All right, we started the recording at 6 PM. >> Joe, do you know of any uh school committee members who are not able to be here? >> Ursula will not be here. >> Okay, so we're only waiting on Jose. Am
I doing the math right here? Counting I is I'm calling math. >> Yes, >> it is a math skill. Okay. Um, let's give them about 30 seconds and then we'll just get started. And, um,
knowing we have a big discussion this evening. >> And Julia, uh, to the left of the red hang up or leave call button is a three dots button. >> Yeah. >> When you click that, you can then click
to adjust view >> and that gives you a few options. Oh, >> so you can change the size of tiles so you can squeeze more people into your view and so on. >> Uhhuh. Thank you.
>> Okay. Well, I am going to go ahead and call this meeting to order. We do have a quorum. Uh, and we have a big discussion ahead of us. So, I'd like us to get started. Um, so I'm going to call
this meeting to order of the Mount Greylock Regional School District School Committee. It is Tuesday, March 3rd at 6:01 p.m. Um, and we will start with a roll call and I am here. Bowen here.
>> Conry here. >> Elfenbine here. Carrie, I think you're next. Carrie, I think you're muted. And Jose is here now. >> All right. Uh, so Jose, we're in the middle of roll call. Perhaps you can
name yourself and that you're here. >> Constantine is here. >> Great. Uh, Stephen, I'm guessing she had to step away for a minute. >> Okay, Miller here.
>> Okay, thank you. We've got five here and Carrie hopefully will be able to rejoin us shortly. Um, I'm going to start by reading the mission, which is super important to read as we consider our budget. At Mount Greylock Regional School District, our mission is to
create a community of learners working together in a safe and challenging learning environment that encourages restorative based processes, respect, inclusive diversity, courtesy, integrity, and responsibility through high expectations and cooperation
resulting in lifelong learning and personal growth. So, next up on our agenda is our public comment. Uh we have uh at least one anyone else who's on to make public comment um
please raise your hand just so I know and can call on you. Um, otherwise I will move to have you, Jenna, you can kick us off if you can tell us your um name and town that you're from and um I I'd say what agenda
item you're speaking to, but I'm guessing um you're not talking about our upcoming meetings. Um but if you you've got um three minutes. Thank you. >> Uh so I'm Jenna Hassen. I live in Williamstown. I have two kids at West and I'm also um a school council member
of Williamstown. I'm here to show support for West and Greylock budget requests that were made at the last meeting in addition to maintaining their funding from last year. Um speaking specifically to the West one uh that was developed from asking teachers, we did a survey um because we've had four
principles since 2020 and no school council recently till the this one's been established. So, we went to our teachers because I they've not only had to weather COVID, but multiple administration changes in a short time period, which puts a lot of stress in a working environment that already has a
lot of stress. And it's critical that we show our teachers that we're listening to them. And it's critical that we set these foundational pieces in our budget so that we can look at how we can grow and improve our education next year rather than still trying to fill some holes in a leaky boat. Um, we had eight items that we included in our
presentation to you that came from that feedback. But of those things, we knew that you can't get everything at once. So, we prioritized three areas. Um, first was a math interventionist being reinstated. It was a role that was previously cut and was overwhelmingly requested by teachers. It was also
requested in 2021 by a West principal um at that budget presentation. Um, we're also asking to reinstate the $300 budget per classroom that was previously funded for F for West because they are no longer able to support it. Last year that funding was cut and they asked the
supervisory would cover the difference but it was not formalized which led to confusion and lack of confidence and access to those funds. We're asked them to formalize that commitment so that teachers can buy essentials like construction paper and scissors and glue. We should not be putting our teachers in a position where they feel like they need to spend their salaries
to supply their classrooms. I personally have yet to work in an office where I've had to provide my own tissue boxes or notebooks. And yet any parent at a child of a child at West has received those messages asking if we can buy tissues and wipes so that teachers can save their classroom budgets for enrichment materials. And I think $30 a month for
classroom materials is a very small ask to support teachers. The third is to be determined based on technology audit that was finished um last month. Um our state testing takes place digitally and students that don't have those skills will be at a disadvantage to share their note knowledge there. So, we're looking
to replace Chromebook, tablets, and Smartboards to provide equal access to all students in the classroom. Based on the report card that came out um that was shared recently from the state, our district is behind the state in access to digital literacy and computer science courses. Um 2025, we were at 26.5%.
Um the state of Massachusetts average was 37.8%. Um I wish I was sitting here asking you for a Spanish teacher or a theater teacher or something to build on what we have. Um, but right now we're really trying to get back to our foundations. And like I said, we haven't had a
consistent administration to be able to advocate for that. Um, I believe it's not okay for us to not provide an excellent education for every student who comes through our doors and meet their needs wherever they're at, whether it's advanced course loads or supports to get them to grade level. And I ask you to put together a budget that not
just maintains but adds funding to our schools. >> You can finish your sentence. >> Thank you. so that we have a strong foundation to build upon as we look to develop the supervisory visions and school improvement plans
>> and if you have 20 more seconds like did you finish >> the la the last thing I was just going to say is that I ask you to put forth a budget that truly reflects what our schools need and if there's push back from the select board that we as parents and community members have the opportunity to show up as residents of
this town rather than not ask and assume no. Thank you, Jenna. Thank you very much. We appreciate that. Is there any other public comment? Seeing none,
uh we will move to the FY27 budget development discussion. Joe, I think I'm going to hand it over to you to provide um kind of frame all the questions that we need to be discussing tonight um with the additional information you've provided.
>> That sounds great. So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to quickly recap information that we've already gathered over the last couple of months um during our meetings. Um move into some some of the the district level priorities, which is what we oftentimes turn to talk about
at this point. um within the budget development cycle and then talk about what all of that means within the context of budget development right now um in numbers terms. So um all of this is driven by the uh budget workshop
discussion points document that you have in your packet and that's available for the public in in the packet via the the school committee calendar or a link embedded within the school committee calendar. So, our school's stated priorities thus far, Lansbury Elementary
School, math interventionist supporting the writing curriculum work. Um, which was not necessarily a pure financial ask as much as it was a request for teachers and and other staff to have dedicated time to coordinate and develop and grow
together. Uh, and then short throw projectors. So those were three asks coming out of Lanes Elementary School Council. Uh this year Mount Greylock Regional School requested a math teacher. That math teacher um would be
intended to augment the course offerings that already exist along with potentially providing some some intervention resources um as needed. Um, second, a teacher who and and the school council said that this this single
person might not exist, but they wanted to make sure that we knew the priorities um within other areas that they wanted to bring forward. A teacher who would ideally um spend uh 40% of their time teaching visual arts, 40% as a math
interventionist, and 20% as a social studies teacher. um that as Jake Schutz had indicated would be a fairly difficult thing to find um within a single person. Um and oftentimes it is difficult to hire people as point 4.4 or
point2. Um but it's an aspiration and it's something that that we certainly want to make sure to um pay respect to. Um and then and then the final two were um have been priorities in years past and they continue to be interests of the
of the school um or of the school. Thinking about it from a district perspective as well. A behaviorist which is a position similar to or equivalent to a BCBA which is a position that we've talked about. We currently utilize contracted BCBA services um with all
three of our schools for the purpose of developing um formal behavior assessments, behavior plans, and training staff within those. Um and then a 504 coordinator, somebody who would take the lead um and take a lot of the
burden off of our uh school adjustment counselors in terms of actually managing 504s once the intake had happened. once once those initial meetings had happened to formulate um the the team and the needs that would be embedded within the
504. Um so that was Mount Greylock Williamstown Elementary School. Um Jenna did did a great job of providing I think a lot of depth there. I'll I'll recap at a higher level. um instructional resources, math interventionist, time
for writing, curriculum development, the $300 per teacher budget for classroom supplies, access to technology and instructional resources, and and that's something where um they are currently looking at different forms of
projectors, updates to Chromebooks, things like that that they would like to advocate for. That's an area where if there was a portion of a budget um dedicated to that potential that that would be how we would translate that within a budget context right now. Um
and then supporting work related to improving student attendance. Um that is work that does not necessarily require uh dedicated additional staffing or expenditures around software or
materials. But it does require attention and focus um and planning and and a whole lot of concerted effort by by staff members. Um so those were the school stated priorities. I do want to ask does anybody on the committee have
anything else that they feel as though I've missed from those school priorities that we've heard over the last few months? Okay. So now district level priorities, these all echo work that we've been
doing collaboratively at this level. Um work that is embedded within our district improvement plan and it echoes what our schools are are asking for. So so I think in many ways these priorities are in sync. Um, some of them also are
looking out more at the three and five and 10 year horizons that we have and the types of things that we need to make sure that we are um either continuing right now so that our schools will benefit um or um making sure that we start to commit resources to here as we
move through the remainder of this year and into next year. So, the first one, um, it echoes everything that that you're hearing within the school's continue our elementary and middle school math curriculum updates. Um, our first year with I Ready has been I I think it's really surpassed all
