a way to to you know um get the decodable text that you think we need in the upper grades or even just a couple more of the you know maybe you go one to four you can't go all the way to six this year but I guess my point is or five round but my point is that boy you you are being very responsible maybe almost too responsible in what you're looking for I think it's important to like from a c yeah we're trying to be as responsible as possible but from a student services perspective that helps support all of our students and all of us as administrators we are going to ask for more so while it looks like we're asking for only know $110,000 per School will be additional funds that we're asking for so some of what you're looking for will be built into the stud service bud I get it okay thank you Mr chair yeah no and and I commend you guys on on being fiscally responsible for this but again like we've had this discussion in the sub budget subcommittee um we want everybody to be we want to ask for the right amount of money but we don't want to also put ourselves at a disadvantage you know within the you guys to operate schools because we don't op you guys are in the trenches doing it so I would I would put that on the side i' make a little note my margin and see like as we go through and we see all the rest of this I could I could definitely see because to gab's point it was proven right we're starting to see that the trajectory is starting to go up um so I I would I would support putting that in the margin note good job thank you let's see if we can revisit this glad to hear that it's important at all levels L re receiv to hit those get them earlier I agree what the research I've always felt that way but I'm going to take this in a different direction I see Ela addressed I see math addressed I actually see Social Studies address which I'm very happy about but I'm surprised that Mr orsky didn't tell you that we were on the same teaching team he taught social studies and I taught science and I don't see science on it that's my baby that's my pet project um science is level funded we have um money to pay for the curriculum for the digital licenses for the student licenses in grades three to five and to purchase the science supplies that we need so the reason it's not on the table is because there's not an increase associated with it but we are teaching science and we do have money to teach science I knew you were teaching science but I really appreciate what your response was and you could blame him for that question thank you um I I just want to piggyback what was being said before um I know I know uh having worked in the schools where I work and as well formerly in damers that it's these types of things are very important for the students um and I understand that first and second grade is definitely where they learn to pick up the most language U both decodable as well as uh conversationally um but I agree that you know if it's there like third and fourth grade even even if we're not comfortable with all the way to K to five just extend that you know like the the why put the speed bump there after to if it's not going to be filled in later or possibly not filled in later so if it's there I don't see why this is like it's like building a house without putting down a foundation you know you can't do anything without being able to code tax to uh I'm just going to piggy back what they said I think that if if Josh said it's in my margin it has a big star next to it because I feel like this is probably the most important thing and and I understand that piece and and and the team's done a great job prioritizing and Julie made a really good point to Mr Shannon fact of that you know these are increases you know we're level service so we still have the great things that we have um and I I can't agree with you more like bang for the buck right student achievement we're Tau we're seeing some great gains working tremendously hard at the elementary level and all of our levels but really and and I appreciate that support for that critical literacy that's the key so you know those are increases you know we still have built in the budget uh the amount that to get us through the other materials um and I have to commend that team because we we started here we're here but we know it has to be sustainable but we don't want a short change and respect that we'll make that in the notations you know the the materials that are needed so we can keep the progress going absolutely I know we have to be strategic when we bring this forward and so I can appreciate that some of the conversation tonight has been around areas where we could realize savings so I ask or put it out there that is there a potential later on when we hit those savings that we can step back and say now is the time we can go and get that to the other grades so the answer the short answer is yes at some point as we massage this through there are some other areas that we we see some potential savings you know but as we move forward and and make sure the allocations are there anything we save we're able to use within which is tremendous uh so I so that's a piece too and and also Pam's credit you know whenever something comes aboard where we're like we need this or that mid year because that always happens we always manage to find that or if there's a grant or something necessary because we can't sure change this uh at all but with the savings and that's the whole idea to be strategic is we can realize the savings can we apply it to other areas absolutely absolutely and that's a great point no that's it no oh thank you and we'll we're going to really take a hard look at this so thank you Mar Mary has a little uh update for me go ahead Mary she found the money well just the entitlement the entitlement Grant so we have a title one Grant sorry we have a title one grant that we uh allows us for elementary literacy in math and so we could look at the the funds that come through this summer and try to um budget for the extra materials there okay next up we have our Middle School team principal Colin Tony and ccum director Ellen furck are coming aboard welcome button okay good evening everyone here the whole en richment team me Miss fic um this first slide I love because we only do this really once maybe twice a year we get the whole school together so that's the first day of school all they hold Richmond Hawks we collap in our sixth graders and welcome uh hopefully not scare them to Middle School um on their first day um but we're