APPRO-2023-51 : An Appropriation in the amount of $400,000 from the Sped Stabilization Fund (#8408) to the school department budget (#0111) for Fiscal Year 2023.

Transcript (~40 min @ 3:32)

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

▶ 3:33 Speaker 3: Councilor Abramsky? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. And President Greg? Yes. And Chair Elli? Yes. Unanimous seven. Yes.

▶ 3:44 Leila Migliorelli: All right. The rules are now suspended. The only item on our agendas tonight is appropriation 2023 dash 51 and appropriation in the amount of 400,000 from the sped stabilization fund. 84 0 8 To the school department budget, 0 1 1 1 for fiscal year 2023. Um, tonight we have school committee chair, um, Margaret Driscoll with us, and, um, school finance director Ken Kelly, um, here to speak on this order. Um, Ms. Driscoll, if you would like to speak first,

▶ 4:14 Speaker 5: I believe. And then Mr. Kelly.

▶ 4:19 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: Happy to, um, thank you so much. Um, uh, councilor, uh, Elli and, uh, good evening City council members, and thank you for the opportunity to share some opening thoughts on the topic at hand. Uh, as you know, over the past year, the administration has worked exceedingly hard at analyzing and subsequently operationalizing a wide variety of up-leveled financial practices. These practices were reviewed and implemented with the help of our, uh, accounting consultants, Clifton Larson, Allen, and with whom district, uh, leadership met. Frequently. We believe that this work is resulting in more reliable and accurate data and information that we'd had in the past, and these efforts are a work in progress before you tonight. And based on year end closing activities, uh, mayor Broder has sent down an order requesting that that $400,000 be moved from the sped stabilization fund to the school department operating budget. Please know that Melrose is one of many districts around the commonwealth faced with exploding special education and other costs. As Mayor Broder noted in this past Tuesday school committee meeting, others are trying to solve very challenging budget climates by cutting significant staff positions. Next year, for example, Malden has sent 52 non-renewal, non-renewal notices. Brockton has sent 150 notices. Newton has sent 40 notices, and Marblehead has sent 30 notices, as he mentioned. While those districts may be able to save some of those positions, districts are planning for the off and on unpredictable nature of budgeting. In today's economic environment, our financial concerns are not unique. The committee and all of you were aware that about $250,000 would be requested from sped stabilization. Since that time, it has become apparent that more is needed to end the year with a balanced budget. This fact is extremely disappointing. At the same time, we understand that with transitions and staffing, the central administration team has been very shorthanded, and it takes longer to do what we'd very much like to do more quickly. We look forward to welcoming a new superintendent who is already connecting with staff and the committee to understand the district's pressure points and address key district concerns. This being at the top of his list. In that vein tonight, we ask you to approve the requested transfer. Allow the school department to close the f y 23 books and help us move to f y 24 with a fresh start. Thank you so much.

▶ 6:51 Leila Migliorelli: Thank you, Ms. Driscoll. Um, Mr. Kelly?

▶ 6:57 Speaker 6: Yes. Good evening. Thank you for having me. Thank you for being here tonight. I appreciate everyone's time. I also first want to, um, apologize. I, um, check was checking my email prior to this meeting, and I had received an email request from Counselor Gar pay for, um, two questions. And it was at the bottom of a thread from Kristen Foot at the, um, at City Hall, who was emailing to set me up with, I think it's, I am, uh, I QM two to be able to present and share at the meetings. And I misread that as they wanted to set up something to train me over the summer. Um, and further down that thread, it was counselor Gar BE'S requests. So I sincerely apologize. I don't have the information that he was requesting, um, for, uh, prepared for tonight, cuz I just didn't see his email. And that's my, that's my fault. So I apologize for that. I'd be happy to get information. Um, you know, uh, once we returned to the office, to anyone that would like to have that, um, he had asked about a year to date budget report, um, and then a monthly, uh, transportation, um, report too, so I can provide those things. Um, sincerely apologize. I didn't see that until, uh, councilor Melli had emailed me prior to the meeting, so I apologize for that. But I do appreciate you having me here tonight. As, um, chair Driscoll said, um, the, uh, we are looking to close f y 23. We are, um, just around a million dollars, uh, with a gap. And, um, as we had said at the last meeting, um, that, that fluctuates a little bit. We are still closing purchase orders and, and, uh, trying to close out, um, as much to free up any available resources. Uh, we do have some offsets that we can use, uh, to help, uh, close that gap, but we would not be able to do it, um, without consideration. And, uh, appropriation from the special ed stabilization fund for two primary areas, transportation, um, and related services. These are mandated costs. Um, and so we are requesting, um, with those overages for access to the stabilization funds. Um, and we would greatly appreciate your consideration of that.

