WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=Z67SNiHuqmI

NOTE
MEETING SECTIONS:

Part 1 (Video ID: Z67SNiHuqmI):
- 00:00:16: Call to Order, Pledge, Open Time for Public
- 00:01:27: Recognizing the 4th Grade Student Council Achievements
- 00:04:46: Student Council Recognition and Certificate Presentation
- 00:06:47: Meeting Recess, Return for Budget Hearing
- 00:10:36: FY27 Budget Hearing Begins: Presentation Groundwork
- 00:20:54: Director Hawk Presents Budget Numbers and Calculations
- 00:34:35: Grant Funding, Needs Population and Spending Details
- 00:38:42: Budget Cuts, Reorganization, and Positions Impacted
- 00:41:13: Committee Questions and Comments on Budget
- 00:42:23: Public Hearing Closed, Budget Vote Passed Unanimously
- 00:44:19: Consent Agenda Approved, Finance Subcommittee Report
- 00:46:27: Policy Subcommittee Report and Policy Adoption Vote
- 00:50:09: Updates from Coordinators, Grant Administrators, Special Education
- 00:50:47: Superintendent Communications: Enrollment and ELL Progress
- 00:51:36: Final Comments from Committee Members and Adjournment


Part: 1

1
00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:33.600
6 o'lock on Monday, May 11th. I hereby call the regular meeting of the Gardener School Committee to order and ask the clerk to please call the role. >> Rachel, >> present. >> John, Robert Schwarz, >> present. >> Jen Pavan, >> Annne Hurst,

2
00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:49.760
>> present. >> Paul Cormier, >> present. >> Mayor Nicholson, >> present. >> And Dr. Pelgro, >> present. Thank you very much. At this time, all who are able, please join us in the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

3
00:00:49.760 --> 00:01:09.040
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you very much. Um, we'll note that Mr. Lefrener is here. Uh at this time we're going to take uh item B, open time

4
00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:27.600
for the general public. Uh we'll note that this is different than the public hearing on the school budget that will fall later on in the hearing. Aside from the school budget, is there anyone here from the general public who wishes to be heard? >> Believe me, we'll take that for that part of the meeting agenda any day. Um

5
00:01:27.600 --> 00:01:42.799
seeing none, moving on to item C. Recognitions by the superintendent for the fourth grade student council for 2025 2026, Dr. Pelgro. This is Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. So, this is one of those um uh meetings I actually love about to come to. Mel,

6
00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:58.240
would you mind coming up here? >> Miss Tubchinsky, come on up. So, the fourth grade student council every year does so many different things and we like to recognize them each year for all the different leadership things that they do um during the year. So, Mr. Coelli, would you mind saying some of

7
00:01:58.240 --> 00:02:13.680
the things they did this year? So, we keep them pretty busy and they're very good at what they do, getting involved in their community. We're really proud of their efforts. So, as far as the community for a whole for the Gardener CAC, they had a Thanksgiving food drive

8
00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:29.599
during um our GES harvest festival. They sold raffle tickets to benefit the CAC. They also had a holiday toy drive for the gardener CAC and had the opportunity to deliver the items and speak to the director of the CAC to hear about their

9
00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:47.360
good work through the community. Um we also had a spring drive for the gardener animal shelter. They did a spring cleanup. Um they help with the PBS carnival at school, PBIS carnival. And then there's things they do through the whole year, including collecting lost

10
00:02:47.360 --> 00:03:03.280
and found through the school and bring them to a central location to be organized. Um they help the librarian, Mrs. Bro, weekly with shelving her books. They volunteer um in prek to three classrooms once a week. They keep their own schedule. They work out with

11
00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:18.959
the teacher what they'll do and they come downstairs or go downstairs each week and help the teacher out. And they really enjoy that. And the kid, little younger kids and the teachers love it, too. They also help PBIS additionally with making positive pouches. They cut

12
00:03:18.959 --> 00:03:35.840
the cap cash and bus bucks and they hang up and take down posters for events. And I'd like to also add they're very excellent role models and that's another important part of being on the school council. So, >> thank you. So, the students here tonight

13
00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:50.720
um are definitely leaders within our district. Um and when it comes to our um core values of with community responsibility and excellence, they definitely hit each one of those. Absolutely. And appreciation is something that they're doing every day just by showing up and working hard.

14
00:03:50.720 --> 00:04:26.720
That hard work pays off for the entire community. And you make Gartner public schools much a much more special place. So thank you for all you do. I think they deserve a whole a round of applause. Some of them are not here, but that's okay.

15
00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:46.880
here. >> Okay, I got to figure out who's here. >> So, when we call your name, what we'd like you to do is just come on up here real quick and receive a certificate. And right after everyone gets their certificate, we're going to take a picture out right outside here, outside the door, >> okay? For our Facebook page,

16
00:04:46.880 --> 00:05:51.840
>> Oliver Barrett Alaska Castro, Gavin Chisum, Primrose Fischer, Eustina Hakeim, Logan Arazari, Olivia Leighton, Brandon Meager, Madison Meyer,

17
00:05:56.160 --> 00:06:47.120
Logan Perkins, Colin Scoville, Adeline Terasuk, Aaliyah Williams, and Donovan Yeba. All right. Now, another round of applause for all. >> Yeah. At this time, the meeting will take a brief recess. We're going to

18
00:06:47.120 --> 00:10:36.240
invite all of our students uh out in the hallway underneath the city seal for a brief picture and any parents who'd like to take the picture or take individual pictures after that are more than welcome to as well. So at 67 the meeting will be in recess. The meeting will come back to order at