really proud of the work we're doing on our school next slide um so I just want to piggy back on what the elementary school said we really appreciate the support we've had uh from the school committee and superintendent Bower support really our priorities the last two years um last year leading to this year um our work is never done in this area of being a safe and support of school especially at the middle school level um there's always work to do there but really proud of the hard work our students and staff are doing um last week we met with our staff to share some midyear data around our chronic absenteeism our bully referral um our administrative referrals for the opportunity room and we're really trending in the right direction all those areas our chronic isms down 5% from last year our students want to be here our bullying referrals are down tremendously um again always work to do there but really proud of the direction we're going there um as we looked at this year's budget we're really looking to uh you know maintain the focus on providing a safe environment for our students but really taking a close look at our curriculum looking at the teaching and learning needs uh across the building um and really try to build up our tier 2 intervention moving forward so for salary requests um really two positions one is the reading interventionist I think all all the work you heard from Julie talk about the literacy progress and making you would love to see a reading interventionist is that better all right also working with little chest cold so um yeah a little raspy um so one of our biggest needs is a reading interventionists and to really parallel our math intervention this year we have a math interventionist that we moved over um for M funding she's done tremendous work pushing into the classroom supporting needs of all students we would love to see reading adven do the same work particularly help bridge that fifth to sixth grade and and kind of learn more about you know the work that's happening at the elementary level to support that transition to the Middle School um so we're looking at creative ways to me uh find how to reallocate that that is really one of our top priorities and what you'll see in the student services um presentation as well really the need for building based team chair here at the middle school to help support the transition of all our students particularly our programming at the middle school level is our um students are all coming together from the five buildings and so that's uh you know kind of a needle here from our student support team good evening as far as non-salaried requests um the increases here really do represent a a a level uh consistent level of service from previous years it's just that the um some of our funding sources have changed so for example one of the grants that Mary explained earlier was uh a grant that funded our math curriculum for the last several years that Grant has come to a close or will be coming to a close so to continue um our current math program those um those costs of the digital licenses and workbooks for students the per student cost that's going to have to go onto the operating budget so you'll see the increase there um I believe this might be a revision from what you have in front of you with your slide deck but um in terms of World Language curriculum um we are hoping to purchase some resources to um align with what's currently used at the high school level um some materials to provide authentic resources um in language instructions so you'll see an increase there and then finally just sort of cost cost increases in some of the products that we use regularly some of the digital subscriptions that are used across all conton areas ask a question on subscriptions yes um it's pretty fundamental I think Josh asked something earlier to um our technology do we track like usage and engagement and these are not just automatic but like yeah yes that's something that um I look at every year when we start the budget process look at how widely used these programs are um obviously there's nothing that's used you know by every teacher but certainly you know there are there's a good uh amount of usage of each of these that we are choosing to renew y thanks for asking super short um not short in a bad way but I mean and I'm not sure if how many of you watch that budget Workshop but we were really you know cognizant of like the level of investment and the big ask from the town last year and I think it's good to just say in general that you know as a school committee we we're in a scenario where you know other districts are cutting you you know there's cuts and there's you know there's nego salary negotiations and contracts coming up and we just went through a contract we avoided the strike um which has been great we're we're so grateful for that um but at the same time it's like just looking at all of our costs but at the same time as we go through this and and maybe it's another component um and maybe we have to sit and have a conversation and view like what programs are really having in impact and we really I I don't want to be the committee that puts an axe or halts progress you know and it may be a matter of maybe not increasing the ass but looking at you know from a priority perspective where can we just put our foot on the gas on things that are really having an impact on the students and pausing or just reviewing what isn't and and I think that's going to be the main focus and I think we're all on the same page for that I don't think it's a matter of hey we want to ask for more money because we don't because we want to because we want to be cognizant of the current fiscal condition but um it it's really a matter of there are items that folks feel are you know hey we're making progress here or we're still struggling there I think now more than ever would be a moment to you know I know it's not in the deck like say it you know at Eric's point point or Josh's point we'll put it in the margins and just have a look yeah I I think the salary Quest is really the one that's on that for reading interventionists I would emphasize that's a gas cross in terms of just again one thing we want to do is better Bridge the transition from five to six so that when they finish fifth grade if we're not starting over again in the sixth grade um you know with our students coming in from different all the five schools so really building our own kind of curriculum team with Ellen with math interventionist reading