▶ 8:52 Leila Migliorelli: Thank you. Mr. Kelly. I see vice chair, Jamal Laine's hand up. Anyone else wanna hop in the queue now? Not, uh, councilor Stewart. Councilor Williams. Okay. We'll start with Vice Chair Jamal.

▶ 9:07 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you both for being with us, uh, tonight. Um, I know you both as many as, um, the school committee and the school district in a not very pleasant, uh, situation, um, that you've been dealing with for the past year or so. Um, you, Mr. Kelly, you mentioned, um, that we need to close that gap. Uh, what if this was not approved today?

▶ 9:36 Speaker 6: So we would have a very challenging time if not, not be able to do that. Um, we have, um, uh, as I said at the last meeting, we have our, um, our budgeted offsets covered. Those are covered. Um, and that's not without some help there where our athletics and our, um, uh, facilities did not come into, uh, projected, um, budgeted amounts. So we've had to fill those. Um, but we have our overall, our offsets covered to, uh, um, offset the budget. Um, and then we do have some reserves that we can apply to the, the gap. But, um, without the, uh, additional funds from stabilization, we would not be able to close the gap.

▶ 10:14 Maya Jamaleddine: And in that situation, what would happen? And to be more clear, which group of students would be mostly affected? So

▶ 10:25 Speaker 6: F y 23, the, were closing the year now, so the students attended school. They, you know, they receive services and this is just some costs that were associated with that, so mm-hmm. Um, you know, at this point in the year, uh, closing, we don't have options to make cuts for f Y 23. We're at the very end of the line for 23. So, um, you know, I'm, uh, um, I'm confident we would not be able to close that gap without, um, consideration from the stabilization fund.

▶ 10:55 Speaker 7: Okay. Um,

▶ 11:00 Maya Jamaleddine: uh, so I'm, I'm not gonna, uh, say on, on this question cuz I, I was hoping to get an answer of how would the city or the school district would deal with this situation if it wasn't approved and it didn't pass by the city council. Like, I know the cap is there. We did not approve to get, um, that fund. What would happen next?

▶ 11:32 Speaker 6: I'd have to research and find out. I don't, I know that we, um, uh, we want to close the year at a zero balance. Um, and that, you know, that wouldn't be possible without the, this consideration. Um, and I do feel like these are, you know, this is what the stabilization fund is for. These were unanticipated, um, costs that, um, we hadn't budgeted for. Um, you know, and the, um, transportation and related services are, are the two biggest drivers there.

▶ 11:57 Maya Jamaleddine: Okay. And I heard from, uh, chair Jessica, uh, that next year that there is a lot of, um, school districts are, uh, going into cuts for many positions. Is that the situation also for our school district?

▶ 12:14 Speaker 6: We didn't decide to do that with regard to f Y 24. That's not something that, um, was part of our budgeting. Our f y 24 budget was level services and, um, was built to maintain current programming.

▶ 12:28 Maya Jamaleddine: Okay. So, as if today, we are keeping all positions

▶ 12:32 Speaker 6: As of today, the, the plan for f y 24. And, and we, you know, we, um, we sent a memo per, um, our school committee request that outlined our, the f y 24 budget does include a, a supplemental request as we did this year.

▶ 12:46 Maya Jamaleddine: Okay. And in what case would you make the decision to do that? Cut?

▶ 12:51 Speaker 6: So that would be a collaborative decision with district leadership, um, superintendent, um, those, uh, any kind of, any kind of reduction in forces. Also, um, bound by contract. There's procedures that has to be followed. So we would obs obviously consult with, um, you know, our, um, our, um, our legal department, our, our, our, uh, district attorneys. Um, and then also include school committee in any kind of a big decision like that.

