Discussion: FY26 Supplemental Budget Request

Transcript (~28 min @ 15:52)

Speakers identified by voice; unnamed voices are numbered within this recording. Auto-caption text — verify against the video.

▶ 15:46 Speaker 4: Okay. Is there a motion to approve the reports? Made by Ms. McAndrew, seconded by Ms. Rasse Thomas. All in favor? Any opposed? And that passes unanimously. Okay. So now we're moving on to, um, the supplemental budget. There's quite a bit of information here in your packet, including the supplemental appropriation request across our line items, as well as general information about, um, all of the money that is going into the school district, both those within the control of the School Committee and those that fall under other aspects of, uh, the city, including, uh, some technology as well as, uh, DPW resources that are being, uh, put forward to us. So our budget categories, just to remind everybody, are the Franklin, the elementary, the middle school, the high school, teaching and learning, district-wide admin, and then we also have athletics and special ed. Um, so at this point, I think I'd turn it over to, um, Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent for anything they want to talk about.

▶ 16:52 Speaker 7: Sure. Um, we do have some slides that we have prepared for tonight, um, just to, uh, dovetail with our, um, memo that we have put together. So we've tried to give you a comprehensive look at- at where we are proposing the, um, allocations to- to go, um, as we move forward. So Mr. Kelley and I will just walk you through a few slides which, um, parallel the, um, the memo as well.

▶ 17:18 Speaker 8: So I- I'll- I'll kick it off. Thank you. So, uh, you know, very good news, um, with the November override, um, vote being successful. And so, um, it's just also very important to remind, um, everyone that, uh, we are an instructional and learning budget. There is a tremendous amount of resources on the city side that are also devoted to, uh, supporting the, um, excellent teaching and learning that goes on in the schools. So, um, if you hadn't had a chance to see it, it was in the memo and it was also in some, uh, materials that were published, um, after the override was successful. But there are, um, a lot of, uh, facilities needs that have been deferred over time that will now get attention. Uh, over $4 million of, um, uh, resources will go towards that through the DPW department. And then also, our, um, we share the, um, the guidance of the city and school IT department, that's combined. Um, and so, uh, much needed resources, extremely deferred, uh- uh, materials on the I- the IT side that will now, uh, get attention. Uh, a little over $500,000. So it's very important to remember that, um, while the- the- the 3.8 million is very helpful for the schools, there are other resources that were part of that override that will come and directly benefit the schools. So, um, that's in the memo too, just to- to call that out and- and remind everyone that, um, the city is devoting significant resources towards, uh, investment in the schools.

▶ 18:42 Speaker 7: So next up, we just wanted to highlight the process. Um, we had the successful override vote on November 4th, which again, we thank, um, all of our city partners and, and community members for that. Um, we had a lot of, um, ideas, I would say, prior to November 4th, but not knowing exactly where we were going to land, um, we've been doing a lot of work since then. So, we have been working with the principals and the leadership team in order to identify our key staffing positions for the second half of FY26, um, all focused on supporting student growth and achievement. And, um, although a very small sample size, we were able to gather and analyze some data from, um, some parents and community members who attended Parent University. Um, and, and many of their ideas aligned with, I think, where we're heading, which is, is nice to hear. Um, you know, all decisions, as a reminder, are being made based on the needs of students and, and aligning with our district's strategic plan. And, um, you know, again, as I mentioned at the, the beginning, we've been brainstorming with prin- principals and leadership team, but then really, um, having our focus within our cabinet meetings the last couple weeks in our principals' meetings to, to focus in on where the money needs to be allocated in each of the areas, and then, um, more specifically we'll focus on what positions, um, can be posted. So, the goal is to post positions after the holiday break.

▶ 20:06 Speaker 8: So in the, um, there is a table that, um, takes the 3.8 million from the override, um, and then sort of shows then, um, our recommendation on how to further appropriate those to the approved, uh, school committee categories. Um, we've tried to include detail about, um, you know, we've had, as the superintendent was saying, we've had, um, ongoing conversations about priorities, um, the, the, the common thread is that everyone is, is, uh, um, highlighting and promoting, um, you know, high outcomes for students. Um, and so this is the recommendation to, um, appropriate funds to the, the categories. There are six of them there. It includes the, um, the staffing to show how we arrived at 17 positions, and then also the, um, the teaching and learning and, um, the district-wide, uh, resources. So this sort of breaks down in the table how we built up to that 3.8 million number.