interventionist that can really bridge that transition and also to the high school as well this year we've got a lot of positive feedback from our math department that our math intervention is pushing into classes helping all Learners not to stand alone class for students that are struggling that get miss out on something else and that's really that push in inclusive model that we'd like to see for literacy too um so I think that's one of our most highest leverag positions then again you'll see in the student support uh presentation get emphasiz enough having a building based team chair to really particularly the middle school where there were so many developmental needs for all our students particularly our high need students uh to really carefully case manage that transition then help us understand our students as they come to our school um and again be that prog between Elementary and high school so we try to be really responsible too with obviously with our budget presentation um talking to superintendent B our two most pressing areas are some literacy intervention help in a building based team chair the reallocation um for the reading interventionist which allows you to have a net total cost of zero what are we where's that reallocation coming from meaning is there something that a full-time equivalent some job that someone performing some want service but where did we where did we decide no we don't need this but we do need a reading yeah I don't that makes sense yeah I don't think we're at that level of detail I think we really just that was kind of the path we're hoping to find and really drilling down into um you know the services our students currently have and the Staffing that we have is there any way to kind of move people within the in the building to to provide that level of service okay so we haven't identified a certain person per se got it but a full-time equivalent you're going to make that up from here and there so to speak yeah okay and I was just going to add as far as the non-salaried requests we are fortunate in that um we you we are adopting two new curricula for next year we're adopting a new English and new science curriculum program uh one of which is happens to be an open source curriculum which means there's very little cost Associated besides materials and professional learning and the other is a nonprofit it's run by a nonprofit so um significant cost savings you we're really fortunate these are the programs we wanted to implement but the fact that um frankly they're less expensive than a kind of traditional Fork profit publisher is definitely working in our favor here yes yes what the ELA curriculum's fish tank which is currently being implemented in elementary well thank you thank you thank you all right we're going to move to the high school school now we have principal deoro here to present the high school budget requests for next year high school is lon hello so by himself so good evening everyone how are you um so I'm pleased here to present um our budget proposal for dver High School uh for fiscal year 2026 um Our Hope for next year is to continue to offer the Innovative programming we have at the high school um over the course of the past several years we've continued to build up uh different unique opportunities from for students including um our AP course repertoire our early college program our College and Career Pathways um and we continue to hope to offer this Advanced coursework along with specific interventions specialized programs for students that need support um so the theme of ours is just maintaining current Staffing maintaining current programming and level service um so that we can use the Staffing and resources we currently have um to support our students both academically with their mental health and behavior um and really continue to create um exciting courses for students to have the opportunity to participate in so with that being said uh before we get to the um specific non-salaried and salary requests I just like to set the context uh since there aren't too many asks based on what we're working with um I know something that we're always thinking about is enrollment um so just wanted to report that grade8 applications to other high schools is consistent with last year an encourage an encouraging piece of data actually is over this past summer uh we had the highest number of students originally commit to another school and then return to Danver High School uh so that was about almost 5% of students that did that um so we're very pleased to see that um just the different opportunities students can participate in that our staff support our specialized Advanced coursework such as AP Project Lead the Way and deca uh which we get um credit from the state 4 for students participating in that advanced level of coursework different career-based learning and training such as our College and Career Pathways which we're hoping to expand through grant funding um and eventually offer uh industry industry recognized credentials for students to participate in that as I said our early college program support forcl and mental health needs support for our uh diversifying population such as ESL and special ed and as always a from positive learning environments so our current Staffing levels um help um to um do all these things as well as hopefully retain students um in the district um our current Staffing allows for the following I wanted to specifically point out these different data points U we currently offer 21 advanced placement courses this year as was presented at the January meeting we're actually offering one more so we'll have 22 for next year which is wonderful um as Mary said earlier we have Grant funds to support Health and Social Services and environmental science Pathways as I said students will be able to hopefully ear an industry recognized credentials um the one specific example I can give is there some of the capital we'll be able to gain um we could potentially um Implement a CNA program U where students will leave with that credential after graduating from high school which is really exciting and then um our early college program we're currently in our third year so we have three full cohorts of students from sophomores to seniors going through take they end up graduating with five college classes under the belt um which is a huge advantage to them as they continue in their postsecondary plans and the last thing I wanted to review is some of the specialized instruction and program that we've