19
00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:52.560
6:10 p.m. And moving on to item D in the agenda. This is the public hearing for the FY27 school budget. The process will go as follows. will have a presentation by the superintendent and the director of administration and finance uh for the

20
00:10:52.560 --> 00:11:10.160
school uh department on the FY2027 proposed school budget. Afterward, we'll have uh comments and questions from the members of the school committee, followed by open time for the general public for comments and questions after that. The city's rules for public hearing allow for comments of up to uh

21
00:11:10.160 --> 00:11:26.560
four minutes per individual. up at the podium here when you come up. Uh, please state your name and address uh for the record as required by the general laws of the Commonwealth. Uh, and we require everyone to go through once first and then if anyone has any subsequent comments, they can come back up to the podium after that time after everyone's

22
00:11:26.560 --> 00:11:42.560
had a chance to speak at least once. Uh, so I hereby declare the public hearing open and give the floor to Dr. Pelgro and Director Hawk for their presentation on the budget. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. First, I'd like to um thank some of the um teachers of GA for coming out and uh

23
00:11:42.560 --> 00:11:58.160
listening to the presentation and showing their support for uh schools. Thank you very much. Um and thank you all for having me to um talk about this. Actually, well, you require me to do it. So, but it's but we we all know this is one of the most important things we do. We need we know that the education needs

24
00:11:58.160 --> 00:12:14.480
to drive the budget, not a budget driven education. So, with that said, I'd like to go over a few things um each time before we um before we talk about the actual money. The first thing is just our student enrollment trends. As you can see, since um 2015,

25
00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:31.360
um we've been we were going down for a while in terms of our student enrollment and then we started going up. This year, 85% of our district the districts in that state of Massachusetts are um are considered hold harmless, which means that their enrollment went down. There's about 15,000 plus students throughout

26
00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:47.279
the state that are no longer attending public schools. We're not sure where they went. Some of them went to home school, some of them went to private school, but they're no longer attending um public schools. So, the state lost about 15,000 students. Our enrollment trends, as you can see,

27
00:12:47.279 --> 00:13:03.040
this is um high needs. So, high needs um assigned by the state. Um students who are um considered high needs have more intense services and oftentimes need more resources. um provided by the district. When you when you say there's a student with high needs, that's a

28
00:13:03.040 --> 00:13:19.440
student who either comes from a low-income family, a student with a disability, or an English language learner. Um students might be in multiple categories, or they could just be in one. As you can see, our numbers for low income have gone from um um a

29
00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:35.200
little over 1,250 um back in 2021 to um almost 1500 now. And our students with disabilities have increased 20% going from a little under 500 students to 613 students. It's over

30
00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:52.800
100 students in the district. And with a district of our size, that has a huge impact. English language learners, again, another huge impact. Um more than um two and a half times the size of that population since 2021. This I find to be a very interesting

31
00:13:52.800 --> 00:14:08.880
chart. This scatter plot represents 250 um districts in the state of Massachusetts. Each one um has a high school and that that has an accountability rating and um they have um a high needs percentage.

32
00:14:08.880 --> 00:14:25.440
And so what I did was I in any district that has more than one high school, I actually looked at the accountability percentile, the highest accountability percentile for that district. So it's the highest rated school. For the accountability percentile, the state set looks at things like MCAST scores,

33
00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:41.760
dropout rate, cognit absenteeism, advanced coursework participation, graduation rate, and extended engagement. So when you look at this um graph, the origin line, the x axis goes from 0 to

34
00:14:41.760 --> 00:14:58.720
99. 0 actually it goes from one to 99. One being the lowest, 99 being the highest. So, the further you are to the right on this graph, the better that high school is doing, the y ais going up and down. Um, the higher up you are, the higher

35
00:14:58.720 --> 00:15:14.639
percentage of your high need students. And if you notice, I put a little red new new axis there. And that's in the orange dot is Gardener High School. So, Gardener High School is rated 40 on the 45th percentile.

36
00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:32.160
And that horizontal x- axis is 64% high need students at Gartner High School. And if you notice, any school that has 64% or more high need students is rated below us. So their accountability percentile is below our

37
00:15:32.160 --> 00:15:47.680
accountability. There are many in the lower um lefthand quadrant that show school districts that have a lower percentage of high need students and they're not doing as well as us. The only schools that are in on uh that have a higher percentile rank are the ones to

38
00:15:47.680 --> 00:16:05.440
the right. And you'll see that they're all they all have a lower high need percentage. So we're improving outcomes at the high school. Um and where that really I want to show that because it's an outlier and we like being an outlier because we do things differently and we show that

39
00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:21.120
we're actually improving outcomes for students. With that said, when you look at the entire district, including the elementary school and the middle school, our elementary school and middle school have been in the bottom 20% since before I was superintendent. We're actually starting to improve now.

40
00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:37.120
We've really started to to move. When you look at the STAR and ELA scores, our STAR is our universal screener test. We do this test three times a year in English um and literacy um uh comprehension and math ability on grade levels.