▶ 13:19 Speaker 7: Okay. Thank you.

▶ 13:22 Speaker 2: You're welcome.

▶ 13:24 Leila Migliorelli: Councilor Stewart.

▶ 13:27 Robb Stewart: Thank you Madam Chair. Um, thank you Mr. Driscoll and, and Mr. Kelly for, for being here this evening. Um, so if you can help me understand that you came to us not too long ago and saying it's gonna be two 50 and then you, you're coming to us and you're adding another 150. Can you provide a little bit of specifics of what that incremental $150,000

▶ 13:54 Speaker 6: is? Yeah, sure. Thank you for asking. Good question. Um, it's when, um, we had originally asked to send the, the, the two, uh, 50 over to stabilization, um, the prior memo that was sort of, uh, knowing that we were looking at a gap, um, to sort of, and there's a timeline associated with stabilization. July 15th is the time that we have to have access to that. So to sort of expedite that, um, requested that that be sent to the schools, uh, rather than stabilization. But we were still working through closing the books and, and, you know, have arrived at about, you know, um, between five 50 and 600,000 in special ed overages. Um, and so, uh, that led to request the, to the 400, the increase in the one 50.

▶ 14:40 Speaker 4: Okay. So, I'm sorry, go ahead. No, do you have something else to, to add?

▶ 14:46 Speaker 6: I was just gonna say that we're, you know, we're trying to do our part as well to cover, you know, not ask for the entire, um, you know, close to 600,000. We're trying to contribute to that as well with some of our reserves.

▶ 14:58 Speaker 4: Ok. Ok. See what Ms.

▶ 15:03 Robb Stewart: Kelly, what I struggle with is, you know, it, it's a budget to actual process that I would expect that you're looking at throughout the year and u unless there is a significant amount of additional transportation or additional student, um, that gets added, uh, that will really balloon the costs, uh, or that to me. And that would, and if that happens, I would expect that you'd be able to forecast pretty accurately how those costs are gonna be, be ballooned and communicate that sooner rather than later. And that's not happening. And so my question is, why, why, why aren't we on top of this? What's going on?

▶ 15:52 Speaker 6: It's a good question. Um, we do watch the, um, the budget monthly and the more than monthly and the, um, the transportation is always over. It really, they enc they try to encumber, um, as much of the known cost at the beginning of the year. Transportation for, uh, special education, athletics or, um, we also provide transportation through our Medco grant. Um, you know, they're all forecasted to be, to be over. So it's routine to see them there. Um, and you know, we can, we can certainly try to do better, uh, to, um, to forecast that. But it does run, it tends to run over, uh, pretty consistently. Um, and even, you know, this was even, you know, towards the, the spring it got even, um, bigger than we had anticipated.

▶ 16:39 Robb Stewart: Yeah. Uh, okay. Because the, you know, when, when council Garey asked for the year to date budget report, I would think you'd already have that, that, that that's not something that you'd have to like go work to, to go and put together. I think that would be a pretty We

▶ 16:52 Speaker 6: Do have those. Yep. We do have those reports. And like I said, that was just purely me missing that email. I, I, I completely misread what was being, uh, communicated and completely on me.

▶ 17:01 Robb Stewart: Okay. Clearly we, you know, from my perspective, I, I wanna support this only because, uh, it's a need that I don't think we can just dismiss, you know, these are students, um, that we absolutely need to support. And I recognize that it's, it's where I, where I get, uh, a little, uh, I would say frustrated is that this information isn't as proactive as I think it could be. And I would ask, um, both the school committee as well as the administration to help us a and not let us be, felt like we're backed a little bit into a corner. Cuz that's what we're at here. We are, we're backed into a corner a little bit right now. You know, we're, uh, I don't think we have much choice in the matter here. Uh, and it, it, it works a lot better when you're a little bit more collaborative with us. And the reason why I say this is this year we need to get this through. Next year's gonna be different because of the, the challenges. And there may not be as much as many options that we're gonna have in terms of unpredicted or, or unknown, uh, unexpected overages. And so that's where, and I'm not Mr. Kellen, I know, I know you, you work very hard on this. I'm not trying to beat up here. All I'm asking is that there's a little bit more collaboration, um, and communication on your side when you're anticipating these are coming