been able to utilize with our staff so something we're pting this spring is tier 2 intervention courses so this provides targeted specialized instruction for any student that needs additional support it offers a block of um academic intervention if students need help with executive functioning skills organization time management for some students that may be all they need uh we we're also piloting intervention courses within four of the core subject areas Math Science Social Studies and Ela um our hope is to Pilot it this spring with a c-port of teachers see how it goes and then offer it to a fuller extent uh this fall to see if we're able to track student data um and make aides both in their academic performance and attendance other programs that have been in existence are the drive program um our TLC program and our Credit Recovery I know in the technology presentation it referenced um the Apex distant learning seats that's used mostly in the credit recovery program to help our upper classman students make up credits uh due the loss of learning and so when it comes to non-salary requests it's truly a level service budget for the 25 26 school year um we have many many account lines um at the high school fortunately from one year to the next we're able to re strategically reallocate funds to support um what we need to get from one year to the next so this increase of $53 um is just increases in the cost of what we currently have in place um so the renewal of certain AP textbooks which have to be renewed every so often and the renewal of um uh assessment tools that we use to track student progress in ela and Ma and then we do not have any we're not seeking to add any salary requests for next year as well um but like I said even though these last two slides um there's not much what we currently have we're fortunate enough to maintain that we're able to strategically use the Staffing that we have the resources we have to support students fly no questions oh our early college program do we pay for the transportation do we transport over uh so we do have some Grant funds that help pay for that um but comination how your question increase of $ 5,3 what line item should we get no I it really feels like I I know you're glad that you're getting the level funding essentially you'll keep doing what you're doing but uh I worry about the moving forward part um this is not you know you're being extraordinarily responsible we working with the town you know I get that but again that's another one for the margin Josh right yeah wow I do feel like we're we're very well well funded at the high school and the first thing we always look at is how can we reallocate what we have to sort of meet our needs we look at different departments in different years see can we prioritize one Department one year over the next and for the most part we we're typically able to do that from year to year which fortunately usually works out so let's have some straight on you had a list Dan told you to get rid of the stuff so what was on that list that you want to put back on there I didn't have a list I had ask I have no questions so thank you thank you all right if I could just have one followup I think the key is you know my second year here and I saw last year the and I and that's a fair question actually and then Peter did a good job answering that so thank you Peter but really looking for you know as you try to look down the road strategically so it's not just the one-offs and and obviously looking for ways to maximize and some of the grant money has helped us you know add the applied learning the pathways and those help offset a lot of the cost so you know we're we're grateful for the funding but I think Peter and his team has done a nice job really like how can we look at our resources and move them support kids in different ways you know because although the enrollment which that's the other piece too is that you know Mike Landers will be here on a 10th to talk about SX Tech and we're not competing with SX Tech per se they do things differently than we do but we offer things that you know and to be more creative to keep kids here you know with the AP classes which are wonderful performing arts and everything in between so we have those and we have to keep be competitive we keep adding to that with the pathways and with the one 18 Foundation by learning so it's important but they're doing a nice job being strategic so I think now we're uh going to our last presentation which is student services good evening good evening I'm pleased to have with us tonight Derrik Mion our assistant director the elementary Level aneli D cost our Auto district coordinator and Marlo De La Cruz our assistant director at the secondary level we have had two different audits completed this year and in response to those audits we identified three priorities for our department the first being redefining our IND District specialized programs and vertical alignment of those programs the second is really ensuring that we have the correct Staffing patterns at each of our buildings to meet our students needs the third is creating a team structure a team share structure with an administrative role by focusing on those priorities we'll be able to offer a Continuum of Care for our students and also decreasing the amount of students who will require a different aits as you will see we have five budget requests all of these requests have been a reallocation of existing funding or potential use of Contract Services so first we are highlighting a team chair currently our school psychologists serve a dual role where they are team chairs and school psychologists we would really like to separate those into two different decs our second ask is to hire two special education teachers one at the elementary level one at the secondary level for years we have really utilized a series of tutors to provide additional reading instruction as needed and we would really like to be proactive as opposed to reactive and hire those staff members in District we'd also like to repurpose a position to higher School psychologists to really help with our therapeutic learning programs that's an area as need we are highlighting we're conducting a audit later this year but that's something that has really stood out is making sure that as we are looking at audits placements we want to make sure that our District programs have the same level of Staff in addition we'd like to hire a board certified Behavior analysts to really work with our autism programs