41
00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:54.560
The bluish line, greenish blue line, that's what we're doing this year. The light gray line is what we did last year. And as you can see, both of those groups improved start across the district. Over to the right is our dibble score. Dibbles is our reading

42
00:16:54.560 --> 00:17:11.039
percentage. And that also has gone up significantly for our earliest, youngest learners. And reading is the key to success in uh in school. Another anecdotal thing that I do want to point out is our school choice numbers. In the red is our school choice

43
00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:26.559
choice numbers going out. In the blue is our school choice numbers coming in. And as you can see, about 2018, we had over 300 of our students leaving our district because they weren't finding what they needed at Garden Public Schools. At this

44
00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:42.400
point, as you can see, by 20 um 2025 and in 2026, we still have parody where we have a few more students coming in than are going out, which is really what you want to see. That took a long time to get to that point where we're turning

45
00:17:42.400 --> 00:17:58.400
around the reputation of Garden Public Schools where it's a place where we're meeting all kids needs. Um, another quick anecdote too, we also look at our the students who are applying to Monty Tech, which is in a way leaving our district. It used to be

46
00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:13.919
when I first became superintendent, we had between 70 and 90 students applying to Monty Tech. One of our um, biggest concerns was that the students who were applying oftentimes weren't applying to go into a vocation. They were applying to go on to four-year schools outside of

47
00:18:13.919 --> 00:18:30.960
the vocation that they were intending to go to go to Monty Techch for. That was really concerning to us where between 7 and nine of our students were leaving. They were our top students oftentimes in AP and college college prep courses. Now this year we had 46 students apply

48
00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:46.559
and only four of those 46 students don't intend to go onto a vocation. It's a totally different dynamic and only 14 of those students are our top students. Our top students are interested in going to a vocation. More power to them. I don't mind that. But I want kids going to Monty Techch who want to go into a

49
00:18:46.559 --> 00:19:02.640
vocation. So we have the right kids applying because the other kids are seeing that we have opportunities here in Gardener Public Schools that are for them. So with all of that, we have a lot of good things going on in the district. And the way our budget process works is

50
00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:18.320
it starts with the principles working with principles and directors working with staff asking what the needs are to continue doing the work that we're doing. and they put together an entire budget based on the expenses that are that are required

51
00:19:18.320 --> 00:19:33.360
and then they are required my principles and directors are required to cut every year we cut about $1.2 million in positions from the district which is an exercise to make sure we're we're developing the best district we can

52
00:19:33.360 --> 00:19:50.400
possibly develop. So we cut $1.2 2 million in positions. And then we say, what are the positions that we don't have yet that we really need? And we list those positions out. So with those expenses and with those budget cuts, the the principal and

53
00:19:50.400 --> 00:20:06.720
directors then meet with central office. We go over their plan. We discuss their needs and what um what their what their plan is. From there, we take all of that information and then we sit in a room. all of the directors and all of the principles sit in a room and we have some heated conversations and we

54
00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:22.400
actually take from every position that we cut and all the positions that we need, we say, "What's the first most important position in the district to go back into the budget?" And it's usually a kindergarten teacher, but that's the first one that goes back in. Then what's the next most important position? And

55
00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:38.000
sometimes those positions that we need bump some of the positions that we have. And so what we do is we create a prioritized list to say okay what is the what is the best way we can have we can design our school system to support our

56
00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:54.799
students. After that after we design that then we bring it to school committee and city council on what u what the budget is and that's one thing. So with that for the fun part Mr. Hawk will now go over the numbers.

57
00:20:54.799 --> 00:21:10.720
>> This is the fun part. small print so you probably can't see it. So I'll just explain a little bit of it. So our chapter 70 aid calculation on the left side under where it says uh 103 gardener aid calculation for FY27. You start with number one which is last

58
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:29.760
year's chapter 70 aotment 32,375,000. To come up with foundation aid they add the foundation budget for FY27. We'll get into that a little bit later. 46,57,000. The required district contribution for FY27 again that's another slide but 13

59
00:21:29.760 --> 00:21:45.440
million487 the foundation aid is then uh 33,19,000 that's uh deducting the required contribution from the foundation budget. So that comes up with an increase of $643,719

60
00:21:45.440 --> 00:22:02.640
over last year. the um as Mark mentioned the minimum aid the governor's numbers is what this chart is and it had $75 per pupil increase which would have been 180 just short of 185,000 for gardener and you take the larger of either the per pupil

61
00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:19.039
aid increase or the increase um from the foundation budget increase the house and senate both have $160 as their minimum per pupil increase which would be just short of $400,000 um if we were a minimum aid community.

62
00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:34.720
So 400,000 is still smaller than the $643,000 increase. So that's what we get. The comparison to FY26 is in the top right side of this and it shows the enrollment slight decrease. the

63
00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:56.320
foundation budget, an increase, as I said, of $1,468,720, the required district contribution, and the chapter 78 increase, which equals the $1,468,720 to come up with a local contribution. This is all um dictated under chapter

64
00:22:56.320 --> 00:23:13.440
70. So again, on the left side, starting with number one, it's the 2024 equalized valuation. So that's the aggregate taxable amount of all the property within the city of Gardner. 2 bill325,71,000 and change. That's multiplied by a

65
00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:30.480
uniform property percentage. Uniform, it's consistent for every school district. They have that same uh number 3309%. It might fluctuate from year to year, but it's still the same for every school district. You multiply those two, 7,696,000.

66
00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:45.679
That's the local effort from property wealth according to the chapter 70 formula 2023 income which is from the department of revenue 582,25,000 and again a different uniform income percentage number again it's uniform for

67
00:23:45.679 --> 00:24:00.720
every school district multiply those two together for 9,255,000 and then number seven is the combined effort yield or our target you add the local effort from income and the local effort from property wealth and this is what the state says says we should be

68
00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:16.799
spending minimum on our schools. So the foundation budget from 49,689,000 is multiplied by 82.5% which is 40,993,000. That is the maximum no matter how much

69
00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:33.799
anyone wants us to spend on the schools. That is the maximum over net school spending we can go. We're not there yet. So you take the lesser of the maximum or the local effort or the um the target number which is 16,951,000

70
00:24:33.840 --> 00:24:50.320
and then the numbers 11 and 12 on the bottom of the lefth hand side are just the percentages of the target local share and the target age share. The target age share is uh where the state wants us to be no more than getting that much money from the uh state. On the

71
00:24:50.320 --> 00:25:05.039
right hand side we have we start with number 13 which is last year's required contribution. The municipal revenue growth factor comes from the department of revenue 5.1%. This is different for every community and you come up with a

72
00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:22.320
preliminary contribution of 14,274,000 which is 28.73% of our target level. um the shortfall is 2,677,000 or 5.39%.

