City Council — 2023-07-13
Attendance
Christopher Cinella ; Jack Eccles ; Mark Garipay ; Jen Grigoraitis ; Maya Jamaleddine ; Manjula Karamcheti ; Shawn M. MacMaster ; Leila Migliorelli ; John Obremski ; Robb Stewart ; Ryan Williams
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Reading of the Minutes
- Public Comment
- New Business
- Unfinished Business
- APPRO-2023-49 : An Appropriation from Mt. Hood Retained Earnings, account 620000-319000, in the amount of $45,000 (Forty Five Thousand Dollars) to Mt. Hood Professional Services, account 620000-529000 to fulfill contract obligations.
- APPRO-2023-50 : An Appropriation from the Peg Access Cable Fund (#2922) in the amount of $209,993.21 to MMTV and Melrose Public Schools.
- 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.
- Reports from Committees
- Rule 53 Reports
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE CITY COUNCIL BULLETIN● JULY 13, 2023 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Special Meeting 8:06 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Christopher Cinella At-Large Absent Jack Eccles At-Large Present Mark Garipay Ward 4 Present Maya Jamaleddine At-Large Present Manjula Karamcheti Ward 1 Present Shawn M. MacMaster Ward 5 Present Leila Migliorelli At-Large Present John Obremski Ward 2 Remote Robb Stewart Ward 3 Present Ryan Williams Ward 7 Present Jen Grigoraitis Ward 6 Present
APPRO-2023-49 Appropriation An Appropriation from Mt. Hood Retained Earnings, account 620000-319000, in the amount of $45,000 (Forty Five Thousand Dollars) to Mt. Hood Professional Services, account 620000- 529000 to fulfill contract obligations. Passed as Amended
APPRO-2023-50 Appropriation An Appropriation from the Peg Access Cable Fund (#2922) in the amount of $209,993.21 to MMTV and Melrose Public Schools. Passed
APPRO-2023-51 Appropriation An Appropriation in the amount of $400,000 from the Sped Stabilization Fund (#8408) to the school department budget (#0111) for Fiscal Year 2023. Passed City of Melrose Page 1 7/17/2023 7:29 PM
Transcript
▶ 58:29 Okay. We adjourned. I see, I know the opposite with me. This camera? Yeah. Can you message him? Yeah. Okay. Good evening. The time is 8:06 PM on Thursday, July 13th, 2023. And this special meeting of the Melrose City Council is now is called to order. I am President Grigoraitis. Pursuant to current allowances under the open meeting, law enacted under chapter two of the Acts of 2023, signed into law by Governor Healy on March 29th, 2023, city Councilor Abramsky is participating in this meeting tonight remotely via the city's Zoom platform. Therefore, all votes must be taken by roll call Mr. Clerk. Oh. And this meeting in accordance with the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. This meeting is recorded by Melrose Cable Access,
▶ 1:00:38 Jen Grigoraitis: and will be available for viewing in its entirety on MMT V and through the city of Website Link. Mr. Clerk, can you please call the role Councilor Sin Councilor Eccles? Here. Councilor Repe? Here. Councilor. Councilor Jamal? Here. Councilor Carcetti? Here. Councilor McMaster. Here. We're good. Councilor mc? Here. Councilor Abramsky? Here. Councilor Stewart? Here. Councillor Williams. Here. President Gregs Here. We have 10 present. 10 present. So please note that's a quorum for the record, and we will proceed. Um, the first item on our agenda is the reading of the Minutes from the June 26th, 2023 City Council meeting. Um, and at this time, I would entertain a motion to accept these minutes without reading.
▶ 1:01:35 And this needs to be a roll call. Vote. So moved. Motion to accept these without reading. No. Second. So we have a motion to accept the minutes made by Councilor Stewart. Seconded by Councilor Williams. Mr. Clerk Councilor Eccles? Yes. Councillor Repe. Yes. Councillor Jamine. Yes. Councilor Chetty. Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Mclure. Yes. Yes. Councilor Mclure. Yes. Councilor Abramsky. That's you. Well played. Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Grees? Yes. That is, uh, 10. Yes. 10 Yes. So those minutes have been accepted. At this time I'll entertain a motion to open the floor for public comment. Madam Chair, I'll make a motion. Madam President, I'll make a motion to open the floor for public comment. Second.