▶ 21:00 Speaker 7: So moving in, (clears throat) the, there's a request, uh, for, for personnel. Um, through the override process, we heard that, that, uh, highest amount was gonna bring back 17 positions to the district. So, we'll focus a little bit on those. Um, the way we envision it right now is that we would bring 15 teachers and two, um, administrators back into the district. Uh, we are, although the budget process has not started yet for FY27, we, we obviously have that in our gazes as we plan for FY26. Uh, my favorite word has become dovetail because they really have to dovetail together. They have to work together. We can't hire 17 positions or any positions really for the second half of the year to then, um, redo something different for, for FY27. So we do have some goals for FY27 that we're hoping to move towards, um, for the second half of N- FY26 as we do our hiring. Our focus is on hiring licensed and qualified staff. Um, you know, looking at our class sizes, the areas in which are a little greater than where we would like to be and seeing how we can reduce those, both for the second half of the year, but definitely moving into FY27 as well. Um, student social/emotional needs and then, uh, uh, focus that continues, um, to be really, you know, number one is closing that learning gap, um, within our subgroups. So how do we target instruction, um, with the, um, people that we have that we can employ that can work hard to get that done?

▶ 22:33 Speaker 8: Uh, the next category that was, um, uh, used as, as one of our buckets was the, um, the instructional learning category. So, um, this is, uh, a majority of these resources are going to our, our curriculum process, so, um, it's important as we look at the instructional core to lead the high outcomes for kids. We want an engaged student, we have incredible teachers, and now we want a powerful curriculum. Uh, we didn't really have a mechanism within our instructional learning budget to, um, invest in ongoing curriculums. And you're talking about, you know, the, the core subjects, you know, English, math, science, social studies, the arts. Um, you wanna be looking at and, and reviewing these, these, um, instructional materials on a regular basis. Uh, the next one up for us is we've, we've, uh, recently been, uh, working with a new English curriculum and now we're looking at the, um, the math as the next round. These are not inexpensive items. Um, the math we're looking at right now is about a million dollars for, um, five-year comprehensive materials. Um, that would include PD for teachers. We want to support them as we bring in something new. But additional resources are also to, ongoing so it doesn't just stop there. We have English, math. We would then look at social studies or science. You wanna get in a pattern of doing this every three to five years for the different subjects. So, this is an investment in that. So we're putting, um, you know, highly qualified research-based, um, DESE-curated materials, um, in the hands of our teachers to work with the kids. Um, so that's the, the, the instruction learning category, uh, investment from, from these funds.

▶ 24:07 Speaker 7: (clears throat) And then, um, the last piece is that the district-wide and the, um, administration request. So, um, uh, it's a little bit over $700,000 that we're asking to be allocated to this budget line. Um, this will help to fulfill our FY26 contractual obligations with our current, um, our current teachers, and also, um, upgrades and additions to Aspen and other HR functions and platforms for administrative, um, efficiency. We really wanna focus on, um, using our resources to put, um, educators in front of our learners, um, and with that, we're hoping that some of the upgrades to, um, some of our, um, platforms and different, um-... technology pieces we, we can upgrade so that we can have actually less people to do the work and more, um, systems-based.

▶ 25:02 Speaker 8: And so finally, we have the, um, the, uh, requested, respectfully requested vote to move from our, uh, approved, um, categories from back, uh, last April and to, uh, incorporate the supplemental amounts to the, uh, newly arrived budget, which is just short of $52 million, uh, for FY26. And, um, I think we'd be happy to answer any questions that may be

▶ 25:24 Speaker 4: available. Great. So before we open up for questions, I just have a quick clarification. Does anybody need to abstain from any aspect of the vote? Do we need to have more than one vote tonight?

▶ 25:36 Speaker 4: Oh, I'll take that as a n-

▶ 25:40 Speaker 9: I will, I will abstain from the administration.