73
00:25:22.320 --> 00:25:39.919
If the shortfall is between 2 and a half and 7 12%, a 1% adder or penalty is added and it's 1% of the previous year's local contribution. Stay with me. It gets more exciting after this. Um, so the 1% adder is 135,000 added to

74
00:25:39.919 --> 00:25:59.039
the the shortfall amount which the shortfall after the adder is $2.5 million. So our FY27 required local contribution 14,410,244 but we don't get all of that. >> So let me let me just Can I bring

75
00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:14.480
something up? >> You may. So in in looking at this slide, this is probably um one of the most important slides. I think too often when um when people think about the school budget, we think of minimum net school spending. Minimum net school spending is the least amount you can spend on the

76
00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:29.760
schools. It doesn't mean that's what we need to support the students that we have. So the state actually does all of this complicated stuff that Mark just talked about to actually come up with what's your target as a municipality in terms of how much you're taking in as a

77
00:26:29.760 --> 00:26:45.679
city and how much you should be putting towards the schools. And what this is saying is we're $2.6 million below what our target is. $2.6 million below what our target is. And each time we're below what the

78
00:26:45.679 --> 00:27:02.080
target is, we get a small penalty. And so this year we have 135,000 as the penalty. So we have about 850,000 that the city has to put towards the schools. Well 135,000 of that comes from this penalty.

79
00:27:02.080 --> 00:27:17.360
Now using this penalty as a marker to try to catch up to the $2.6 million is like is like trying to pay off your credit card using the minimum amount. It's going to take forever to get to that point. So it's important that if we want to start to move towards that

80
00:27:17.360 --> 00:27:34.000
target so kids get the services that they actually need, we need to do more than this minimum small increments that the that um that uh the state says we need to do. So with that Mark, we're almost done with the state slides and then they get a little more readable. So

81
00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:50.720
I mentioned the uh required minimum net school spending of 14,410,000 that is split between uh our two school systems gardener public schools and Monarch Regional. So you'll see Gardner gets what's in the little box there 13,487,000

82
00:27:50.720 --> 00:28:07.039
and Monty Tech 922,000 and that's divvied up based on the foundation enrollment. The foundation budget, this is the last unreadable slide we'll go through. Um just a a a very high level view of where

83
00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:24.240
the foundation budget comes from. Across the top on the left hand side it says base foundation components which is made up of your kindergarten, your elementary, your middle, your high school and vocational. We have 13 vocational which is part of our MVP program. And then more towards the

84
00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:39.840
right, special ed, indistrict, out of district, English learners, English um learners, uh lowinccome. And then going down the left side are all the different categories, administration, instructional leadership, classroom and specialist teachers, other teaching services,

85
00:28:39.840 --> 00:28:56.399
professional development, etc., etc. And all these are multiplied out to fill in those boxes in the middle until you come up with the 46,57,000 in the bottom right. And what the S SOA, Student Opportunity Act, really played with was everything on the

86
00:28:56.399 --> 00:29:14.720
right hand side, the incremental costs above the base. So that's the English language learners, low income, so forth that Mark went over earlier. So we have a foundation budget per pupil of $18,867. One other note on this slide is way on the bottom left, number 14, it's our low

87
00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:32.480
income percentage, 67.35%. This has actually come down. Last year we were roughly 69.7% or somewhere in the 69%. And again statewide um the state reduced the lowincome students

88
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:50.960
from 420,000 to 400,000. Wherever they went, they went. So the new money on the left, 26 to 27 changes. Uh again, the $643,000 increase in chapter 70, $825,000 and the

89
00:29:50.960 --> 00:30:08.320
required net school spending for the total of 1,468,000. This is year-over-year changes. Salary year-over-year 1,687,000 expenses 1,868,000. Additions or cuts 1,821,000.

90
00:30:08.320 --> 00:30:23.520
Again, this is year-over-year. So last year we added roughly $320,000 worth of um positions and this year we cut roughly 1.5 million. So that's why it's 1.8 million. Non-net school spending, this is transportation, $896,000.

91
00:30:23.520 --> 00:30:38.320
Indirect costs, this is mainly health insurance, 949,000 year-over-year. Carryover deficit. Last year we had a $474,000 deficit that we ended up picking up for a total of $2.262 262 million which

92
00:30:38.320 --> 00:30:58.000
leaves us with a shortfall of $793,669. >> Just a quick point. Um the funding over school spending is $300,000 typically over net school spending. That's a um an agreement that the mayor and I came to last year to talk um to give us some of the money back that we earn from Medicaid. So the teach um there are

93
00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:14.080
several staff members who have to put in time sheets um to Medicaid and then they get we get reimbursed, the city gets reimbured for that. We asked for some of that money back. So last year we took in $467,000 and we got 300,000 over spending just that.