expectations that we had in terms of the success of the transition thus far. that is um with many thanks to our students who are doing incredible work in in new environments and to our teaching staff who have embraced new modes, new new
materials. Um and and that takes a lot of additional effort to to change the the mindset and the culture and the way that you work um with students in the ways that this new curriculum has. Um, so continuing that, thankfully within
the budget, year 2 is actually a lower investment overall than year 1 because in year one you're purchasing a lot of new curriculum materials and um you are expending a more significant amount on outside professional development
resources to help you with that transition. So year two does ease up financially, but it should not ease up in terms of the ways that we focus on that work and make sure that that it happens. Um continue our expansion of diagnostic data usage to um drive what
we do and and and how we evolve. Um, once again, that brings back to I Ready in in a way that we have been able to glean a whole lot more from our math and our ELA, diagnostic assessment um, tools
this year than we have in in any year that I have been present. That's for sure. Um, continuing that work. Again, it involves actually uh weaning ourselves off of outside professional development resources and being able to
transition into just giving our staff time to work with the tools, work with the data, continue to expand the way that that that they utilize that. Um so, in many ways, these first two priorities are actually they're showing a a slight
decrease just by nature of being in year two of implementation. um the math interventionists at the schools would be supportive of any gaps that have been identified through through all that work through all the assessment. They then become the dedicated resources within
the buildings um working with students in in tier 2 and tier three environments. The third priority is to continue our work to consider behavior, belonging, and community as critical components to
our students success, their happiness, and to our overall school district's success. Um, and and I think that this this one statement um coming up is one that I view as being one of the most important that I can
make here tonight. It's that we have work to do. that is unfinished that we have been focused on for the last year but that we are nowhere near done with in terms of ensuring every community member is treated with dignity and respect. That
dignity and respect is critical to their ability to absorb and to work and to evolve and to grow in ways that will benefit them not just in terms of their ELA and their math and their science and their social studies and their world languages but in life. Um and so a lot
of what we've been working on at this level, what our um what our working group that worked with the equity imperative has been working on and what each of our schools has dedicated itself to as it's been transitioning the way it speaks to and it works with behavior in
terms of treating it as something that is that is critical to understand to understand root causes to work with people in ways that are more time and resource intensive than simply saying you are wrong, I am right. And now you go
wherever it is, whether it's a front office or in a front office, it's a suspension or detention. Um, and so that work that we've been doing, it's critical that we continue it. Um, so we
need to work on continuing to build out our multi-tered systems of support within social, emotional, and behavior realms. Um, we need to have the time and space carved out within our days to focus on social skills, relationships, cultural understanding, trauma informed
work. Um, all of that needs continued and even more dedicated attention in order for us to succeed. Utilize restorative practices to improve our responses to conflict. I I I I mentioned suspensions or detentions um a minute
ago. It's one of the one of the simple statements that I think can be made that is very accurate is that it only takes 2 minutes to write up a suspension. It takes a whole lot more time, 30 minutes, 60 minutes to actually understand why something happened and try to address
the root causes and try to improve it for the future. and and what we have seen over the last many years and I think co really laid it bare and then we started to grapple with it second by second as we move through school years is that this topic is one that is of
equal importance to the academic subjects that we're working with um for our student success. Um, so within that realm, um, I I do have I I have a reallocation of resources within the district office
that I want to talk about in a second, but I'll I'll bring us for a moment to the to the final topic, which is developing our AI guidelines and our ability to evolve as AI evolves. Um that once again does not in this coming year
for FY27 um indicate very specific financial resources. It could in in some world it could indicate having additional academic technology resources. Um, but what I'm proposing is that we use FY27
to develop guidelines to have our own staff working and understanding and to bring in some some out outside resources and expertise to get us a jump start so that then we can start to potentially invest more in FY28 and beyond within
the dedicated areas that we want to whether it's teaching and instruction or it's more administrative um capabilities. But for right now, I'm saying let's let's use the the folks that we already have in house um to to spearhead that work. Um so with all that
said, tonight I am proposing reallocating funding that has been associated within the FY26 budget with what are now three empty seats within our district office. Um right now the three empty seats that we have are the director of academic technology, um a
director or assistant superintendent of business and finance or just a general assistant superintendent. Um and an executive assistant to the superintendent. Those are three seats where we started the fiscal year with them empty. Um, and we pretty quickly
saw massive both out of district tuition costs, health insurance costs, and um, and the fact that that we we were just seeing costs that we could not possibly have predicted, we have made it through this year without filling those seats.
Even though there there are certainly needs, there are ways that that we could have done better work, I believe, with all of them. Um, I do want to note while stating that that the way our district office has
functioned for as long as I've been a part of it, which which was I I came in right at the right at the kind of middle start or the middle of the start of COVID in 2020. Um, our district office
has always functioned as a team of people who might have titles but who dedicate themselves to any topic, any work that is needed. Um so even though we had a director of academic technology, that director of
academic technology would um readily very regularly be filling in for a principal working on a an updated behavior matrix. Um being concerned with the way that we um manage and and and
work with information about pronouns for students. um they would be rolling out policies related to um whether it's COVID or or technology things that might not be academic technology. Um that's one example of the human beings who are
in our district office. They they don't say, "Well, that's not within my title. That's not within my job description." We've always worked as a team. Um, and and my my old seat was that one that was either director of business and finance
or assistant superintendent, whatever whatever you title it. And I think all of you know from working with me that I certainly wasn't just within the business and finance silo um for any of the now six years or so that I've been I've been with you. Um, so as I've been
thinking about the fact that we have empty seats, um, we need people, we need people who are going to get the work that we need to get done done. Um, and we're facing budgetary challenges that we're about to
talk about that are significant. Um, I am thinking that we take the three empty seats and we pair them down to two positions that we dedicate ourselves to filling for next year, saving in the process about 80 or $90,000 that can go
to um to the needs directly within school buildings that are showing increased costs. Um, in taking that from three down to two, the area of focus that we within the district office have
the least expertise, the least ability to carry on our own right now. And that's showing significant needs beyond anything that any of our three school buildings are able to um take care of on their own in the way that we all want
to. It is within this realm of behavior, community development, family engagement, culture. Culture meaning how is the culture of the school? How is the culture of the district evolving? And what are the ways that we are being supportive? What are the ways that we
are maximizing what we are as human beings and and and how we work. Um, and so when I think about that position and and right now I'm calling it a director of behavior, community, and culture. I think of ourselves as having a district office that next year would be
simplified down into we have a superintendent. We have an assistant superintendent um whose title technically is assistant superintendent of teaching and learning but who right now is assistant superintendent doing absolutely everything that needs to
happen right alongside me. um bringing a person in who has the skill set within restorative practices, MTSS development within the SCCL and and behavior world and who also is an excellent communicator and bridgeuer who
would then as a threeperson district office be able to have expertise and focus within each of the areas that that we need. Um that's how I view this playing out. I I view it as as a very
long-term deep investment within something that really is one half of the of the legs that a student needs in order to succeed. Um in the long run, yes, I would love to have a business and finance focused person. um in the long
run, yes, I would love to have an academic technology focused person, but I I am definitely prioritizing the needs that we have um within this other space in terms of having somebody who has deep expertise in it um as being critical for
our students to succeed. It also and and I think that it's that this was not planned, but it goes directly in line with Mount Greylock saying it it really needs a behaviorist. Um it goes directly in line with improving student
attendance. Um it these are these are the resources the this is the expertise that we need in order to be able to to move forward. Um so director of business uh sorry director of behavior community and culture uh one and then two um
transitioning away from a traditional executive assistant to the superintendent and having somebody who might not necessarily be a full-time person because we might want somebody who is more um
who has more experience within this realm than somebody applying for an executive assistant role might typically have who would be a coordinator of communication and special projects. This coming year and for many years in the
future, we have a complex set of things that we should be better about communicating with establishing vision and values development. What are the sequence of meetings? Who are we making sure is is here? How do we make sure that we are as inviting to the community
as we possibly can be? Then moving into strategic planning, who is helping to make sure that all of this is moving in a way where we don't forget about things that are important and where we make sure that all all of the dots are