▶ 25:42 Speaker 4: Okay, so when we vote tonight, if there are gonna be, um, i- if there are gonna be votes, I, I would suggest perhaps- (gavel bangs) ... we start with the district-wide admin, but let's go into questions and then we can figure out... figure that out from there. Okay, so questions to the superintendent and deputy superintendent.

▶ 26:02 Speaker 4: Ms. Rassi-Thomas.

▶ 26:05 Speaker 2: I (clears throat) am thrilled. First of all, I want to thank the, the voters in Melrose again for their overwhelming, um, yes to the top category of the override. So... And I wanna thank everyone who worked on it, and I really am so grateful, um, and very excited to upgrade our schools in many different ways, whether it's the bathrooms in the high school or the steps leading to the middle school or the high school, um, or to the instructional materials. They're all very, very important and also getting more teachers in the classroom as quickly as possible, especially for those elementary school, um, classes that are... been bumped up this year. I know there's a lot of parents who are very eager to have that happen. So, I just wanted to ask if you could get into more of the weeds around how did you decide on giving eight of the positions back to the elementary school level? Um, and, you know, what I'm remembering from the last two years is that two years ago, we really had to do a lot of cutting at the high school. We invested more in the middle school, and then this past year, we cut pretty severely at the middle school and cut again at the high school. And we tried not to cut from the elementary school, and I'm all... I'm a big believer in putting money in early education and primary education, but I'm also, I think while it's fantastic we have this override and I'm very grateful, there... it's only 17 positions, right? So we cut about 40, between 40 and 45, cut, pu- cut some back, but it's 17 positions and I know you're being strategic, so if you can just explain it more to me, the reasons for why you've made those deci- th- this is what you're recommending to us?

▶ 27:48 Speaker 7: Yeah, so I can start. Um, so I would say out of those, um, positions, uh, we would look to make some of those larger classrooms at the elementary schools that are really, uh, a little bit outliers in terms of our average and to be able to bring those, those down again. I think it... You know, I will say, and I think we've said it in the last couple meetings, it's going to be a challenge to get a licensed highly-qualified teacher in, in February or whenever we can bring that person on board. Um, you know, are we going to try? Certainly. Um, I think we need to really think of what's best for our, um, youngest learners at this time in terms of disruption and in terms of, um, you know, bringing on a new teacher. Like would there be some opportunities if, say, we're in a two, two-strand school and we bring in a third teacher, or a two-strand, um, grade level, we bring in a third teacher, could they co-teach with each of those teachers on a, on... get to know some of the students and then become the next year's teacher? Um, is there someone who's finishing their practicum or their student teaching or something like that that we could bring on, bring on to help support those pieces? Um, we want someone, uh, i- in an ideal world who can then continue on into the position next year with those children. So they would get to, you know, meet, meet some of our youngest learners, get to understand their learning profiles, and then be their teacher next year. That would be the ideal situation and ultimate goal. So, um, we're looking at those outliers, um, in terms of that. We're also looking at, uh, a few positions. Um, so probably half will go be direct classroom teacher and half will be, um, reading, uh, or literacy and math specialists to be able to target those sub-groups, um, and to really... whether they're pushing into classrooms or working in smaller groups, uh, to do some targeted intervention and instruction in order to, um, close the achievement gap.

▶ 29:38 Speaker 2: Okay. So we have a first grade class at the Roosevelt that's very s-... like 28 or something like that. Mm-hmm. We got, um, a second grade class at the Hoovers, around 28, and we got Winthrop third grade class. Mm-hmm. So, the first thing we're gonna try to do is get help to those classes.

▶ 29:55 Speaker 7: That's the plan at this moment in time. Yeah. That's how I think... That's our vision- Yeah. ... is to think about how we can, for next year, make them, uh, a little bit more aligned with the class sizes across the district. Yeah. And so this year, I don't think... I personally don't think it's best practice to say like, "Oh, half of you now are gonna go with a new teacher after you've established-" Yeah. "... you know, routines and, and the teacher understands your learning." However, if we can, um, create some smaller group opportunities and give some support to the educators in those classrooms, um, I think that would be a great idea.

▶ 30:26 Speaker 2: So one- One, I know it's tr- this is a very tricky time of year to hire- Mm-hmm. ... but you could potentially, you know, promote a para into a co-teacher position if

▶ 30:36 Speaker 7: Especially if they have a license. Mm-hmm.