this year we were able to use funding from our contracted services to hire a part-time occupational therapist that's something that we've done for the past eight years and so moving forward want that to be included within our budget any questions so everything so far has zero zero dollar zero budget impact correct okay I have to say I'm just as kind of surprised as Josh and can we talk about um which is a compliment by the way I just want to be uh transparent about that um in regards to funding last year and the progress that's been made you're confident that we continue and continue to mature this it I'm actually very impressed with what you're able to do at a zero cost um and would you say that's a result of like all of the funding that you got last year and really curious to learn more about like repurposing existing positions like what does that necessarily mean so two things I would say the as you'll see in the subsequent slides we've really utilized every single position that was granted to us through the funding and additional grant funding to really make sure that we could staff our buildings appropriately this year we are really trying to be cautious and fiscally responsible knowing that we still have students who are exiting for out of District placements and so while that is happening we're trying to build our programs we can't do BU things simultaneously because we don't have the funds to be able to do so thank you for that clarification super important yeah sure please and it kind of goes back to it excuse me more water in the house oh great thank um you know as we show savings and and you'll see as we progress to the slides there may be opportunities here that we're doing the best that we can to use with from within and we're keeping our staffing which is fantastic you know unlike some other districts but you know the cost and I think Josh brought this up in the subcommittee where contracted Services versus having as our employee there's significant savings with that as well and they're digging deep you know as they talk about tutors they're not it wasn't bad that that was happening but we can actually maximize and and save more and have them be under our umbrella so as we move forward there may be opportunities down the road as we save to start putting things together that could be a cost savings right for example we added the transportation coordinator because we knew we needed to flatten the curve so there could be more opportun unties down the road it's just being able to come up with the budgetary here and you'll see there's a few other things that are not quite settled yet that we might be able to dig into um I don't want to steal Christine under her teams Thunder but I think those are huge questions because you know again we're appreciative of the big ass but we need to be strategic as we're building this forward it has to be sustainable right so if we add x amount of positions and ultimately we get into a squeeze at some point because we're not flattening the curve you know we're that's not going to help us so it's a lot of patience on our team right because we know we need to get to this point we need to do some things but it just can't all happen at once no I mean I mean I always come back to this because last year this was one of our biggest asks but I I think it's incredibly impressive the progress that you've made and you know the repurposing of existing positions to be where we are um but would it be fair to say that regardless of adding any additional cost to this that we're still going to have students that inevitably have to leave because we're still building this out um and knowing that is there a timeline because again I did not expect immediate you know like impact in regards to students exiting as we build this but is there like a horizon that we're looking at um it three years four years where we can start capturing students before they leave the program yes I would say our autism program is where we really invested a lot of our efforts this year we had our first audit done by constellations and so they're coming back for year two next year to really help with Staffing patterns that we need in those programs so the goal would really be a year from there can we through our budget process sustain the budget impact of those positions without having that huge amount of money we're spending for our contract okay and will we I did peek ahead but is that Horizon going to be demonstrated in the next few slides yeah we we do have the projection out like what we can add so as things come off contracted we add savings Come Aboard we know that we have to keep adding other positions for the Continuum services like I'd love to come forward now and say yep seven team chairs right I'd love to be able to say that and I know my team would but that's not responsible at this time and I know um that that we need that however we have to do this in a systematic way to make it sustainable so to your point you know we're flattening the curve and some students are still going out but it's not you know we're not seeing you know we're managing right and it's through the hard work and efforts of the team because we've added some things and and you know as I said there's some alternate funding that we've utilized to help bring in some other support positions so it's it's it's a it's a big picture it's a big puzzle for us so the um right now we're looking at just the snapshot where we're at we have to present we have to get the allocations but we'll go forward with some more information no no no absolutely and I appreciate you asking right and and and I say it in for a lack of of a better term is you know the impact on our budget in regards to aod District placements and in the autism thing is the kind of if we view it as a wound we're not going to heal it in one year but can we shrink it and is it going heal and are we going to get better and I think it's really important to demonstrate this process and this Horizon to fincom into the the town with the expectation of look at what you've done so far and the fiscally responsible way that we're looking to repair this and the great work that you're doing but to prepare the town in town select and everyone transparently to say over the next few years this is what has to be done done to achieve that goal if that makes sense and and if I may that that's why you know this is important because we work through this as your lens is seeing this and knowing as we move forward that this isn't a final presentation