94
00:31:14.080 --> 00:31:30.159
>> So there is still $300,000 over net school spend in the FY27 budget. Just nothing new over what was budgeted last year. >> Great segue into the next slide. So in 26 you see the funding over net school spending is 300,000. In 27 it's also

95
00:31:30.159 --> 00:31:49.840
300,000. That's why the year-over-year change is zero. So it's just another way of uh showing the same thing 1,468,000. So where does the money go? The various salary accounts. This shows FY256 and 7 and then uh the change from 26 to 27 and

96
00:31:49.840 --> 00:32:06.640
the percent increase. So there's the 1,687,000 um split pretty much between regular education instruction and special education instruction. On the expense side, this one has a a lot of the negatives. This is where we

97
00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:23.679
were able to cut a lot um or as much as we could. And then the two highlighted other programs, which is out of district uh tuitions and collaborative tuitions, $1,81,000 increase, transportation,

98
00:32:23.679 --> 00:32:42.159
the other highlighted line, 767,000. So that of the 1,868,000 increase in expenses, 1,848,000 of those two line items. >> And we only got 1.4 million, a little

99
00:32:42.159 --> 00:32:59.919
under$ 1.5 million in new money. >> So here's the actual costs for the out of district claims going from 16 to 27. And uh you'll see in the past several years we've gone over the $2 million mark.

100
00:32:59.919 --> 00:33:15.760
The collaborative tuition, same thing. In the past several years, the collaborative tuition costs have been dramatically increasing. The costs that do not apply to net school spending, this is funded by the city, but it is in the school department's budget, which is why we have to back it out because it

101
00:33:15.760 --> 00:33:33.840
doesn't count towards net school spending. Again, you'll see the 25, 26, and 27. um the regular education 182,000 special education transportation year-over-year increase of $710,000. So there's your $896,000

102
00:33:33.840 --> 00:33:50.880
in transportation increases. And then the indirect cost, this is another budget killer across the state. Um you see the last several years 787,575,000 1.7 million. There were two increases last year and then right now we're

103
00:33:50.880 --> 00:34:12.480
looking at 949,000 for FY27. So again, putting all those numbers together, the FY27 total funding of 46.8 8 million, the school budget of 38.9 million, backing out the transportation cost of just over 4 million, and then

104
00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:35.919
adding that in the indirect cost of 12,753,000, we are have a total net school spending of $47,600,799, which has a revenue shortfall of $793,669. But wait, there's more because that's

105
00:34:35.919 --> 00:34:51.839
not all the good news. We also have um this is just short of just over $2 million in grants and $2 million 43,000 and about 18.5 full-time equivalent positions. And this is not going to come

106
00:34:51.839 --> 00:35:07.920
as surprise to anyone, but there is some slight dysfunction in Washington. And with title one $874,000 and 15.75 FTEES, um we've already been informed or expecting a 10% cut and the federal

107
00:35:07.920 --> 00:35:24.200
fiscal year starts October 1st. So there's still time for a lot more change in all these grants. So I think it's just important to note that besides our general fund revenue budget, we also uh rely on federal grants for quite a few things.

108
00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:41.119
So just again to to re reiterate, we have a higher high needs population. Um this is the the a similar graph to what I showed you before for the high schools. Um but this is again accountability percentile on the x-

109
00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:58.800
axis. So again one over on the left, 99 over on the right. So the further right you are the better you're doing. Um, but this is put on a an vert the y- axis is um above or below minimum net school spending. So if you're right on that um

110
00:35:58.800 --> 00:36:15.440
e the origin line there um you're at 0% above or below which means you get 100% of minimum school spending. So by law you're getting exactly what you need. Again the orange circle shows us we're at 101.3%

111
00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:30.720
of minimum net school spending. And so, as you can see, the average district is 139% of minimum net school spending, 139%, we're at 101.3%. The reason I like to show this graph is

112
00:36:30.720 --> 00:36:46.320
even though we're just about on the origin line, if you if you walk along from the left to right, there's only one district that's around our funding that's doing better than us. That happens to be Hullbrook. there are 51%

113
00:36:46.320 --> 00:37:02.400
um high need students. That's the only district that's doing better than us. Everyone else that's along the origin is doing not as good. So, we're getting these great outcomes on a shoestring budget that shows you

114
00:37:02.400 --> 00:37:18.960
that it's on the backs, frankly, of our teachers, of our administrators, our support staff, our nurses. We're working really hard to get these outcomes. And frankly, we're different than again, we're different than all the other districts. We're doing better with

115
00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:36.720
little. And the problem is we we can't keep keep doing this now that we have these these other drivers. The the healthcare the health insurance is up 62% since since 2024, especially that transportation has gone through the roof. 220% increase since 2024.

116
00:37:36.720 --> 00:37:54.160
And when you look at those 215 districts that I listed out there before, out of the 215 districts, we are 14th from the bottom when it comes to funding out of 215 districts. So, we're doing great work with very little, but we can't keep

117
00:37:54.160 --> 00:38:08.800
going on like this. Right now, you look at where we are compared with what our target is. Back in 2014, we were $2.3 million below the target. By 2021, we were only 50,000

118
00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:25.440
below the target. So, we were just about there. At this point in FY26, uh, last year, I mean, we were 2.7 million away from target. Again, we need more funding.

119
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:42.400
That $783,000 plus the 300,000 over comes out to roughly a million dollars, right? That's 2.2% above minimum net school spending is what we're looking for.