▶ 30:37 Speaker 2: Yeah. So you have to look at licensure. You have to- Right. ... look at who's ready to take that step and all those things. But those are some of the ideas that you're working on.

▶ 30:45 Speaker 7: Correct. We, we have some t- some teachers who have done some student teaching with us the first half of the year. Mm-hmm. Um, I'm unsure of when they will be fully licensed or... and certified, um, but that is something that we are exploring, um, as we move forward.

▶ 30:58 Speaker 2: Okay. And we... You know, we know at the middle school and the high school, there's many classrooms that have 30-plus students in them and we have a-... contract that says, you know, "We'd like to have classrooms of 24." Mm-hmm. Um, so how are we going to address that, maybe not this year, but next year, with what we're, what you're having us allocate?

▶ 31:19 Speaker 7: Yes, I think, certainly, speaking to next year, I mean, we should hopefully be able to hire, uh, individuals and, and start, you know, with classrooms that are smaller from the, the get-go- Yeah. ... with our scheduling process. Um, you know, I think the goal is to bring back the team model, definitely at the sixth grade, um, as just a starting point. Uh, so bringing on some additional staff will help us to do that. Um, it also should help to lower class sizes in the other classrooms as well, in the seventh and eighth grade. Um, f- forget the rest of your question.

▶ 31:54 Speaker 2: Well, it's, it's also the, the class size of the high school. Mm-hmm. I mean, I think that is less of a concern- Yeah. ... 'cause by the time you reach high school and you're deeply into high school, hopefully you have the organizational skills, you can manage, but some kids can't still. So, I'm just wondering about how we bring class sizes down at the high school, if that's a priority. I don't know if it is.

▶ 32:13 Speaker 7: So I, I, I think it is. I think there's certain pockets at the high school right now that definitely the classrooms need to be smaller. Um, we know that some of our global language or world language classrooms are very large. Um, not ideal. So getting an extra world language teacher, whether it's primarily at the high school or to even split at the secondary campus to bring down class sizes and create more opportunity for all students and student choice, um, that would al- that's also a goal.

▶ 32:42 Speaker 2: And, you know, really, the only thing that I see in here that's administrative, it's this is all, it's all student-facing people. Can you just s- highlight the 1.0 administrator at the elementary level and then the secondary administration that's, like, shared between the middle school and the high school? Like, can you just tell us what those are for?

▶ 33:04 Speaker 7: Yes. So we are- (clears throat) ... hoping to be able to, um, bring, um, an assistant principal back to, um, the elementary school level. Uh, we will probably the goal would be if we can bring that position in, then we would r- restructure for FY27 with some different pieces so that we don't have that shared, um, SEC, special education coordinator, half special education coordinator, half assistant principal at the elementary schools that have programming. So we have three schools that have that current model. Two of those have, um, special education programming in, in those schools. So with those two schools with some higher levels of need and some different, um, learning styles of children, we would wanna bring in an- another administrator. But that would then change the role of the special education coordinator a little bit too. So there would be shifts. Um, but we would certainly post for an elementary school assistant principal, uh, when we can to see, um, what the pool looks like and, and if there was someone that, um, fits with what, with what we need. And then the secondary piece, um, we are leaning toward putting, um, adding, uh, a curriculum coordinator of some part to the 6 through 12 campus to help, um, balance out the work that needs to be done, especially if we're bringing in a new math curriculum- Mm-hmm. ... um, and to help with that support and professional development and coaching of the educators and also, um, and just the implementation.

▶ 34:36 Speaker 2: That's ... I mean, I think we have to remind everyone that Melrose operates with very, very, very little administration. It's an extremely lean district if you compare it to any other district around. Um, so thank you very much. I also would just like to plug, uh, eventually meeting the new co-directors of special ed- Mm-hmm. ... and, and see, hear from them about how we're doing with special ed and then what our plan is going forward as we head into the budget season for, um, school year '27 and fiscal year '27. 'Cause we haven't really gotten to meet them yet, uh, in here, and I think it would be important for the public to hear about what they're experiencing, what they're seeing, what they recommend. (clears throat) Thank you.

▶ 35:23 Speaker 4: Okay. Other questions? Mr. Hartman.