aligned. Um, similarly, we have a a website that is um it's old, it needs attention. Um, we could much better organize and communicate information through it. Um, we could be much more
clear, for instance, with people around expectations and opportunities. We could bring families in um with better writing and and more regular communication around events and and and opportunities to interact with the district. So, this
I view as being a communications role and a coordination of all of the different things that we've got going role. Um, and that's why I view it as a as a different name associated with the position. It isn't somebody who is
serving the needs of a superintendent. It is somebody who is able to run with this a lot on their own. And even if it's a part-time job for them, we we would know that they have um all of the experience and the confidence and the writing um to be able
to to run with that. Um so that's that's how we see the district office evolving. It has been um internally as we've been going through our experiences over the last year and a half, two years. Um I think that this vision for how this office can function has become very
carefully honed. But this budget for this coming year is our moment I think to say this is what we can do and and and how we want to do it. Um, so net within the district office payroll world, um, it's about a $90,000
quote unquote savings over what was budgeted for this year. Um, but that allows us to put more of those resources um into the school buildings for this coming year as as we make this difficult transition away from utilizing reserves,
away from um away from um federal grants being as significant as they have been in the past. away from state funding in some ways not being nearly as robust as as we we need or
hope. Um so >> with that, >> yeah, >> can we can we maybe you're going here, but can we just pause um and have some discussion around the district priorities to make sure that any anyone can raise any questions about those?
>> Please. >> Go ahead, Carrie. Um, I just had a Can you hear me? >> Okay. Um, Joe, you mentioned that the communications position might be part-time. Is that >> okay? So, that's like a half-time
position or a threequarters position and then the other position is a full-time position. >> Yes. the the the other position is a full-time position that that I I also want to state publicly it's the kind of full-time position that given the skill set and the strength that we're looking
for, it's a position where somebody could be hired in as a director and I would hope that they stay within the district and that they grow and that and that they see growth um over the years, too. So, um the the coordinator position could and and I stated within the document, it could be a 1.0 or a 0.8 or
a 0.6 six FTE. This is much more about getting somebody with the right skill set and understanding even if you're only working the first half of each day or even if you're only working a Monday through Thursday schedule, you're delivering. You have the abilities that
we need in order to do better within this area. >> Yeah. And are we pretty confident that the director position exists out there? that that's something that people apply for on a if not regular basis but yeah
>> yes so in the um in the packet there is a file titled 04 director of behavior community and culture at the at the base so that's a that's a summary and job description that that we've been
developing um at the base of it are notable titles at nearby I school districts that are related to the work that we're talking about. Um so director of student and family engagement, director of community and strategy, director of culture and climate, director of family and community
engagement, um director of multi-tered systems of support, assistant superintendent of student systems of support and so on. There are a lot of titles there, but all of that speaks to this need that quite honestly, I think 20
years ago within this district, it was oftentimes assumed that um we don't need to provide this level of support. Um other school districts have definitely invested and created departments and and created threaded
webs of teams through their schools that that that do this work. And what what we have right now is we have principles and assistant principles and social workers and school adjustment counselors that are and and and a dean of students
within the middle school that are trying their best to to make all of this work and a superintendent who's trying his best to make all this work and an assistant superintendent. But none of us have the the deep expertise and and and
really the the focus within that area that is needed to have it come to fruition. So that's these are all titles that exist regionally and these are the types of people not that we would want to um pok away from those other
districts but you know these positions do exist and these skill sets are in fairly high demand right now. Stephen. >> Yeah, just briefly to second what Joe was saying is it's important to remember and be cognizant of the bandwidth of the
people we have and just for how many years how many people have been wearing multiple hats and it's not just the past two or three years. And so I I trust you in terms of the organization you think you need based on who we have in the district right now. And just you know
hats off to the administrative team for all the things that they've been handling. Thank you. That's it, >> Jose. >> Thanks, Julian. Thank you, Joe. Um, and apologies, Joe, if if you address this earlier and and I I might have missed
it, but I just wanted to um revisit requests that we heard from our elementary schools, from our principles there, and the school councils there. and uh um and related to I think some of
the data that we're we're seeing from uh from MCCAST results and and that's that's the request for math interventionists at both elementary schools. Um I think they speak to real needs that our our students are
facing uh in in various grade levels in our elementary schools. Um, and I'm just just curious about like if I missed it, uh, apologies, but if I didn't miss it and it didn't come up, you know, what what we are thinking as a
district with regards to those clear needs. >> Uh, so both elementary schools have potential paths to gaining math interventionists.
Um, and the the increases that you see within what we have here, meaning the 12 and 13% increases, those embed with them the ability to to to
gain those math interventionists um within the staffing. Now, um, in order to do that, we would need to move pieces around within within schools. Um and and at the same time
um if we wanted to say we just want to purely increase FTEES in order to achieve math interventionists at the elementary schools coming in from the outside. Um each each town's budget would need to increase by about another
$100,000. Um, and that equates to bringing each each town's percentage up by another um point4 to.5%. The math the additional math teacher at Mount Greylock is not something that is
within this 12 and 13% increase world. Is there anything else that is potentially already embedded in this budget such as supply expenses and those kinds of things? >> The the $300 per teacher budget for
classroom resources that is embedded within this um that that's right around a $9,000 total expense um in terms of supporting writing curriculum work. Can I sorry before we move on from that one um does do the
Lansboro teachers also or will they have access to the same resources >> in terms of dollars per classroom? >> Yeah. um the Lansboro Elementary School teachers have have not voiced the same the same need
uh at the >> so they have a different system for allocating those kinds of resources or >> they I I think in many ways as a smaller school building um there are oftent
times many ways that that when needs are expressed those those needs are met And you know, the the the idea that there would be a dedicated $300 that is discretionary spending is not as much of a concept
within within Lansboro Elementary School. >> So we could certainly work within the you know >> Yeah. Could I just raise a question around that? like um I think for decades parents have been supplying classrooms
with those kinds of things like tissues or crayons or Lysol wipes or whatever it was like a regular expectation for parents. So are we trying to move away from that or um I'm not quite sure
I'm not well that I'll just leave it at that. Yeah. And I I think honestly it's a it's a we will probably have detailed conversations within the finance subcommittee about about that too. Um
yeah, >> I I I might name that's somewhat of what Mount Greylock may have done, but that's not necessarily common in all schools. Um, and as our population shifts and our needs shift in the ways we want and can
have parent engagement shifts, that might be something that shifts as well. Um, Jose, >> thank you, Julia. And just just to go back to my uh just earlier question, Joe, and uh apologies you hear sister squabbbling in the background. I'm not
sure if you heard that, but they are definitely squabbbling. Um, going back to Joe, the, you know, if we were to allocate additional FTE within both elementary schools to to meet the the I I think and I think what the data
show, uh, the clear needs of our students regarding math. um you know essentially adding FTE to hire two math interventionists, one within each elementary school. That that
additional percentage increase of our ask to our our towns of of I think you said 04 roughly percent. That seems very reasonable to me, you know, to include within our our budget requests. Um but at the same time, I'm incredibly
conscious of the fact that, you know, the that these this budget and and the challenges of of caring for our district are falling on the shoulders of of fewer and fewer families which form you know essentially the the very base of of uh
you know the very tax base of of certainly in in Williamstown and I suspect also in in Lansboro. Um, I' I'd like to request that, you know, that we consider as a committee and as a district to to increase our asks of our
towns, you know, to to provide these positions. But at the same time, John, I'm curious about um the bigger conversations that are happening around how we as as communities might uh be thinking of the future and how we might,
you know, better position ourselves to meet the increasing and and ever complicated needs of of our community, but but in this context of our school district. Um Joe, do you want to take that question
now? Share some of that greater context that you've heard or or I do want to pause and say that's like I think where the conversation needs to go and I want to make sure we have fully discussed the district the requests that have been
made. Um, so maybe hold that question for a minute and let's just give uh the committee a minute or two to ask any other questions about the requests that are have been made. >> Julia, can I Sorry, I can't
>> I apologize that my camera is off. I know that seems rude. My internet connection is being really crazy right now. Um, just to clarify, the document that I am seeing is indicating
a budget increase of 12% and 13%. >> Right. To the town. >> Yeah. And Jose is suggesting I don't like so just the ask from Jose is to increase
that by another point4%. I I think that's that is the question. So the so I'm trying to separate a little bit the questions about the requests from then the debate around what our total budget can be and maybe that's a false distinction. Um but yes,
Christina, the budget that include that is the 12 and 13% increase does not include the math that is considered a base level. >> Um taking this year's budget moving into like no increase technically in services. >> That's level level funded.
>> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Yes. Carrie, did you >> Yeah. >> Right. But Joe had said that the math interventionist can be found within the budget, right? So I assume that means
reallocation positions or >> Yes. >> Okay. Um, did you also say that the behaviorist positions could be held off on
by hiring someone who you know in that district position director position? Was that something that you were >> the the the director position will help us better utilize all the resources that we already have and will provide more
clear and and and efficient direction with the contracted resources that we have as well. Um, so right now, let's just take a very concrete example of something that a
situation that can be replicated in a variety of of classroom environments within the school district. Um, and so this is it's a heavily anonymized thing, but it but it is it is a concern and it's and it's a challenge. um you have a
student in a classroom environment who is um creating significant disruption on a somewhat regular basis. that student presents challenges such
that um we deploy a variety of staff members to try to figure out help work with that environment and that student trying to understand what's causing this. How can we support this student
and help them grow out of this? and also how do we support their classmates and the families that are in many ways witnessing what is happening through their students reports and and through the ways that they are interacting with
the school. Um that type of situation is one that right now is becoming more and more common in all three of our schools. Um, it is not something when you looked at our school district 10 years ago and
it did not have school adjustment counselors or social workers within the elementary schools, it it did not have the same type of uh attention coming from the district office within on a minute-by-minute basis some days within
that. Um, it did not have all that. Um so right now we have reactive resources that are available within each of the three school buildings. Uh those reactive resources are not are normally
not heavily trained within restorative practices. Um they don't um some people do have a history of strong family engagement practices and and and experience to draw upon um but not
always. Uh and when the district office is present, the the staff are present um within those buildings, we are certainly helpful and we we lend a whole lot of a whole lot of our own skill sets, but we
do not have a dedicated staff member within our at the district level coordinating resources, planning, figuring out how to be proactive outside of the person that you're seeing on camera right now and Joel Brookner.
So coming up with that additional focused resource will allow us to to to coach and to work with and to coordinate the resources that we have in within our buildings more effectively.
And and it will also at least in the first few years of implementation this person will be present doing a lot of those restorative conferences saying we have conflict between two students. I I know how to facilitate the conversation that will be productive between these
students and potentially their family members within an environment where we're going to work through this. We're going to get past this and we're going to be stronger for it. Um that's the type of resource that that we're talking about which then makes all the rest of
the studentf facing um folks that we've got more capable of growing and working within a changing world um here as well. Um so so it's got that additive catalyzing type influence that I think
is is going to be really critical. Oh, and sorry. And with respect to just behaviorist um as a position, um right now when we have repeated severe situations with a student um we do bring
a trained behaviorist in to do a formal behavior assessment um which is observations, listening, understanding what what environments do what and why and trying to understand root causes. And then they develop a behavior plan that they then help pair
professionals and teachers understand their roles within supporting that behavior plan to try to help the student. Um but that again is a very targeted reactive resource that we draw upon and and we have a great relationship with um a team within
Bergkshire County, Bergkshire ABA that does that work. Um in an ideal world would we have even more? Yes. But I think coordination of those resources and continuing to develop the the proactive foundational resources is at this point it's it's just as important
as continuing to be reactive in a in a in a good way. >> So I guess I'm still a little Thank you for all that for that. Um, I'm a little unclear whether it makes more sense to hold off on hiring a ba another
behaviorist or a behaviorist at Mount Greylock or whether that is still needed with this new director position. I in an ideal world, each each school building would have a an excellent
dedicated BCBA that was that had that as as as their toolkit um for this coming year, adding that position as a dedicated position at Mount Greylock, that that would be adding on top of everything
else that we're talking about here tonight. Um, so it's it's not a part of the recommendation that that I will be bringing in order for us to figure out is 12 or 12.4 and 13 or 13.5
um a a practical uh practical positive way to move forward. Any other questions about the um priorities that have been named? Recognizing that
um we will they're in our links, but we will then get to what the increase in budget might have to look like. Okay. Hearing none, um I go back to maybe start with Jose's
question, which um Jose, if I recall, so correct me if I'm wrong, you're asking what is the context in which an ask like this might be made in our towns. Is that >> Yeah, I I mean I think um you know, this
is Julia. I think it's you're and I can't recall Curtis. I feel like you the three of us have been on this committee for about the same amount of time. Uh you know the these these budget conversations have always been been difficult. Um and and and they're and they're difficult because our our our
needs are complicated. They're they're they change year on year. Um and and and we want to meet the needs of our of our our families of our the kids that are in our district. So, you know, uh, here the current, you know, what we're being
asked to consider is is sort of level funding. Um, you know, kind of reallocating resources internally to to do our best to to meet the need. And and I offer up, you know, the math interventionist as an example of of clearly need that has been very clearly articulated by our school councils and
principles and that, you know, reflect needs as shown through MCCAST results, you know, that that that um we've been reviewing as a as a committee. um without a broader conversation within our communities about how best we can
position ourselves to to meet these needs, it it's hard for me to know whether whether we'll ever be able to to do more than just maintain level funding. Um and so, you know, I know there's I've said a lot there and I think in essence, you know, how how are
we as a as a committee and then, you know, by extension as a district, how are we engaging with with our member towns? um in thinking about, you know, how best to position ourselves to be able to support the families who choose to live here and and to raise their children here and to to have them,
you know, enjoy what we know is an incredible school district. What what are those conversations like and how how can we better position ourselves to to plan for the future? So um
the Joe do you want to start with that one? >> Sure. >> Uh and I think it might be helpful to provide the the context in which this budget's >> Yes. being developed so that we can then
talk about what do these numbers mean and how is that going to positively or not positively impact the students within our school community and how do we how do we state what that what that
all means. Uh, so shall I do this last portion of this discussion document and then we start to open up the conversation broadly for >> Yeah. I mean, I I think Jose, you're asking the $10,000 question or the million-dollar question that we definitely need to be addressing
tonight. Um, and Joe, I think you're saying let's just make sure we still have all the context. Um, you know, uh, and be and are really clear about what that ask means. Um, so before we not just what it's for, but also kind of
what's behind why it's 12 and 13%. Um, so let's let's if you can continue with those um the budgetary challenges, Joe, that would be great. And then I think Jose, your question is what we need to all collectively put our heads around.