120
00:38:42.400 --> 00:38:58.960
It's not astronomical when you look at all when you look at all those other districts. What did we do? We had a cut. So, first we reorganized. And so, the first thing I do want to say is we did cut a couple positions. There was a nursing position cut. There was a central office position cut. But then we also cut Gardner Academy. As I informed

121
00:38:58.960 --> 00:39:13.680
you all, that was a really tough decision for me. um putting Garner Academy at the high school. I think this is the right time to do it. Um right now we're over we've we're done paying off the windows and the furnace so we're not going to kick have to kick any money

122
00:39:13.680 --> 00:39:31.280
back to the state um as a penalty. Um also the high school is doing well as you can see and we have a great tiered system of supports there. So if there was any time to do it, now would be the time to do it. Um and I was so I was able to cut 11 positions by cutting that. I'll never be able to do that again. Right now we get now we have

123
00:39:31.280 --> 00:39:47.920
three schools. I'm not going to be able to cut another organization or another um piece of Gardener Public Schools and kind of cut that out. And in additional cuts, I cut another $487,000 in position. So almost $1.5 million in

124
00:39:47.920 --> 00:40:05.520
cuts, right? That's roughly 3.75% of my entire budget. These are the actual positions. um an MTSS director for the district, a nurse for the district, the SRO, which will still be funded by the city. Usually those are funded by the city, not by the

125
00:40:05.520 --> 00:40:21.920
schools. Um at Gardenner Academy, um cut the principal, the assistant principal, a special ed administrator, a science teacher, a history teacher, a school counselor, a tutor, and this the nurse that was there. Um at GMS, we cut a UA teacher. Um there's a secretary that's shared by

126
00:40:21.920 --> 00:40:37.359
Gardener High School and Gardener Academy. That position was cut. uh a library position, the grade one teacher and a grade 1 par profofessional at GES was cut and at GHS a special ed teacher and then there's a shared e teacher um

127
00:40:37.359 --> 00:40:53.920
with well it's not a shared position we cut 0 five from the middle school we cut 0 five from the high school and now we're going to have to share a teacher between those two buildings not something I like to do so with that said if you look at everything that we need we're looking

128
00:40:53.920 --> 00:41:13.040
for 38 million 937,559 for our school budget. That includes the shortfall of $793,669. That means that's in there and that would be covered. So if you voted that, you'd be voting for the city to fund us fully

129
00:41:13.040 --> 00:41:33.520
covering the shortfall. With that discussion and questions >> with that, we'll start with questions, comments, concerns from the members of the school committee first before we open up to the general public. Is there any questions from the members of the school committee? >> I have one question.

130
00:41:33.520 --> 00:41:50.560
>> Were we able to save any money through retirements and able to backfill those positions with people that we were going to lay off? >> Uh sometimes that's possible. Um uh some a lot of positions. So I said we we cut 18 positions. We were fortunate enough to um only um have to lose 10 teachers.

131
00:41:50.560 --> 00:42:06.000
I say only 10 teachers a lot, but at least it wasn't 18. um when a teacher retires, we always f we we would fill that position. Uh but oftentimes right now we're all all these districts, we're all fighting over the same people. So a lot of times you're you're looking at

132
00:42:06.000 --> 00:42:22.760
people who are experienced coming over from another district and they're coming in just as much. If there special education, often times more. >> Any other questions from the members in school committee? >> That is by the way we're calculating here.

133
00:42:23.280 --> 00:42:38.960
Seeing none at this time, I'll hereby declare the public hearing open for the members of the general public who are here who wish to be heard on the topic of the school budget. Uh again, if you wish to be heard, please come up to the podium here with a microphone and state your name for the record. And is there anyone here from the public who wishes

134
00:42:38.960 --> 00:42:57.040
to be heard on the school budget this evening? Twice. Is there anyone here from the public who wishes to be heard on the school budget this evening? By law, I'm required to ask three times. And last and final, is there anyone here from the public who wishes to be heard

135
00:42:57.040 --> 00:43:14.880
on the topic of the school budget this evening? Seeing none, we'll get back to the school committee. Are there any final questions or comments from the members of the school committee? Seeing none, I'll hereby declare the FY2027 school budget public hearing

136
00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:30.720
closed at this time. Moving on to item E, the vote on the proposed FY2027 school budget. Is there a motion on the floor? So move. >> Motion made by Mr. Schwarz, second by Mr. Lefreno to approve the school budget

137
00:43:30.720 --> 00:43:46.560
as presented. Is there any discussion on that motion >> hearing budget? >> I hope the city council sees it and they give us the money. Is there any other comments from the

138
00:43:46.560 --> 00:44:01.839
members of the school committee on this motion that is on the floor to pass the budget? >> Seeing none, we'll ask the clerk to call the role. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Robert Schwarz, >> yes. >> Jennifer uh Plavven, >> yes.

139
00:44:01.839 --> 00:44:18.440
>> Ian Hurst, >> yes. >> Paul Cormier, >> yes. >> Mayor Nicholson, >> yes. >> Dr. Valro, >> I don't know. >> I wish I I'm like, I know, but I'm like I'm roll. >> Motion passes unanimously.

140
00:44:19.119 --> 00:44:34.640
>> Moving on to item F in our agenda, the consent agenda. This was included in your packet. We'll note that there was a correction in the minutes that have previously been sent out that has since been corrected in the minutes that are included in your packet this evening as part of the consent agenda. Is there a motion on the floor? >> So move. >> Second. Motion made by Mr. Leener,

141
00:44:34.640 --> 00:44:50.079
second by Mr. Schwarz to approve the consent agenda as presented. Is there any discussion on that motion? Seeing none, all in favor say I. I oppose. Nay. Motion carries. Item G, subcommittee reports, beginning with the finance subcommittee, Mr. Lefrenia. >> All right, I'll try and keep this brief.