▶ 35:26 Speaker 8: Uh, thank you. And, and I would second the comment about, uh, getting to meet our special ed quar- uh, directors and have a chance to, to learn more from their vision of, of what they see. Um, just looking at the materials in front of us, thinking about a couple of questions, uh ... And the implementation of this, uh, uh, you discussed it a little bit in terms of, of what we might see and, and sort of our limitations mid-year. Mm-hmm. Um, I wonder if, uh, we could spell out a little bit more about, about what that means. We, we're in a situation in the middle of the year where we're gonna post a position. Uh, it might be an internal hire, it might be an external hire. Mm-hmm. It could be a promotion, as Ms. Rasse Thomas highlighted. Um, that, that shift, we don't know how that kind of settles out. I just wanna spell that out for the public that in terms of, uh, hiring 17 positions, it, it is a challenge in the middle of the year, um, to be where we are. And we don't know exactly when we're gonna get a fifth grade teacher or a third grade teacher or a pre-K teacher. Um, so people might look at this chart and think we're, we're solving all the problems with the spending, but spending is different than implementation and hiring. Uh, I just wanted to make sure that that's clear for folks following along that, um, we don't know exactly how this is gonna shake out, which I think you've discussed, and we just wanna be clear that, uh, the money, the money, the votes that we're doing at the committee level are for, uh, putting it into the buckets so that everyone knows where it's gonna be spent and what the intention of the superintendent is to spend it on. Um, I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about the, the math curriculum. And, um, as I calculated, it's about $200,000 a year. Uh, when does that get implemented? You, you know, we're purchasing it this year, but we're probably ... we're not switching in the middle of the year curriculum. Correct. Um, how does that get implemented? What is the, the kind of time scale on that and the- Sure. ... the PD for that as well. I wonder if we could talk about that a little bit. Sure. So we would wanna have that in place for the following school year. Mm-hmm. But that would be a tremendous amount of work predominantly with, um, with Miss Acevedo's department to get that all set up, aligned, schedule PD for teachers to have it up and running to start for students at the next school year. So there is a lot of both capital investment as well as people investment on- Yeah. ... in getting something like that off the ground. So you wouldn't just start that on September 1st. Right. So it's something that, uh, we would start the training on September 1st or we start the training this spring as we start to bring on the curriculum? I think that's TBD. Mm-hmm. This is still in decision mode. We're trying to find a, a curriculum that, you know, meets the needs in Melrose. So I think that, that there's ... there still are some TBD things like you were saying about the staffing. Okay. There's still some details being worked out. Okay.Uh, and it's for five years, th- this, the curriculum we're looking at. Um, and during that five-year cycle, we're doing kind of constant review of how it's going. That's correct. Um, but we're kind of locked in for those five years, or is there opportunity to change if we're seeing it's going the wrong direction? I think that we would want to do th- that, so I think probably the, a lot of the work that's going on right now is to find out, you know, what's gonna be the right one. Um, there are a lot of powerful curriculums out there. We want to find one that aligns with, you know, the data that we're seeing from the students, as well as, um, build teacher capacity to, um, install that, that curriculum. So, um, these are good questions, and, and I think some of those answers are being vetted right now. Okay. Um, I guess as, as decision-making on the, on the curriculum comes forward, I think it would be great to have, uh, a presentation to the committee about what that curriculum will look like once that, that finalizes or gets closer to finalization. Um, that'd be my request on that 'cause I, I think, uh, we've heard a lot (laughs) around the commonwealth about high-quality curriculum, and I'm glad that we're focusing on that as a, as a space where we need to make an investment. Um, 'cause I think, uh, if we don't keep up our curriculum, uh, we're, we're not keeping up with the, the needs of our, our students. So, um, thank you for that extra information. That's all I have at this point.

▶ 39:06 Speaker 4: Great. Ms. McAndrew.