>> So um, context here. Uh for the last few years, we have been in discussion with our town's finance committees and and the Lansboro Select Board around the the very reasonable practical desire
that they have to before we uh increase funding for the school district through additional taxes to make sure that we're using funding that we have in reserve because that's funding that's that's available to spend
right now rather than increasing the burden on property taxes. Uh and and moving into FY26, we said, "All right, we're we're we're asking for higher percentages, double the percentages than
we've asked for in in recent years." Um, but we're still winnowing down those reserves in a way that you like our our runway here without needing to put that burden on the towns is starting to run out. And
what has happened over the course of this year is we've had in-ear um couldn't have been projected increases in out of district tuition costs and associated transportation. And we have had
more people who have been employed by our district for for years taking our health insurance who had never taken our health insurance before than we ever predicted. Um we're now up to a little bit over 70% of our
employees are on our health insurance. Um that is up from about 55% when you look at us 5 years ago. Um, so we've seen a steady a a a steady increase in the percentage of our staff
who say either my my situation at home or my partner no longer covered. I am coming on to your health insurance. We have always planned for anybody that we hire. So with the FTEEs that we added at Mount Greylock this year, we always plan
on anybody that we hire taking our health insurance. What we've seen is that and more. We've seen people who have not taken our insurance for years hopping on it. Those two drivers alone um have been able to um accelerate that
use of reserves. As I look to closing out this fiscal year, um we are going to be doing it with probably razor thin margins. Um, we need to make sure that next year our school choice and our tuition spending aligns with the revenue
that we're bringing in. We can't expect to have additional resources available to spend. Um, our our END that was certified back in October um came in right around $576,000.
Um, that is down from $1.3 million two years ago. So, we intentionally spent that down. Um, and so as we look to FY27, we need to be really just spending what we're bringing in. And that means that
just our starting point with our towns that the numbers that we looked at a couple months ago that said the the the baseline before we add any expenditure increases, we're at 4% roughly for each of our towns. 4.11 and 4.16
each town's increase. That's without spending any more money. And that's the that's the result of one, not being able to spend reserves, and two, the second bullet here, which is our federal and state funding has declined slightly
um net net by about $80,000. So we we've seen an increase in chapter 70 marginal. The governor's budget decreased rural aid within within that budget which haved the aid that we received through
rural aid and our transportation funding is projected to be down just a touch from them. Same thing with charter school funding, charter school reimbursement, but that actually coincides with we have slightly lower charter school um enrollment out. So our
reimbursement declines and and that's a result of our expenditures declining and the number of students that we have out declining. Um so the net impact of of those two items is that our assessments to our towns would need to increase by 4% a piece without us spending spending
any more money. So that's just keeping the the the gross amount of money that topline number the same between FY26 and FY27. On top of that,
we have the health insurance increases associated with more people taking it that are continuing into next year and a 9% increase from Bergkshire Health Group. Um, we have about $350,000 in
increases associated with out of district tuition that we're going to need to continue um with and about $150,000 in increases associated with transportation across both regular and special education. In addition to those items, we've got $900,000 in increases associated with
the salaries um that we have with within contracts that are already already there for for all of our teaching and pair professional and custodial and cafeteria um and non-union staff. Um, and we do have increased projected
substitute costs across all three schools because once again this year, um, although we're not as not as far off as as we were last year, um, we still need to put more money towards substitute teaching for for situations where where our staff are unable um to
be at work. Um, some of that is long-term absence related to whether it's a a procedure or a family or something like that. Some of it is just the cumulative short-term. Um, we have looked at um the state releases uh staff
attendance rates annually. We are we're right in the middle of the pack as far as staff attendance. So, it's not as though we're an outlier and those substitute costs are are not um not reasonable relative to what other districts are seeing. One advantage that
we have is that every position that we post and most of the time when we need a substitute, we have people applying for those jobs and we have people willing to substitute. There are many other districts both within the county and across Massachusetts where they've had
job postings up all year that they can't fill and they rarely have substitutes willing to able to come in. Um, so we do see increased expenditures there sometimes relative to other school districts, but that that is actually because of a strength that we have. Um,
and I'm very thankful for um and then across uh you know natural gas prices have have increased significantly. Um um hauling associated with trash and recycling. um our our uh
electricity bills, you know, all of that stuff is increasing too and at various rates. Um and that's about $100,000. So, with all of that, take into account that we might be able to shift people around to create math um
math intervention at the elementary schools, but not adding those as new FTEEs. um without adding new FTEEs at Mount Greylock, the the additional math teacher. Um so really doing a level staffing approach to trying to provide
all of this. Um we are currently at a 12% increase for the town of Lansboro and a 13% increase for the town of Williamstown. Um, and so that's where we're starting from tonight. And and and we're talking about um where can and
should those percentages go. Um how do we want to push around priorities and and talk about what we feel comfortable um trying to work with? How many different what kinds of options do we want to have potentially at the table during the during the public hearing for
us for for us to have you as a school committee make a final vote? The finance subcommittee is going to have three meetings between now and that public hearing um to be able to talk about these options and and talk about development. Um, and we within the
district office, we are also trying to work with are there ways that we can somehow pair things down, defer something, do something else that allows us to gain more of what we're talking about here within priorities without losing too
much um within the world of of of what we do on a daily basis already. So, I think that sets the table, Julia. Okay, >> I think so. Um,
so there's this question of what is the what what do we feel com comfortable advocating for and based on that what were we going to have to um think about prioritizing or cutting or adding um based on that
answer. So, um before we start to hear from all of you, I do want to name for our listeners um because the school committee has received a lot of requests to advocate
for this budget um and advocate for the specific asks um and particularly Wes and Mount Greylock. Um, and I just want to name that, um, because we have gotten a lot of a lot of that. Um, we didn't get public comment, but
we are getting that message. Um, so I I'm opening the floor, Carrie. Yeah. Um, so I've always been an advocate of holding our own reserves and
I I know that the towns um asked us not to do that, but they they said, you know, if if you need it, come to us and we will do our best to
provide it. And I think that is the situation that we're in. So, I think we need to communicate to our towns, this is what we need
and try to work with them to get this budget passed. Um, if if we I'm not sure I would I mean, as much as I would love to fill the requests, right, that we've gotten from the school
councils and um I feel like I if we if we don't like at least take one request from each school, it's it's somewhat you know, disrespectful to the work that
they've done. Um, this may not be the year that we're able to do that. Um, and I will continue to advocate for building up our reserves because I don't like being in this position um of having
no reserves to draw on. I mean, we had reserves this year that we did draw on because we were over budget in, you know, certain areas, and we're not going to have that next year. We're looking at,
you know, having to use other means if we have um expenses that are unanticipated. So, that makes me very uncomfortable. We are our own municipality. we have the ability to make those decisions for
ourselves and um I understand the town's position, but it's going to hurt this year because we took direction um and I would like it to hurt less in the future by, you know,
being responsible stewards of our own finances. wouldn't um I'm wondering if it would just be helpful, Carrie, to your point of we should be responding to and um honoring
at least one uh request from each of the school school councils. Um, and I think we're I think we have not fully done that for Mount Greylock, but it sounds like we have for Williamstown and Lansboro if we think
there can be a staffing shifts to allow for the math interventionist. Um, but I just like I just want to name I'm not sure we're there with M Greylock. Is that right, Joe? Yeah. Okay. All right.
Um, Yeah. And and one kind of one trade-off reminder is that is that last year we did restore lost positions at Mount Greylock as a push within that budget. So if we think about there being
only room enough to to satisfy um some things, not all things, I I think this is this is a year where that seesaw is is working potentially, >> right? So it's not within a year but over years that we're Yeah. Okay.
Stephen >> uh just you know repeating something I've said many times to all the people who have written into us with comments and support for the educational budget. Please also write to your state representatives because until Boston
gets its house in order and until Boston really thinks about how they allocate their funds, we're going to have these problems year after year after year. there's a finite amount of resources and so I will just leave it at that. >> Thank you, Jose. I saw your hand up I think.