▶ 18:47 Robb Stewart: as opposed to the rear view mirror. That's Sure. And I, I think I, I hope I sympathize with the number of my counselors because, you know, we feel as though it's certainly we, you know, we're all on board in terms of the school, but we also have to consider the bigger picture as counselors, right. The full city budget. And right now, if we're gonna be 4 million short and there's, um, and we're trying to determine how this is, this 4 million is gonna be fitting into next year, then if there's any other additional surprises, if we come up with another 2 million of, we didn't expect this, we're gonna have to make a lot of hard decision, hard choices. And I'd rather see that communication be really upfront sooner than, than later.

▶ 19:40 Speaker 6: Understood. Agreed. A hundred percent. I, you know, I don't like surprises and I don't like surprising people, so I'm sorry that it, it's, uh, somewhat come across that way. And, um, the only thing I would ask consideration for is that, you know, last year that we didn't even have this opportunity to have this conversation. It was, you know, end of July, end of July before we started realizing things. So we are trying to be a little bit more proactive. And I, I, I absolutely hear what you're saying and I agree with that. And, and we built some practices in this year. Um, our tracking of our offsets, I think is a greatly improved thing. And, you know, always looking to improve at what we do. For sure. So I, I appreciate you saying that, and we can absolutely work towards that.

▶ 20:16 Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair,

▶ 20:21 Speaker 5: Councilor Williams.

▶ 20:26 Ryan Williams: So my questions about the stabilization fund, um, because, you know, I know we've made a number of large withdrawals, and some of them have been, some of them are more kind of typical to the cadence of the special ed, uh, stabilization fund withdrawal. My first question would be, do you feel that this withdrawal is more of one of those typical withdrawals that we do kind of near the end of the year when we're settling our budgets as opposed to the more kind of emergency feeling withdrawal that we had, um, to close the year after we discovered issues much later in the year? That's my, that's my first question. I'll pause there.

▶ 21:01 Speaker 6: Sure. Were you asking, were you asking? Just clarifying you asking that to me? Yeah. Yes. So thank you. Yeah, good question. Um, I think that, yes, this is, you know, stable, the stabilization fund is for unanticipated and unexpected costs. And yes, that's what these were, we did not anticipate all these riders. We did not anticipate, um, you know, having, uh, related services as big as it was. The, um, uh, you know, related services is things like therapies. Um, if we, if we don't have staff available to do that, we need to contract out. And that is, by nature, always more expensive than having some of our own staff do that. So costs can add up quickly. So, um, unanticipated costs, yes, and I would say, um, I don't know if typical is the right word, but I I would say that it, it is, it can be used for, um, uh, things of this nature. And also this would leave, you know, some reserves in case we did have a, you know, a very quick and unanticipated cost pop up, um, to access that for next school year as well.

▶ 21:58 Ryan Williams: Can you characterize the, the split on, let's say, like straight transportation versus professional services?

▶ 22:07 Speaker 6: Sure. As far as like the cost is the overruns, is that what you mean?

▶ 22:10 Ryan Williams: Just in terms of like, let's, let's just cap it at this $400,000 and say it's 80% of this transportation, like drivers, those contracts, you know, is it staff?

▶ 22:21 Speaker 6: Sure. So the, the transportation is strictly for, um, paying for, um, either our combination of our drivers. We, we have, uh, five drivers currently on the road, and then the rest are vendors. So that's what that transportation cost is. Um, and then the related services would be the therapies. Um, and sometimes we have to contract out for that. It, the, the, um, it's about 350,000 over for transportation. And then the remaining would be the, the the related services.

▶ 22:47 Speaker 2: So this is like all transportation basically?

▶ 22:50 Speaker 6: Much of it is correct,

▶ 22:52 Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay. Um, that's,

▶ 22:54 Speaker 6: And it's not, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I'm sorry. No,

▶ 22:57 Speaker 2: No, go ahead. Please go ahead.