so all that feedback and I know we'll have more we'll talk about this in the end but we need the feedback as we craft we'll meet back with your admin team because ultimately we'll see where we land at the budget hearing on the 24th but this is feedback that we need to see like we need to tweak this tweak in areas here and like could there be a demonstration of areas that show even clearer what the town will expect because we do need to show you know the investment paying off I agree but this feedback is huge we appreciate it I guess as I look at this um I'm trying to appreciate more and more that what's happening here is really a significant restructuring of the way we deliver special ed services we had the audit last year um or earlier this year actually which gave us some things that we really needed to look at and perhaps do differently and so you were in your first year your team is in the first year really and now you have the audit and now you have a guideline and now you're going to build the program to your vision and Dan's vision and uh it strikes me that we've got to give you time to realize that vision and so what you're looking for Budget wise um I would support because you need the time you know but I think it responsibly you've got to be able to come back to us and tell us look this isn't working we need to do this we need to do that and uh you know even if it's looking forward to the next budget you know this is going to be a multi-year process and be transparent and be open with us about what you need that's all I ask so mine's going back a couple slides it's about the team chair so this always comes up but we hear discussed it's like almost like that really nice to have but you don't NE it's not necessarily Mission like you can continue without a te a team chair is that correct is that kind of I would say it's Mission critical Mission critical okay because what's happened over time I think the town has invested in service providers working directly with students but without that quality control feature of making sure that the services can be delivered the way they're outlined and making sure the parents understand those services in a huge disconnect own internal a we found there is a lack of training and understanding of some of the components that are really necessary and that role really is Mission critic got it okay but we don't have the number of Team chairs that we necessarily need right now right that's the one area correct we're trying to get there so we're starting to build F got it okay and then the other question is I I saw like a psychologist was doing double duty right so what's the bandwidth on that like how what what's how are they splitting up their duties is it like a 8 20 is it uh s like how would they split up their time I would think that depends on the building and the students they're serving so that looks different at all buildings and I think that's part of our concern right okay thank you to the point that the team has done a great job it's could we continue at the model we have absolutely will that bring the improvements that we need no it's just going to keep moving and so we have to shift that mindset um and again I I guess the easiest connection is like brought David aboard do the quality control trans and I know that's separate than special education essentially right now we have Derek and Mara they're doing double duty right now because they're running a lot of the initial meetings on top of their other Administration as well so being able to put chairs in place right and that's always the dual-edged sword is we want to put forward- facing staff but we also need that piece where we can really make sure that everything is where it needs to be the school psychologist then could go back and they could perform even more services for students so um you know this needs to be addressed um and we knew you know coming we talked a lot about this and the audit shows it uh but again it's a it's a piece where again if I ask for seven you know that's going to be a tilt but can we add over time could some things change within a I mean there's things we can do and um I don't want to hold up the rest of this these are all excellent points so this just really highlights the realignment for last year allowing students to graduate from their current elementary schools in the upper grades especially grades four and five while really coming up with home base for all of our programs and so this slide just highlights those pieces so some of our students are moving on to middle school and as those cohorts are moving up how are we reassigning staff to make sure that we're able to meet our students needs in this slide is another one that highlights all the support positions that were offered through the incredible funding from the town last year in addition addition to the SR funding and other grants that were allocated this year we have support positions that have benefited all students not just students on IEPs or 504 plans and then we have positions that are really highlighted are industry programs as well as program development so for the next two years this really focuses on our three programs we're seeing our highest levels of students in a district placements which is our autism strand our therapeutic Strand and our language based Strand and so in year one for autism strand we are asking for one bcba year two we would really look at an SLP to really help with some of those AAC or alternative and augmented communication needs in our therapeutic program this year we'd like to hire a school psychologist and next year we'd really like to hire a bcda for our reading and language based needs the reason why it's reading and language based is because what we've seen over time is some students haven't received the reading instruction they require and so if we are providing that early often and intense students may not need a program specifically so for next this year we're asking for two special Educators and the following year the same request and lastly the administrative portion just highlights the ne the necessity of a team chair or an assisant principal model depending on the building in the level of funding so that's really it for the special education so if I take the feedback from the committee so coming up with another way to show like the progress we've made with position and kind of integrating it more into you know so they can see the return on investment if you may say but also maybe even projecting out further um