>> Yeah, I don't need to uh to speak again. I think that the question that I posed is still um is still there for us to discuss. Uh yeah, so I think I'll reserve my comment until we have an opportunity to to to have have that discussion.
>> Go ahead, Curtis. I had to remember where the unmute was. Um, for the sake of context, could I ask what the percentage increase to the towns have been over the last three fiscal years to each town
if that's relatively handy? >> Yes. Uh, so for FY26, the increases were 6.38% to Lansboro 7.62% 62% with Williamstown. Um, that was in order for us to have the
budget that we have this year. And I'm just opening this up interactively as we go on the on the website. uh the year before respectively 3.38 and 3.9 FY 24
3 and 3.16 FY23 2.68 and 4.1. >> Yeah, I I would uh and and you've heard me say this year after year. I would very much love to see that grafted alongside the increase in the costs of
all of the things that are hitting all of our households. Uh energy costs, fuel costs, food costs, insurance costs. Um and then to reiterate to the the people of our uh towns that we represent in this uh endeavor uh that those things
are also part of school. And we've seen those costs skyrocket for us as individuals and communities. Uh and yet the ask of the towns in terms of the percentage increase has not followed that same trajectory.
And that's a part of why we're at where we're at now. Um it's not, you know, >> the apples to apples exactly. But in in general, we've we've come into the towns with
percentages that in conversations throughout this process have presented windows of what the town governance thinks is reasonable, acceptable, or doable or whatever we want to put with it. Um I I don't know what conversations
have been had with fincoms from the towns at this stage this year and I'd be curious if there have been any conversations what uh reactions have been if they have seen these numbers uh or rather these percentages because when
I think about the years past when we did come in with a two to three to 4 point something percent uh increase uh that was after a lot of back and forth uh and still with some contention from various
members of town governance. Uh have they seen these percentage just conversationally yet and have they had any reaction so far? I guess is the question out of that ramble pile of words? >> Carrie and Jula.
Well, I I just again want to say that those those days are over um because those budgets used hefty levels of reserves um in order to offset um what percentages we asked the town.
So, it's almost like you can't compare. We're we're now showing real costs because we don't have reserves to offset. Um so, it's it's like we're starting a new scale. I think we're also delivering a
different like continually delivering a different product as our as our students needs have changed. Um and there and it's not getting easier, right? World's not getting easier and this work is not getting easier. So in
addition to the increase in costs, >> so we did have a to address the question of what conversations have taken place. Um there was one meeting with um the uh members of the finance committee and the
town uh manager or town administrator uh from our member towns um and myself and Julia Chris I don't remember was Christina there as well? No. So, chair of the finance subcommittee and the
chair of the school committee and we did talk quite openly about the budget concerns. Of course, the towns are facing the same concerns around health care and escalating costs. Um and Lansboro in particular is facing
concerns around the mall and um Williamstown is facing a limited economy. you know, there there there's a lack of growth that is um you know,
causing the town to go, you know, into territory that I think Williamstown has not been in before in terms of um debt service and, you know, operational costs. So, you know, everybody is is
feeling it and um we don't know what the towns can sustain. I think, you know, there will be conversations. This will be public knowledge and our finance committee meetings are always open. We invite um
representatives from our town finance committee uh committees to those meetings to uh talk with us directly. Um and um it might make sense to also reach out
to try to meet with the either the finance or the select boards or whatever uh makes sense for each town in advance of our budget vote. Um just to
help them to understand the pos position that uh we find ourselves in. And we also know that if either town is ever looking at an override, then
we have a responsibility to help them um organize and mobilize uh help the families of our our schools and um the folks who want to support the
school budgets. Um, so we should just at least keep that in mind for either this year or future years. Um, we'll need to help do some of that work. >> Thank you,
>> Jose. >> Yeah, thank you, Julia. And, you know, um, and thank you, Carrie, for providing that that context. Um, you know, I don't know what what future fiscal years hold for us as a district, but I I do fear a future where
um cuts will be demanded of the district. So, I I'll just speak from the eye as a as a parent of of children in our district, uh, as someone who was drawn to move here, not because of the mountains and the clean air and the
lovely streams, but because of the crown jewel that is in both of our communities. That is that is our public schools. That is our district. And I want to encourage and and I'm sure I don't need to to do to do this, you know, forcefully,
but I want to encourage every member, every resident in our towns to to recognize that treasure that we have in our school district, which is a real draw to young families to move into our communities and and and I speak to, you know, uh my fellow citizens in
Williamstown and and and encourage us to recognize the real need to diversify our tax base and to great opportunities for young families to move into the community, to not be afraid of that change, but to embrace it because it
will enable us to do the great work that we know we can do and to be that community that we know it can be and to help this place be a place that we want to raise our kids and we know they can grow into wonderful citizens
and and and the like. So, I do fear for what's in store and and and I'm eager for us as a district and as a committee to to engage in conversations about ways that we can responsibly move forward and plan for the future.
>> Thank you, Jose. Are there other thoughts or comments that we want to be discussing, I assume, to help guide the next two weeks of budget?
I yeah I I can provide a bit more contextual data that might be helpful in trying to figure out how we how we think about this budget development. It's it's it's in a document that I added to the to the packet a little bit late and I I
apologize for that. Um but um for people who might want to just look at it in the packet, it's it's the 04 desi per pupil. It's the file that starts with that. Um, and I'll screen share it because I think it it'll be a conversation piece for us
as we as we go. So, I think all of you can now see see this uh pair of tables. Um this is based on uh DESIE information um or information that that that DESIE the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education releases um based on what schools have reported the end ofear reports where we detail all of the spending that we did um and and all of our enrollment data that's communicated um a few times annually to
the state. Um and then the state sometimes takes its time because the most recent figures that we've got are from um from FY24. Uh but the state then then displays this back so that we can see it. So we can see this comparative data in a way that
they've normalized. Um, in FY24, um, we were in a place where, um, in terms of what I'm highlighting right now, expenditures per pupil, we were spending the second lowest
amount per pupil within our district of any district in Berkshire County. Um, now I do want to put that in the context of there are other districts that operate dinner service. they operate um more
wraparound systems for for family support and for adult education. So these numbers are not I I don't think they should be considered appletoapple. Um but they are in some ways when we think about comparable districts or when we
think about what we spend, what we have, what resources we offer students, this ends up being being a helpful number. Um here within this expenditures number, I also want to talk about in a second the funding that each of our districts
utilizes comes from comes in differing percentages from various sources. So, when you think about um when you think about the funding that a regional school district like ours receives, we have federal and state funding. That's
chapter 70. It's it's grants. Um it is other forms of of aid that come through to to pay for resources that the district needs from the state or federal government. Um we have um
funding like school choice and tuition that would be considered very local within the district or revenue that it receives is receives to spend. And then we have local funding um local funding that comes in in the form of for most of us um property tax funding from our
towns. Um, when you look down the list of of Bergkshire County, um, most of these districts receive far more state and federal aid than we do. Right around 17% of our funding comes
from the state and federal government. For some of these districts, it's it's up in the 60 70% range. Um, there are some districts where their assessments to their towns
yield a whole lot more funding than ours do. Um, some of the school districts that I think people within our district often view as comparable. Um, they receive a whole lot more money from their from their local or their member towns. Um, sometimes that's driven by
the fact that their local economies, whether it's a commercial tax base or residential tax base, is is a lot larger than ours. It grows faster, too. Um, when you look at South County, often times you see a whole lot more happening there in terms of development, in terms
of increasing the base on which they then fund things like school districts. And I think that's a critical conversation to be able to have with our local finance committees because they are going to come at it. Um, not to a person, but some or many of them will
say, "But our property tax rates are really high. They're really high already." Like what is happening? And and and the answer is that the base on which you are taxed to then yield revenue so that you can fund a school district. A lot of them have a whole lot
larger bases than we do. Um, so I think especially in the town of Lanesboro right now, a lot of the conversation that I'm hearing within within the the threads of people, it's we just don't have the tax base to support this. What, you know, what are what are we going to
do? We can't take increases like this um when we don't have the growth that is needed. Uh, so I think that's got to become a part of that nuanced long-term conversation around like, yeah, we're spending a whole lot less per pupil than