▶ 39:07 Jennifer McAndrew: Thank you. Um, thank you for this. I found the memo to be incredibly helpful and straightforward. Um, I really appreciate you also sort of cross-walking us through the ballot question itself and how this supplemental budget, um, request for the operating budget of the schools, um, is linked back to the, the ballot question that passed and the number of positions. Um, I, you know, had some of the same questions that you've already answered, so I won't go through that. I will say, um, I think it's really important to continue to emphasize that of the 17 positions you are recommended, recommending, 15 of those are teachers, Unit A teachers, um, and two administrators. I agree with Ms. Rasse-Thomas that we are, you know, um, not only are we relatively lean district on administrators, we cut a ton of administrators over the past... We cut, like, half of our administrators over the past year. So, we knew, um, even at this incredibly historic override amount, that we would not be restoring all the positions. I think, um, very much in favor of, um, those two admin- administrators being restored at each level. Um, I think that our, um, principal and deputy principal at the six to 12, um, campus are doing an incredible job this year, um, and I've heard a lot of positive feedback, um, from educators and from parents. And so, I'm greatly appreciative of that and have seen it myself. Um, but, um, you know, they, they're, they're heroic, but they need support up there, uh, not just more classroom teachers, but also, um, at least one or more ad- admins. So, um, greatly appreciate that as well. Um, one f- I had the same question as Mr. Hartman on the, on the math curriculum. Um, one additional question there. Does that include, um, consumables, like for class... Okay, 'cause that's something we hear is, you know, we sort of sometimes, you know, we, we haven't had the resources for some of that. Um, so that pen-to-paper, pencil-to-paper consumables, um, especially at the elementary level.

▶ 41:12 Speaker 7: And, and the quotes that we're getting, I think, uh, in general, are, are five to six years. So I think we- Okay. ... did write on one of the slides, like, three to five, but I think, um, I was able to clarify with, uh, Ms. Acevedo that we really are looking for programs to implement for five to six years within that budgetary, um, piece that we have established.

▶ 41:31 Speaker 1: Excellent, thank you. Mm-hmm.

▶ 41:35 Speaker 4: Any other questions of the committee?

▶ 41:38 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: She's I ju- really more a comment. Let's go. Um, I appreciate the fact there is consideration of investment that will, um, hopefully result in efficiencies, because when we do that, we're really mindful of, um, futuris- not, not futuristic, but really, um, thoughtful technology that can bring us to the next level and ensure that our, um, administrators, our teachers, and so forth, are really focusing on the things that make a huge difference to students, and, um, spending less time doing rote activities or things like that. So just investing in the future, I think, in that way is also important.

▶ 42:18 Speaker 4: Okay. Ms. Withey.

▶ 42:20 Speaker 1: Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you quickly 'cause I, I think one thing I'm noticing through looking at all of the information that you've put together here is that you've gotten feedback and you've listened, right? Or you've thought strategically around where exactly to place additional funding, and we've looked at data time and time again as a committee, and I think acknowledging, for instance, the math curriculum component also goes back to some of the data we're seeing and trying to solve for those things. And so, in a way, I see this as an opportunity for us to also be proactive in places where we know we've had moments where we wanted to go deeper and further but hadn't yet had the means to be able to do so.

▶ 42:58 Speaker 4: Okay. Thank you. Okay. All right, so I'm wondering if there might be a motion to approve the district-wide admin amount by anybody.

▶ 43:10 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Point of personal privilege- Sure. ... if you don't mind. Um, I'm not really comfortable voting on this any-

▶ 43:14 Speaker 4: Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, that's right. Y- Uh, I'm sorry.

▶ 43:16 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: No, no, just... Not on this. I'm just, in this entire, in all of the budget, I'd like to hear anything from the community. Mm-hmm. Um, we have just gotten all of this in- or the, the community is, this is everybody's first look, so I'd just like to, um, to process this a little more, and if anybody would like to share with us anything, I'd be very interested.

▶ 43:36 Speaker 4: Sure. My apologies for jumping the gun on that one. No worries. Yeah, no worries. Um, I do think we're probably gonna discuss this at the next meeting.

▶ 43:42 Speaker 1: Yeah, I just wanted to second. I, I agree. I think I would like just a little bit longer to be able to sit with the information and see if there's any feedback.

▶ 43:50 Speaker 7: Okay. Thank you.

▶ 43:53 Speaker 4: All right. Well, that concludes Finance and Facilities.

▶ 43:55 Speaker 1: Thank you. Next up, we have Policy and Planning, chaired by Mr. Hartman.