maybe even year three as well I know that's on the board as well so we didn't want to inundate too much with the information but be very clear so that's feedback that we could use to come back and provide that Clarity I mean now add um the investment from fiscal year 25 at work slide is my favorite slide probably of of the day because again that was such a big investment last year you take that compound it with your level request for the year and your reallocation it's just fantastic work like in just from what I'm seeing so great collaboration great transparency and I think it really demonstrates the work that you're putting in and it demonstrates to you know the select committee into toin come and uh just great work thank you really great love seeing this just one I think that that last slide I think is is great too because for any of those parents out there that are are parents of special needs students to know when it's not that we're not asking for more funding right now we're asking for we're chipping away at it so I think it's great it's a nice job I'm not sure if it falls under this umbrella I think it may but um and thank you for all of this um I I know the EA situation is organic um are we in position with staff to address our El needs this year and potentially next year yes we're in in good position right now to address uh those needs so we do see that we're going to probably as we move into next school year we have we'll have a reduction in the number of Ls we'll still have over 100 but I think right yeah so um staff to to to yes so with the Staffing that we do have that budget not just EA funded um we will have enough capacity to cover that thank if I could follow up on that so that's important because as we're calculating it's a moving Target for us right now right it's you know as as the shelters are closing down as students are moving Mary has done great work overall program and so our staff in community has been great but she's worked really closely with our Point person at desie um who really you know Works directly with the state so not only knowing the timeline but as students move out as they move into housing you know how that additional funding will follow we've been advocating with Joan lovelyy and Sally Currin who will be here next meeting we can talk about that advocacy for that supplemental budget so that is important those are all the little things that do add up because we've used that funding to support other supportive positions as well and also just the mechanism like anything that we're able to save we can move forward and I'm glad to hear that I mean I hear an investment in literacy in early grades we're dealing with social emotional you know mental health needs and behavioral needs rate um and we'll pick up some of the Ells with some of our literacy work but that's that's a specialized right instructional practice so just another another subgroup that if we're hitting all of these that that's going to pay off dividends I think you know fut so thank you thank you everyone thank you so much thank you to our team it's been an extraordinary long day for them um as they open school and work through the day so right okay so just to wrap up you know as we look at our increases where you know when couple are out of District tuition and transportation and contracted services and then certainly our you know supplies and materials and and all the uh the non-salaried and then the obligation and you can't see the the big piece about the salary uh increase in the contract I am too proud as we are of of having having that but remember we we bumped in all those Esser positions from last year they're part of this we've also integrated contracted Services positions too so that's why we've been very careful here uh with this because we knew to be sustainable right we have to be able to absorb and and we have a higher percentage next year and then to keep our staffing keep them and we're good in a good place there um and I'm proud of the work that's been done so that's our overall the proposed increases but when we look to the offsets this is where we've been able to to make this ask come in lower than we did last year by far we're utilizing circuit breaker at a substantial rate again and we know you know that's not optim but we need it because that offsets and that keeps keeps things down low for us uh the grant funding that we have will continue for that and obviously Personnel where we can reallocate right while keeping our positions in you know people aren't losing jobs I want to be very clear on that but looking for ways when you know there are retirements can we reallocate move things around absolutely and that's what we should be doing uh and then moving some from contracted Services which cost more per hour than with with our hourly rat so when you break all that down you know our overall um you know proposed budget again this is still rough draft we still have more work to do and want want feedback from the school committee but most of our budget is personnel and it always is and most School budgets are right with our salaries and then we have substantial circuit uh special education costs offset by circuit breakers so that is a little misleading that percentage would be higher we're using a pretty big percentage to reduce that cost with circuit breaker and then transportation is there at that 1.3 and we're hoping that that can change over time so when you break all this down you know our per pupil expenditure is still lower than the state and has been um but we make it work and then I think the bottom line is off the proposed budget is you know we're coming in we're going to come in at a 3.6 based on these projections right now so taking a big dip out of circuit breaker which we need uh and the offsets um and we did some see some savings you know obviously we calculate retirements and things like that in there um come in at 3.6 is where we're at right and like we said level service the services are there you know in terms of uh minimal ask and I always like to put this chart in here you can see our U 13year average is 3.87 that includes last year's 6.41 I didn't include the average where we're at now the 36 that may change right as we come back to the budget hearing that could change um but that's where we're at right now so I would say that you know from a town side um I I couldn't agree more like we need to make sure that we're we're providing our teachers they deserve the best our students deserve the best and they can't