142
00:44:50.079 --> 00:45:07.040
We've heard a lot about finance, so I don't think now um just go over a few things. Some project updates. Mr. Hawk noted the uh God middle school roof bid has been received and the contracts are awaiting signature. The bid came in high

143
00:45:07.040 --> 00:45:23.040
and the mayor was looking uh to transfer additional funds from the Gardener Elementary uh unexpended bond proceeds account to cover the costs. Uh the OPM and the engineers recommended proceeding

144
00:45:23.040 --> 00:45:40.720
as a de as a delay would likely cost as much if not more than proceeding uh uh proceeding. Yeah. Uh new business was uh prek tuition fees. These fe fees have not increased in several years. On a re recommendation

145
00:45:40.720 --> 00:45:55.040
of the program director, special ed director, and the finance director, and superintendent, a motion was made to increase the full day annual costs from 2,600 to 2,840

146
00:45:55.040 --> 00:46:11.760
and an and an increase the uh half day costs from 1,300 to 1,480. Um, and we went over the budget presentation and then that was it. Thank you.

147
00:46:11.760 --> 00:46:27.040
>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just we'll throw out that the city council's finance committee meeting is meeting on the extra money for the roof tomorrow at their meeting here in the chamber. There's any questions, comments, concerns from the members of the school committee on the finance subcommittee's report. Seeing none, moving on to the policy

148
00:46:27.040 --> 00:46:42.960
subcommittee. Mrs. Hurst, >> uh, we met on uh, April 29th and tonight we have um six policies for first grade, uh, eight for second, and two for adoption. Would you like me to go into those?

149
00:46:42.960 --> 00:47:00.319
>> Sure. We'll go with item number 3780. We don't have our student advisory board members here this evening. So, we will be skipping over item H. Moving on to item I, discussion items. Item number 3780, first reading of policies. These are included in your packet for information this evening for vote at a subsequent meeting. Policy GB, drug-free

150
00:47:00.319 --> 00:47:17.040
workplace. GBJ, personnel records. GCRD tutoring for pay ID school day. JKA physical restraint policy and procedure. This is new for adoption. And KBG parent advisory council is new for adoption. Mrs. Hurst, anything on those items?

151
00:47:17.040 --> 00:47:34.400
>> You're just there for first read. >> Those are the Yeah, those are the ones first read >> for uh vote at our next meeting. >> Okay. For second read. Yeah, I can go for that. >> Go for it. Me reading part. >> E A student transportation and private vehicles. E AJ motor vehicles idolling

152
00:47:34.400 --> 00:47:50.880
on school grounds. FF naming new facilities. GBA equal opportunity and um o equal o employment opportunity excuse me. Gbea staff ethics conflict of

153
00:47:50.880 --> 00:48:09.280
interest. GBE staff conduct. GBC gift to and solicitations by staff. GBD online fundraising

154
00:48:09.280 --> 00:48:27.359
and solicitations. So those are all for um >> to be voted on tonight. >> Second reading. >> Should we include the adoption ones too? >> If you want to hear the same motion. >> Okay. And then we have the two for adoption is EFBA school food nutrition

155
00:48:27.359 --> 00:48:44.319
and FE civil rights complaint policy for child nutrition programs. The policy subcommittee recommends acceptance of the above policies. >> So there's a motion on the floor by Mrs. Hurst to accept the amendments to the first half and then the new adoption of

156
00:48:44.319 --> 00:49:01.200
the second two policies. Is there a second for that motion? >> Motion made by Mrs. Hurst, second by Mr. Cormier to adopt those policies uh and amend those policies that were listed in the item for second reading for item 3781. Is there any discussion on that motion? Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I oppose. Nay. Motion carries. Item

157
00:49:01.200 --> 00:49:18.559
number 3782. Uh preschool tuition. Dr. >> Um I think we already discussed it for the finance that it that it's going up to how much? >> Yep. Um so we're going to go let me see how that goes.

158
00:49:18.559 --> 00:49:36.160
So what will be is the full full day uh cost annual cost will go from 2,600 to 2840. The half day cost uh will go 1,300 will increase to 1480.

159
00:49:36.160 --> 00:49:51.520
Uh so I make a motion that we accept uh uh this as presented. >> Is there a second? >> Second. >> Motion made by Mr. Lenny, second by Mrs. Pavven to adopt as presented. Is there any discussion on that motion? Hearing none, all in favor? I

160
00:49:51.520 --> 00:50:10.079
>> oppose. Nay. Motion carries. Item 3783, the CAPS collaborative third quarter FY26 report. This was included in your packet this evening for information. Are there any questions, comments, concerns from the members of the committee? Seeing none, moving on to item 3784, curriculum coordinators update. This was

161
00:50:10.079 --> 00:50:29.319
included in your packet this evening for information, any questions, comments, concerns from the members of the committee. Item 3785, director of school health services update. This was included in your packet this evening for information. Are there any questions, comments, concerns from the members of the committee?

162
00:50:30.079 --> 00:50:47.280
Item number 3786, grant administrators update. This was included in your packet this evening for information. Are there any questions, comments, concerns from the members of the committee? Item number 3787, special education update. This was included in your packet this evening for information. Are there any questions, comments, concerns from

163
00:50:47.280 --> 00:51:05.280
the members of the committee? >> Moving on to item J, communications from the superintendent. Dr. Pelina, >> just a couple things. Um, you know, first off, um, kindergarten is at 165 students enrolled. We're expecting over 200 students to be enrolled. Um, so we're excited about that and that seems

164
00:51:05.280 --> 00:51:21.440
to be going very well. Um but also I wanted to announce that um this year the students who um failed that means they're no longer need to participate in the English language learn um learner services went from 29 students last year to 40 students this year. So we're really excited and we've been having

165
00:51:21.440 --> 00:51:36.480
great outcomes for our English language learner students um on the access test which is their test for um progressing in the English language. So really excited about that. With that I'll pass it on to the school committee. Right. >> Item K final comments of the members of the school committee. Mr. me.