than others. Um, in order for us to see spending increase, we're going to need to figure out how to have the tax base increase. Um, because I I don't think just increasing property taxes is is going to be their answer. And and we're going to need to support them in that in
in building that story and making it so that so that we can all succeed. um because we are 2/3 of each of the each of our town's budgets um roughly. You know, I I actually might be off by 3 four 5% up or down there, but but that's what I typically think of ourselves as
being twothirds of all the money that comes into the town goes straight to Mount Greylock Regional School District. Um this within the context of something that I I think for many people is um it's surprising when they first look at it. Um we are and and it's true this
year too. So it was true in FY24 and it's true this year. We're the third largest school district now in in Berkshire County. Um right behind Pittsfield and Central Bergkshire. Central Bergkshire also 350 or so of their students are school choice. um
whereas about about a hundred of ours are. Um so um they have a much higher percentage of students who are coming in from outside their district through the school choice program where $5,000 per student who comes in via school choice
comes in. Um people have for a long time talked about how Lennox is another one of the school districts in in Bergkshire County that that has a higher percentage of school choice students. Um that's just it's just a reality. Um and when we
look at our our our nearest uh neighbors in terms of geography, um we are now within northern Berkshire County, we are surprisingly we have larger enrollment than than North Adams and significantly larger enrollment than than Husk. Um so
we have become a bit of a of an outlier in many ways. we we we spend less and our and our enrollment has held steady while others have declined. Um figuring out how to also adapt to the changing needs of our students. Um some of these
districts that are spending significantly more, they would cite having significant needs within all kinds of realms for students that we traditionally have not had. We're seeing more and more of that. So, we're we might not be there yet in terms of what
is needed, but we're but we're approaching it and and I think that's got to become a part of the conversation of why and how um we need to be able to increase our expenditure our expenditures per pupil, too. Um because in order for us to offer the breadth and depth of services that we need to um
we're going to need more people and more expertise. So, I wanted to provide that context because I I think in the long run over the next few weeks, it'll help us shape what those conversations are as there is give and take with our town finance
committees and select boards on this. >> Joe, while you have those that list up, um have any of these uh districts pass their budgets? Um >> no, their percentage increases or
anything like that. Typically the um the towns or cities their budgets are developed on a much later cycle. Regional school districts need to feed their budgets into the towns early. Um
so for these five um aside from knowing that they are currently within draft form looking at 12 and 13 and 15% increases in order to have level staffing. Um, aside from that, we don't have a lot of detail into into what
they're doing. Um, Central Birkshere has a preliminary budget that their school committee has worked with that shows a 12% increase to um, overall within their assessments. So, it's similar to what we're what
we're putting forward here. Um and we in central Bergkshire have been um two of the districts within Berkshire County that have been very efficient with with funding but also benefit from some
amount of scale in terms of the number of students that we're spending spreading that spending across which which is a significant factor for say a district like like Hancock um and for Southern Berkshire when they're as small as they are um needing being one of each
thing. The step function associated and the thing that triggers higher per pupil costs oftent times belies the level and the and the breadth of the services that they're able to offer uh students at the same time. >> So I'll stop dominating the screen with
that but it is in your packet. >> Thank you. So Carrie, given that the finance committee will be meeting three times between now and our next meeting and working through
um what the proposal will be, is there any other input you want from the committee or guidance or questions you have of us? Um, if anyone has a magic eightball and wants to make predictions about town
meetings, that would be great to know. Um but um if if you could pass on to Julia any thoughts about uh
either things you feel very strongly about in terms of the budget requests or things that you feel like we should not be considering. ing that we are considering.
Um that would be helpful. Um any change I guess would be um because you know our our work is obviously going to be to try to reduce this budget or not increase it but that
doesn't mean that we don't make qualitative you know changes. Um, and if it's not possible to reduce it, are we comfortable voting on this budget
as it is um on the 19th? >> Go ahead, Curtis. >> Uh, I I guess this would be a question for Joe. Uh, our budget hearing and meeting is on the 19th. I think there's a a FINCOM select board meeting on the
16th in Lansboro. Uh will do you know if our if this will be on the agenda at that meeting? the the plan as of the last time that I spoke with um with Lansboro Town Hall
was that we would have our appearance with the select board and finance committee, our formal appearance after our public hearing had been held in early April. >> Thank you. >> Um with the town of Williamstown, our
date is earlier. It's I think it's the week following our public hearing. Curtis, what are you thinking there? Are you thinking it would be helpful to >> present to >> It's It's more that I'm trying to
remember how we did it last time, like what what the order of of operations was in the budget process >> in in in recent years. Um, oh, I I think for every year that I've been involved, uh, Williamstown
has an earlier town meeting and its finance committee is, um, already well into budget conversations within other departments, things like that. um by the time our budget gets
approved by the school committee to go to the finance committee. Um so we oftent times we meet with the Williamstown Finance Committee during the next meeting date that they have which is one of their final meeting dates right after a public hearing. The
town of Lanesboro town meeting oftentimes is not until uh a couple few weeks after the Williamstown town meeting and the Lanesboro finance committee their timeline is shifted such that they say great you know we'll see you in early April. So so our um we have
a bit more time there in terms of having earlier conversations. I I am all for them. I just I think one of the one of the delicate dances that we make is what can we say and what can they say that can be helpful because we can't
promise anything. We can hear what their numbers are and we can say oh gosh you know like that doesn't sound great. We'll relay that back and we'll figure out what that means for us. And historically sometimes that has meant that we're saying okay like we are we're
potentially limited to this 3% or 4% increase or we're going to swing for the fences with a with a higher number because they're saying like I you know no matter what you do it's going to hurt. I don't really know what to say to you right now. Um so we've we've kind of I think
we've we've seen both types of conversations happening. >> Thank you. Do I know it's I don't fully understand how all the budgets fee together and trigger an override, but as is there an
assumption that a 12 or 13% increase or an 11 or 12% increase will trigger an override vote in our towns? Carrie, you referenced that earlier. >> Um I'm not sure. I had just heard that um at least for Lansboro they were
considering that possibility um if not this year then in the near future. >> Okay. >> And is that Oh, go ahead, Joe. >> Lansboro Town, I think right now has even more moving parts in terms of the
the outstanding bill related to the tax bill related to the mall. And if they can't utilize that funding, they might need to draw upon um taxation more in order to accommodate a budget, which might bring them more
quickly to the point of needing an override. Um and and that that complicates their conversations, I think, on a daily basis. Were you Carrie somewhat trying to test the
school committee's commitment to um working for an override at this level of budget? Like I I think I heard that question or maybe naming that if this goes to an override, we need to be ready to step up um to support it.
>> Yeah. I mean, I don't know when we'll know. um if that I I've worked override campaigns, they're not easy. Um and it's often the schools that are driving the the override uh budgets. Um
so um the other thing to consider is that if we do end up voting a 12 13 11 whatever percent budget um and they don't pass at
town meeting one or both um then we do have the option of revising the budget. It's not required, but we have the option of
revising the budget um and then bringing it back to the town uh to vote. >> We have to bring something back, right? We would either bring the same budget back or we would bring a revised budget
back. And if it doesn't pass that second time, you know, there's this whole process that and and we don't like thinking about that stuff, but this may be the year to educate ourselves um on what the ramifications are um and
to just understand going in that this is going to be particularly difficult uh for the town of Lansboro. And um we may not be able to succeed
>> um in getting what we need to uh run the schools run the schools the way we think we should >> and want to. Christina, >> do we need to
carefully define what failure to pass would look like? that and that's in an incredibly painful thing to consider, but
maybe we need to be honest with what that would look like. I if if one or both towns vote down the approved budget during its town meeting, um by law, the the
essentially the baton is passed back to the school committee, which then um typically school committees revise a budget in some way based on what they've learned. Um but they're not legally required to. and then they approve a a
budget again and that goes back to special town meetings. Um, and the only situation where you'd have say one town go back to special town meeting, the other one not would be where the one town had approved the budget and the
numbers that are in their assessment stayed exactly the same. If it changes at all, technically they go back to to town meeting as well. Um, and our budget is one where by the nature of how it's created, you know, it's technically possible that that you might only have
one town go back to special town meeting, but it's but it's not likely. >> And then if it fails at second town meeting, then it goes into a 112th budget, I believe, um, as of July 1st.