▶ 22:58 Speaker 6: It's not unique. Tomorrow's transportation is, um, volatile for all, um, uh, for all districts at this time.

▶ 23:05 Ryan Williams: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and I, you know, I sympathize with that. I'm to, to Councilor Stewart's point, it's been volatile now for like a year plus. Um, and so you get kind of, you know, you want, you wanna keep putting money into it. My concern is not that we should or should not be putting money into it, my concern is do we have enough money left to sustain this level of, of, of transfer in the SPED fund, not just this year, but with the budget that we just passed. Like, if you've projected, let's say that you projected last year, you know, I don't know, you know, a certain number and then the real number at the end of the year was x plus. Can we cover x plus in f y 24 with the budget that we currently passed, if this keeps happening again and again. And, and where are we at right now with, with the, if this goes through with the remainder of the, of what's left in the fund?

▶ 23:55 Speaker 6: Um, so the, the 2 42 went over to stabilization. So there's currently seven 50, and this would leave a balance of three 50. Um, and to answer your question, you know, the answer to your question is, I don't know. I, you know, I I, we did budget for, um, you know, uh, um, the, the overall amount that was approved by school committee, we feel is comprehensive with, with transportation. We've been working with vendors to try to, uh, get economies of scale. Um, so we were able to bring it down a little bit. Um, having said that, you know, every budget is, is a, as we know, every budget is an estimate. And, um, you know, I, I wouldn't go out on a limb and say, yes, I guarantee that that would commit at that. I just, that wouldn't be fair.

▶ 24:34 Speaker 2: Can I ask you one last question? Um,

▶ 24:39 Ryan Williams: do you feel that this is driven by increases in cost for services? Or is this driven by more out of district placements?

▶ 24:46 Speaker 6: Um, there were a few more additional out of district placements, but it's more, um, cost of routes. You know, sometimes students have significant needs and, and can only be transported in a one van with one monitor and, and no additional students. And that, you know, a a single rider route is very expensive. Um, ok. Sometimes if we can share vans, um, we can, we can sa there's a savings there, but, um, adding a monitor to a van and some of our, our higher needs students do require that to get safely back and forth to school. Um, and those just are expensive.

▶ 25:18 Ryan Williams: Okay. Thank you. And to, to take a, a moment just to thank you and the rest of the school for really taking care of these students who have these kinds of needs because it's, it's, it's very important for us to be able to treat them with the, uh, level of service that they deserve. So I hope that we can continue to support these requests into the future. And I hope that the budget, uh, that we passed for this encompasses this kind of need in the future as well.

▶ 25:43 Speaker 6: Agreed. Yep. We did try to do that. Um, and one of the things that's important to remember too is we're, you know, there was a historical pattern of under budgeting that, and we're still, we're still digging out from that. That's something that we are actively working to, um, you know, uh, get, you know, use our, our, just like you were mentioning, actuals and, and looking at what we spent to, to bring that up and, and, you know, try to accurately as best we can, forecast what it will be.

▶ 26:07 Speaker 2: Thank you.

▶ 26:09 Leila Migliorelli: Thank you. Councilor Williams. Um, I know Vice Chair Malvin is ready for a second round, but I'm just wanting to follow up with anyone, um, who hasn't asked a question. Councilor Romanski.

▶ 26:23 Speaker 2: Hi. Um, yeah, so, uh, mine's more of a comment. I think like, moving forward, obviously, uh, the schools ha have to be funded at an appropriate amount. I think the, i i idea, and I think, uh, you know, uh, school Commi, uh, chair, just Driscoll pointed this out. Um, school, school districts across the Commonwealth are struggling, and we're gonna see this in Melrose. Like this isn't isolated just to Melrose. There's, there's gonna be cross cost increases across school districts just because of the

▶ 27:00 Speaker 5: Seems that we lost Counselor Abramsky, um, just as he was there. Wait,

▶ 27:07 Speaker 5: there he is. We can go ahead. We can't hear you. You're muted now, but you're back.