wait but we also have to be very smart and sustainable here because we don't want to be in a situation where we run off the fiscal cliff so when you look at this this is the key here the potential savings these are things that we just don't know yet um um and we'll see where these go for example the Chapter 70 funding there is uh advocacy for increasing the foundational level from 75 to 104 and that's a substantial increase again we don't have that finalized that may not happen but if it does that's that's help for us there right circuit breaker you know and we have again there's a lot of advocacy to raise that 44 to 75 that's substantial money right there that replenishes is the circuit breaker funding right so that will help us that's why we know we're taking a pretty big chunk out of the circuit breaker but we need that to get us through and then potential Transportation savings so if you take 10% overall it's about 315,000 now that in itself we can't say that that's what it's going to be we hope it's that maybe it's more maybe it's l we don't know but anything we gain there goes back to all right what can we then kind of tack in there and make it work if we need to so there's a lot of items that are potential there but again I think it's it's it's being smart in the sense that you know our team Works extraordinary hard our staff works very hard and we're able to provide the services and we're grateful for that support um and our next steps really are to take the feedback tonight right so we'll be able to work on a budget book by the end of next week that's more detailed and preparation for a budget hearing on the 24th and that budget hearing at that point we hope to come to you with like we're good to go it's approved because that will be the allocation or the percentage that goes to the town right because they need time to work on their um you know our presentation so Pam will put together a budget book for them that's Saturday March 15th we don't have the time yet so we'll make the presentation the select board and then in April mid April they're working on the final date where we present the fincom and then town meeting in May so you know it's it's moving um again you know when we broke this down I wasn't sure where we we'd be at and we've made some moves and I have to thank Pam crumb for her extraordinary work I have to thank our our team that's stayed here for a long time but they've been working really hard because they face our staff they face our students they face the families to make sure they get what they need right and and certainly um you know and Mary warmers have to thank her as well because of the hard work she's done not only procuring grants working with our newcomers but also working with a curriculum team so it's a lot of work that's gone in just to get to this piece um so we're looking forward to any feedback from the committee um so then way we can prepare and make any changes or tweaks if we get any updates from the town uh because they they they're always willing to help us and they try to help us again will that final number be 3.6 on the 24th maybe maybe not we'll see where things are um but that's kind of where we're at right now so certainly open for any questions questions or again feedback can be now it could be you know through email or whatever and then bring it together um whatever is at the will of the committee the uh the 3 point6 number tonight is impressive I'll just say that I I know it's not it might not be the final number um to hear the the thoughtfulness to hear U people sharing priorities in a very in a very thoughtful way he very impressive to me uh it makes me be very proud to be part of this process so kudos to all of you the team everyone who works on this um I was just it's very as a PP parent and going for very uh encouraging to hear that type of uh thoughtfulness went into this work um first of all thank you Dan Mary Pam um for leading the process thank you to everybody from the principes curriculum directors assistants everybody who helped you put together the budget and um made this presentation tonight you you the town should be proud of this process because it's extraordinarily responsible and well thought out and well presented and uh I don't think that there's a question that any of you couldn't answer in terms terms of why you're doing what you're doing so real kudos to you all and big thanks to you all and uh I guess when I look back or look at this now the need to bring a very responsible and maybe even somewhat conservative budget is very important because we are truly in uncertain Economic Times we really don't know what the economy will look like 3 months from now 6 months from now it's very volatile because of you know what's happening with the administration change frankly and uh there may be no more Department of Education at some point so um it is important for us I think to to be very responsible now because we don't know what revenue streams are going to look like in uh like I say even six months or year so um my appreciation to all of you for what you do every day and for what you done with this budget so thank you um I think that looking at the volume of positive ads that really don't play anything into the budget you know the biggest budget pieces I feel were just cost um per unit raising this year it had nothing to do with the fact that we're looking to add new positions but we're reallocating most everything that was asked for tonight from from all levels was either reallocating or just backed of prices of things going up that we already have in place that you can't change that you can't go to the supermarket and buy something for less than what it is so you're just taken that few dollars so I'm I'm impressed with everybody today that you were able to look at what you had look at what we need and move it forward without having to make Cuts left and right or ask for big asks there's really no big ask across the board I appreciate all all of your efforts um to keep our students in the best place that they possibly could be thank you yeah I Echo everything that everyone has already said um unless there's any other comments I'd like to ask for a motion to adjourn any discussion I'm just kidding all right we are adjourned and the next school V oh vote I I'm so sorry I was ready for the next meeting um all those in favor i i i u none opposed the motion carries we are adjourned and just a reminder our next meeting is next week February 10th 6:30 p.m. thank you all have a good night e