>> Until we until we get a budget pass. >> Yes. Mhm. >> Yeah. And and and a 112th budget is each month each town is expected to contribute one 12th of what it did the prior year. Um so it's essentially a
stay put funding level. Um which would be crippling for us. We we would not be able to um work with that in the school year. Yeah. So, um I know I'm sitting with
I I I want to support this budget. I want to make sure we advocate for our schools. I think our schools deserve it. I take to heart Jose's um plea earlier. Uh and if we went with that, the risk, you
know, we've just heard about the risk that we could face. Um I mean, we could always face that risk, but it feels like this might be more of a risk this year. Um, and so I'm wondering how the finance committee
like I guess what do you come back with like what this is if we take the risk and then these are levels of if we have a a lower percentage and and you'll have worked out what gets cut. Is that
>> well we can only propose >> we can only propose yeah >> right but scenario >> so the idea is to >> you know the administration has gone through this budget with a fine tooth comb we know that um but
>> we can look at the line by line uh budget and try to identify if there is anything that can be reduced Ed um
we can discuss these central office positions, right? So that's something that we all know we need and the administ you know the district office has the superintendent has um articulated
the need. Um, we've heard about the need for the um the director position for um really years. It just hasn't been our, you know, it hasn't been named as such,
right? But these issues have been building and and taxing our teachers and taxing our principles and taxing our central office. Um that said,
you know, if we don't have the position, that's savings, right? If we don't have the comm the chief uh or the communications position, that's savings. But are we willing to go there, right? So, there are some things that are
obvious and then we're into teaching positions or extracurriculars, right? and we're talking about wanting to preserve and enhance the education that we offer for all of our students.
And those are not conversations we want to have. Um, past school committees that have faced these kinds of challenges have, you know, that's why we have co-op sports, right? Um,
so are there other things that we can collaborate with other school districts on to save um >> to save money for both districts? Are we talking about shared teaching
positions or shared central office positions or you know that there's a whole slew of things that we can talk about but it would be helpful to know if the committee has an appetite for any of
it. much of which seems like it's easier said than done is is also true. >> Yeah. >> Jose. >> Yeah. Thank you, Carrie. I re I I really appreciate that and and I'm sure we all on this call and and anyone tuning in or
who might might be reading about this this meeting later will will appreciate that uh perspective and context. Um, yeah, I I I don't know exactly what, you know, I want to say other than, you know, I'm I'm sure I'm I'm sharing a concern that we all have and I and I'm
worried, you know, not just for this fiscal year, but I'm worried for for years ahead. And uh you know I I desperately encourage us all you know as as as communities between Lansboro and Williamstown to to start thinking strategically about how we can prepare
for for the future. Um yeah, thank you. >> And maybe most importantly support development in our communities. Uh because seems like the only way out
of this is uh increasing the tax base. Yeah. Yeah. >> Stephen, >> uh I would just say in addition to expanding the tax base, I would
complement that with rethinking what we're spending taxes on. that it's a two-pronged decision that needs to be made. And the longer we wait to make difficult the decisions, the worse it's going to be.
Thank you. Okay. Um any other discussion on that item? I know I have to go So, we meet the 5th, March 5th, March
12th, and March 19th at this. Oh, no. Yeah, we have a meeting on March 19th scheduled at this point. Um, all the meetings are at 5:00. Oh, Joe's looking at me. >> It's the 5th, 12th, and 17th. >> So, that so that we'll have that prior
to the the 19th public hearing. Yeah, >> the 5th, 12th, and 17th um at five o'clock. and they're all um over Google Meet. So um >> and and all of those links, the all of
the Google Meet links to be able to access those meetings, those are all in the school district's school committee meeting calendar. Now, the agendas are typically posted uh 48 or 72 hours before. Um, but the links are there so people can go and note it and attend and
>> and >> the conversation will be all about the budget there. There isn't going to be too much variety. >> The agenda will likely be quite similar to the one that we've had >> and school committee members can attend but can't
they're a me as a member of the public. Correct. I think you can attend but not participate. >> Right. Right. Okay. >> So I think you can hear if there are, you
know, comments. We can also, you know, uh Steve shares the minutes directly after the meetings. So, um, Julia, you could send those out if there's anything significant in terms of public participation or
>> But the problem is if all three finance committee members are present, if there's another school committee member, that's a quorum of the school committee. >> I I'm just going to run this one by Adam. Yeah. Um, >> yeah, >> because
>> we we could also very easily just post it's it's too late for the one that's happening on the 5th, but the meeting that's happening on the 12th and the meeting that's happening on the 17th, we could just post those as full school committee members so that if a fourth >> or a fifth person, >> okay,
>> wants to and is able to come. There's nothing wrong. There's nothing that says we need to keep those as finance subcommittee meeting. We just haven't tried to wrangle the details of having many people commit to all of those meetings. >> So, don't come on the fifth, but you can
potentially >> and I'm not sure I can come to any, but I would like to come to all. So, I'm, you know, I'd have to look at my calendar and all, but and others may be feeling in the same position. This just feels like high stakes. >> Well, in that case, it's safest to just schedule them as both, you know, joint
meetings and then if we don't have a quorum of the school committee there, we just don't do it. And I would say we have no votes on the school committee agendas. >> Okay. Well, we'll I'll work with Joe and Adam to confirm the best way to do this.
Um yeah, so for anyone who wants to to observe can do that. Um so our the our public hearing is on March 19th at 6 PM. We typically have a
backup date. We don't currently have one. Joe and I were speaking immediately prior to the meeting to talk about um whether the 26th can be a backup date should there be a major
snowstorm or something that cripples all of our power source, whatever. Something with the 26 o'clock work. >> Sorry, what's the deadline for um >> uh the >> submitting the budget?
>> The end of March March 30th. >> Okay. >> And and all that really means March 31st, I think it actually is. It's it's 45 days prior to the first town meeting
or one other there's one other stipulation but if we have it done by March 31st. Now one of the things that that that's kind of interesting about that law is that that just means that we need to have voted >> a budget by then. But we could always go
back in April and revise the budget. um that that might be confusing for towns that are trying to insert numbers into their budget, but there's nothing saying that the school committee can't revise the budget prior to town meeting >> and I I actually think that has happened
and it just has to be announced at town meeting that whatever is published is not accurate. >> Yeah, we we we did that three or four years ago I think it was. Mhm. Okay. So, as long as we have a vote,
even if it's not one that we're entirely happy with. >> Yep. I can do the 26th. >> Okay. >> Can others do the 26th? Thanks, Christina. >> I think so. >> Thank you, Stephen. I think Stephen
Dravis can make it. >> Thank you, Stephen Dravis. and and it's highly unlikely that that we'll need to use that. But now that I've said it, all of our internet connections will be knocked out in the afternoon of the 19th, I'm sure. >> Um so we will have quorum. So let's um
use the 26th as our backup. Okay. Um then I other items for discussion not reasonably anticipated. There were none. Um that's right. Agenda requests. I have one that came
from finance committee related to Steven's point about the state. Um I've noted that. Are there any other agenda requests? Okay. Um, hearing none, I am going to move or I'm going to ask for a motion to adjurnn.
>> Millis. So move. >> Thank you, Stephen. >> Second from Curtis. Uh, and we'll do a roll call vote. Bowen I. >> Conry I. >> Constantine. I. >> Elfen by an eye. >> Green. I
>> Miller I. Good night all. >> Good night everybody. Thank you. >> Night. Thank you.