▶ 27:11 Speaker 2: Uh, yeah. Um, just so, um, we can, uh, understand where this is all coming from. Uh, I think that the, the, that the fact that, uh, chairwoman Driscoll pointed out that, um, you know, other districts are struggling and where this is just as an isolated to Melrose, and we're gonna see additional costs, uh, next year as well as we get more prescriptive with children's needs, the costs are gonna be driven up. And that's just the reality. And it's not just special education. It's not just transportation. It's all children in all needs. And like this, this has to be, um, you know, one of the focuses not just to the school committee, but of this council and like, uh, this is what the expectation is of people within the community. And, you know, uh, I think this needs to be supported and, uh, you know, moving forward, things like this, um, access to parks, um, things, uh, public safety. This is what people want our focus to be. And I definitely support this and, uh, split, uh, budgeting within the schools.

▶ 28:23 Leila Migliorelli: Thank you. Councilor Aki, counselor Chetty.

▶ 28:29 Manjula Karamcheti: Hi everyone. Hi, Mr. Kelly. Thank you so much for coming before us again. Um, counselor Abramsky said that something that just really resonates me and resonates with me, and something that I've always believed in my professional life. And personally, it's all kids in all services, and we absolutely need to make sure that we have the ability and the funds within our city and our schools to be able to support the providing of those services at all levels for all kids. Um, I believe that at my core, I think the piece of all of this that I keep going back to in terms of the fiscal issues that we find ourselves in, I think they are driven not only by higher cost of transportation, I do believe that there is a part of this that goes back to like leadership programs and services and how we, we are utilizing the resources that we have as well. So I think in conjunction with the financial piece, we need to also be looking very critically at our programs and services, what we offer in-house, what we can create in-house, and how we're then utilizing out of district placements. And I don't think it's just on the schools at this point. I think it is a collective between the city and the schools to get creative and figure out how to do that work. Um, and I bring it up Mr. Kelly, like right now with you, because one of the things that I'm interested in, and you don't have this data, but like, what is our pipeline of, out of, out of district placements, like, who's in the queue? What are we looking at? Because that's gonna be another significant amount of money. And in the, what I think, uh, counselor Stewart was saying, like, I, I recognize that this is a little more proactive than it was last year, but it's still not good enough, I don't think, in terms of us being planned and prepared for the finances of what kids and cases are coming up. Um, and I, I'm wondering about that because like, what do you know, what do we know about what's coming down the pipeline? What data is available? Who's paying attention to that? Mm-hmm. Those are some of the questions that I have. Okay. And I, again, I recognize maybe you can add, answer them, but I still am think it's important to ask those questions.

▶ 31:25 Speaker 6: Sure. Thank you.

▶ 31:27 Speaker 5: But if you can't answer any of it, I'd love to hear it.

▶ 31:29 Speaker 6: Sure. Yeah. I like you. You know, I, I am not a special education teacher. I, you know, I don't, uh, I don't sit on any kind of, um, you know, special education team meetings or anything like that. So I'm, I'm sorry, I don't have that, that information for you. And it's just not something that, um, uh, you know, I, um, as part of my office day-to-day, I do co collaborate with, uh, the special education office. And, um, those are decisions that, that, that they make. And, and they include us when they, they know something is, uh, you know, a student is going out that's, you know, they include us there.

▶ 32:00 Manjula Karamcheti: Yeah. And totally. And I, I do wonder about that timeline and are you getting the information you need in a significant amount of time to then do the work that you need to do in a way that like, is proactive to the places that you need to do it?

▶ 32:17 Speaker 6: Yes. When that information's available, yes. And, and, you know, as a former principal, you know, it does happen sometimes where it goes very quickly, where, you know, for some reason a student has a unique need, uh, in, in the, the alternative placement has to happen pretty quickly. So sometimes there is lead time and sometimes there isn't. If there's a significant need for a student, um, and the district can't meet that need, that can happen quickly. And sometimes there's a one way and sometimes there isn't.

▶ 32:43 Manjula Karamcheti: Thank you. I appreciate that, and I appreciate you being here.

▶ 32:47 Speaker 6: Thank you for having me.

▶ 32:49 Leila Migliorelli: Thank you. Next up is President Greg.