166
00:51:36.480 --> 00:51:52.400
>> No, no, no other comments. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you, Mrs. Harst. >> Um, I just wanted to congratulate the the fourth grade student council. It that's always like my favorite part is when we have young kids that are coming in and to hear all the good things that

167
00:51:52.400 --> 00:52:09.280
they're doing. Um, you know, it uh there's a lot to be proud of in Gardener. Um, and also thank you for the budget presentation. I know how hard everybody works on that, how much everybody hates what's what's happening

168
00:52:09.280 --> 00:52:27.119
with that. Um, uh, people need to understand that it's it's not black and white that things are are, you know, different things are happening. there's different components to things and it's easy to look at it

169
00:52:27.119 --> 00:52:44.400
and complain about it, but again there's not a lot of people here either asking questions or trying to understand it better. So, um I think it it becomes a little hard for

170
00:52:44.400 --> 00:53:00.800
me sometimes to um have people come up to me and talk to me or just get an email about, you know, the budget and what are you people thinking and those kinds of things. Um, you know, it's like there's a lot that

171
00:53:00.800 --> 00:53:17.839
you can learn and we don't take this lightly and we don't like to see anything be cut and um it's hard sometimes not to take it personally, but um with that I will say again I'm very proud of the work

172
00:53:17.839 --> 00:53:34.240
everybody does here and uh that's all I got. Mrs. First, attorney, >> um I'd also like to thank the fourth graders um student council for everything they do every year. It's so interesting to hear the list of um accomplishments that they've done

173
00:53:34.240 --> 00:53:51.520
throughout the year and the amount that they get done considering their age. Um and then in terms of budget, I mean obviously it stops. Um and I think I'll echo like none of us want to see any cups. Um and I think you know we've been

174
00:53:51.520 --> 00:54:07.680
obviously realizing this has been coming and um it's been a long time since we've had to cut positions here in this district and um yeah just I wish there was something better that we could report tonight and I wish that we weren't dealing with this right now but unfortunately the reality of it is is

175
00:54:07.680 --> 00:54:24.319
that we do have to and hopefully um you know I'm still hoping that there might be some better outcomes soon. >> That's all. >> Thank you, Mr. Schwarz. accolades to the director of health

176
00:54:24.319 --> 00:54:39.440
services. We think back years ago when I was in school, the occasion of using the service was a band-aid or an aspirin, but looking at Becky's report that she provided.

177
00:54:39.440 --> 00:54:57.119
Those nurses are running around every day there's a student in school. So, she's working very hard as well as the team. I don't want to neglect the team. Tomorrow night, I hope the city council really heeds and understands the

178
00:54:57.119 --> 00:55:11.920
presentation and comes up with questions to ask on the doubts that they have and pass the budget as presented. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Schwarz. Mr. Leoprenia, >> thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just um want to

179
00:55:11.920 --> 00:55:29.040
thank the staff uh everyone that's worked on this budget. I know all those meetings were very difficult um to have and and and just trying to find creative ways uh to keep us going in the direction we've been going. Um really

180
00:55:29.040 --> 00:55:43.680
difficult and I appreciate all the hard work they do. Um I I can say that with the the talent that we have and our teachers, the talent that we have with the support staff is incredible in this

181
00:55:43.680 --> 00:56:02.319
district. Um, and so I I I very confident that we can get through this and we can still continue in that direction we've been going. Um, and and yeah, this wasn't easy, but uh it's reality. So, we'll deal with it. We'll get through it and and thank you.

182
00:56:02.319 --> 00:56:18.640
>> Thank you, Mr. Fier. Mrs. Cormier, >> no additional comments. >> Thank you very much. Uh, the last couple stuff I'd like to throw out is to thank you to our teachers who joined us here this evening for um, you know, your information on the budget. Uh, as Mr. Schwarz said uh the city council is meeting tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. for

183
00:56:18.640 --> 00:56:34.559
their presentation of the school budget uh for them to get this information ahead of their vote of the full budget uh once that's taken up um in sometime in June uh by the full council as they're have to go through their full subcommittee uh process for review the various different budgets of the different departments of the city. Uh

184
00:56:34.559 --> 00:56:49.760
but their uh informal meeting for the school budget that's dedicated for the school's budget is tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. here in this room. Uh and on a to end with a bright note, uh by the time we meet at our next meeting, our graduation ceremonies will have already happened. So early congratulations to

185
00:56:49.760 --> 00:57:05.200
all of our uh soon to be graduates and best of luck and enjoy every moment of the upcoming ceremonies. Uh and with that, there are no executive sessions this evening. Our next meeting will be held on Monday, June 8th at 6 p.m. here in the city council chamber. We'll note that that is the last meeting of the

186
00:57:05.200 --> 00:57:20.240
school year and the school committee does not meet in the months of July or August. So, this June 8th, 2026 meeting at 6 p.m. will be our last meeting before September. Uh, and with that, uh, there's no other items on our business agenda this evening. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Move to adjurnn. Second.

187
00:57:20.240 --> 00:57:29.000
>> Motion made by Mr. Fry, second by Mr. Schwarz. All in favor? I oppose? Nay. Motion carries. Thank you all very much. Have a good