▶ 32:55 Jen Grigoraitis: Thank you, Madam Chair. I, I just also wanted to make a comment. I, I am in support of this for the reasons that I've been articulated. Number one of which is that it really feels like the consequence of us not being in support of it is, is pretty devastating to our school system, our students, and quite frankly, our city. Um, I would also like to continue to get away from doing it this way. I, Mr. Kelly, I know you feel the same way, and I I also just really wanna thank you, um, for being here and shared Driscoll, um, because I feel like, yet again, it is the school committee and you coming before the council to talk about this. And I would like to get to a place where we're having a conversation that involves all of the partners at the table. I know some of that we're in a period of transition because of the electoral calendar and because of, you know, contract changes in your administration. But I, I think it's really hard to have some of the bigger conversations that we all clearly very much wanna have and get answers to without all of those folks here with us. Um, I do just kind of wanna echo what Councilor Carm shading Counselor Stewart had said about like, I, I do think we have got to continue to get to a place where we are doing this in a little bit more timely fashion. I mean, uh, for those that aren't, you know, privy to what's happening behind the scenes, this was a scramble to get this pulled together, um, so that we can attempt to pass this by July 15th. Um, and that is, you know, the reality of the calendar and, and the city council process is not something that is really easy to change. So I think we need to figure that out so that we don't lose opportunities. Um, and also, and I know I've said this before, but I I, I'd like to get to a place where we're not so reliant on you personally, Mr. Kelly. Um, you know, that is not, people are not systemic change. We've got to have processes and procedures that are in, you know, codifying communication so that this information is all running more smoothly and efficiently and isn't reliable on any one person. Again, I really appreciate how much time you and, uh, chair Driscoll and Chair Elli put into making sure that this is all happening. I would just like us to be doing it differently going forward. So not really anything you have to answer, just a comment. Thank you.

▶ 35:02 Speaker 6: Thank you. I, I would agree with that, that, you know, um, looking to improve timelines and I think we've made progress and there's still progress to be made. I agree with that. I appreciate that. And, um, we're on the same page.

▶ 35:17 Leila Migliorelli: Um, I think seeing no one else, vice chair, Jamal Dean for the second time.

▶ 35:23 Maya Jamaleddine: Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, Mr. Kelly, you mentioned, um, that, um, the, uh, special education is like, and transportation has been historically, um, under budgeted. Um, and, and, um, I just wonder if this is something in, in Mars or in all the other districts.

▶ 35:49 Speaker 6: It's, I think it, it is, it's probably practice other places. I can't speak to that. Um, you know, but I can say for the, for, you know, a, a good five year window, there was, um, just under budgeting of, of, you know, what the prior year cost was, then, you know, typically these costs don't go down, but then the next year would have a, a lower amount. Um, uh, ours did go down a little bit this year because I do think we have some efficiencies, but it wasn't a significant drop. And I think that, um, uh, you know, that pattern is something we are still recovering from trying to change.

▶ 36:21 Maya Jamaleddine: Great. Um, so knowing that we have been un under budgeting, um, transportation, special education, I wanna emphasize and just name it that our problem here is really not special education students are not, um, those that requires transportation. Um, it's, and unfortunately it's the under budgeting, it's the, um, amount, uh, uh, lack of resources and, um, uh, um, that we are providing. But it's not like, I wanna make sure that folks that are listening to us right now, and everyone who is present right now are aware that the blame here is not actually on special education students or those that requires, um, transportation. I also wanted to, uh, make a request hopefully for, uh, next year, and hopefully we don't need that. But, um, if we need, um, to make any cuts, hopefully we make, um, we make it from anywhere but the special education because those students, um, rely on us and are mostly relying on those resources that we are providing. And we know that we are providing the minimum amount of resources for them. Uh, so any cut is gonna definitely affect, um, their career, their education, um, and their life. Um,

▶ 38:03 Speaker 7: drastically. Thank you for your work.

▶ 38:05 Speaker 6: Thank you very much. Thanks for saying that. And, and you're absolutely right. The, you know, um, these are, these are the costs associated with, um, uh, getting the, the, the kids, the education that they're, they deserve. And, um, with regard to special education, these are even mandated costs and they, that they are the, the cost associated with it. Um, but you're absolutely right.

▶ 38:29 Leila Migliorelli: Thank you everyone. I just wanted to add my own comments here. Um, that I thank you to all my fellow colleagues. I think everyone brought up a lot of really good points. This is good conversation that this goes beyond just the ask that we have in front of us tonight and needs to be, um, more sort of thought through, um, moving forward. I think, uh, vice chair, Jamal Dean's point is excellent. And that, you know, the under budgeting, the chronic under budgeting, um, has kind of led us in terms of the financial planning aspect of this, led us to underestimate what we actually need. Um, and so we really should be thinking, um, strategically and proactively about how do we, you know, I appreciate the budget that the school committee put down, which was, you know, sh trying to this for f y 24, trying to show the full costs. I still have concerns that that's gonna not end up being enough based on what we are seeing at the end of this fiscal year. Um, but, um, you know, we we're sort of, we, we have a lot of catching up to do, I guess. Um, so, you know, thanks for your work on that, Mr. Kelly. And, um, looking forward to, um, working with the new leadership, um, new superintendent in the schools and, and hopefully we can get some clarity on this and, you know, have some regular updates moving forward so that some of the things that have happened while, um, improvement over the last fiscal year, like, I think, uh, just would help everyone to feel a little bit more, um, informed about what might be coming at us, given that there are so many other pressures on our budget, the city budget moving forward. Um, so thank you for being here tonight. And, um, if there are no other questions, uh, councilor Williams,

▶ 40:02 Ryan Williams: I just wanted to make a motion to recommend

▶ 40:05 Leila Migliorelli: Second motion recommend made by Councilor Williams, seconded by Vice Chair Jamine. Anyone on discussion?

▶ 40:14 Speaker 5: Councilor Caram Shady.

▶ 40:21 Manjula Karamcheti: Sorry, I had to find that unmute button. I forgot how to do this a little bit virtually cuz we've been in person. Um, it's, this is just something that's been on my mind and it may be an unpopular comment, but I feel like I have to make it anyway. Um, yes to funding, funding, funding education in Melrose Public Schools, but also we have to critically look at how we're spending in our school budget and make sure that we are eliminating the things that aren't serving us anymore as well. And I feel like that conversation City Council hasn't been a part of and we haven't pushed for, um, as much, but I feel like that is a piece of it too. It isn't always just funding more and more and more. It's also about an evaluation of what is working and what isn't working in terms of staff programs and services and making hard decisions about that too. So I just wanna name that cuz it's a part of being fiscally responsible and funding our schools in a planned and purposeful way.

▶ 41:41 Speaker 5: Councilor Stewart?

▶ 41:45 Robb Stewart: Thank you Madam Chair. I just through the chair, I just want to, um, thank Councilor Carcetti for making this point. I think it is extremely relevant, um, because I think, you know, the incineration that she's providing is that we, we are the ones that have to say yes to the money that they overspent and, or, and maybe that's a, a cross way to put it. I shouldn't say it that way. Um, it, it is more that we don't have any insight into what we're supporting for the schools prior to it already being done. And so that we only have the rear view of being able to, you know, say either yes, we'll we'll pay for it cuz it's already been paid spent or no. And put them in a d difficult position, which we don't want to do. So I think that, uh, her point is, um, very cogent to this discussion and I appreciate, uh, I heard from it. Thank you Madam Chair.

▶ 42:57 Speaker 5: Thank you Councilor Stewart. Um, there's a motion on the table to recommend,

▶ 43:03 Leila Migliorelli: um, all discussion has ended. I believe so. Mr. Clerk, will you please call the role?

▶ 43:11 Speaker 3: Certainly. Uh, vice Chair Jamal? Yes. Councilor Eccles? Yes. Councilor Stewart?

▶ 43:19 Speaker 4: Yes.

▶ 43:23 Speaker 3: Councilor Chetty? Yes. Councilor Abramsky? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Greg?

▶ 43:32 Speaker 3: Yes. And Chair Elli?

▶ 43:35 Speaker 5: Yes.

▶ 43:35 Speaker 3: That's unanimous. Eight. Yes.

▶ 43:38 Leila Migliorelli: Thank you. Thank you. All. This order will be brought to the next full council meeting with a recommendation for passage. Um, now I will entertain a motion to adjourn.