▶ 1:02:31 Jen Grigoraitis: So we have a motion to open the floor for public comment made by Councillor Stewart. Seconded by Councilor Elli. Mr. Clerk, can you please call the roll? Councilor Eccles? Yes. Councilor Garbe? Yes. Councilor Jamal? Yes. Councilor Chetty? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Elli. Yes. Councilor B Bruski? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Greg? Yes. That's 10. Yes. 10 Yes. So, public comment is now open. Do we have anyone wishing to participate here in person? Don't see anyone. Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone online? We do have a few participants. Uh, if you're here for public comment online, please raise your digital hand. This time, I don't, uh, see anyone with their digital hands raised. Okay.
▶ 1:03:20 I'll Madam Chair, I'll make a motion. Madam President, I'll make a motion. Close public. Public comment. Second. So we have a motion to close the floor for public comment made by Councilor Stewart. Seconded by Councilor Elli. One more time with the roll call Vote, please. Uh, councilor Eccles? Yes. Councilor Gpe? Yes. Councilor Jamal. Dean? Yes. Councillor Chetty? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor McGuire? Yes. Councilor Bruski. Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Greg? Yes. That is 10, yes. 10 Yes. So, public comment is now closed. We have three items of unfinished business before us tonight. Appropriation 2023 dash 49 Appropriation from Mount Hood retained
▶ 1:04:07 Leila Migliorelli: earnings account 62 0 31 900 in the amount of 45,000 to Mount Hood Professional Services account 6200 0 0 dash 5 2 9 0 0 0 to fulfill contract obligations. Councilor Melli, Madam President, this order came from Appropriations and oversight with a recommendation for passage. Subsequently, the council received request to amend the account number on appropriation 2023 dash 49 to the following, 84 1 7 dash 5 9 0. Um, so, uh, I'm motioning to amend this order to reflect the new account number So we have a motion. So we have a motion to amend to the new account numbers made by Councillor Elli, seconded by Councillor Eccles. Anyone on discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Clark. Councilor Eccles? Yes. Councilor Repe? Yes.
▶ 1:05:14 Councilor Jamine. Yes. Councillor Chetty? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Elli. Yes. Councilor Abramsky. Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Grees? Yes. That's 10, yes. 10 Yes. So, the motion to amend carries Councillor Elli. Um, I'd like to make a motion to recommend for passage. Say again. So we have a motion to recommend for passage as amended made by Councilor Elli seconded by Councilor Eccles. Any discussion? Seeing none. Mr. Clerk Councillor ecs? Yes. Councilor Gepe? Yes. Councillor Jamine? Yes. Councilor Carcetti? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Mclure. Yes. Councilor Abramsky. Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. President Greg? Yes.
▶ 1:06:09 That's 10, yes. 10 Yes. So that motion carries Appropriation 2023 dash 50 appropriation from the Peg Access cable fund number nine, uh, 29 22 in the amount of 209,993 and 21 cents to M MTV and the Melrose Public Schools. Councillor Melli, Madam President. This comes from the Appropriations and Oversight Committee with a recommendation for passage. And at this time, I recommend Motion for Passage. Second, we have a motion for passage made by Councilor Mcli Orelli, seconded by Councilor Eccles. Anyone on discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Clerk Councillor Eccles? Yes. Councilor Gpe? Yes. Councilor Jamine? Yes. Councilor Chetty? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Elli. Yes. Councilor Bruski. Yes.
▶ 1:07:01 Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Es? Yes. That's 10, Yes. 10 Yes. So that motion carries Appropriation 20 20 20 23 dash 51 appropriation for in the amount of 400,000 from the SPEDs stabilization fund. Number 84 0 8 to the school department budget number 0 1 1 for fiscal year 2023. Councillor Melli, Madam President, this comes from Appropriations and Oversight Committee with a recommendation for passage. And at this time, a motion for passage. Second. So we have a motion for passage made by Councillor Melli, seconded by Councilor Eccles on discussion Councillor McMaster. Thank You, Madam Chair. As the, um, the council knows, there was an email that I had sent, uh, to Mr. Kelly, um,
▶ 1:07:49 Shawn M. MacMaster: requesting some information which included, uh, the ledger of the circuit breaker, uh, count. There are some, uh, additional questions that I submitted to Mr. Kelly that I think the counsel and the public may benefit from hearing. Uh, so if, um, the, the moving party in the second would be willing to withdraw, uh, their motion, uh, I'd like an opportunity to ask those questions of Mr. Kelly. He already, he's already answered them. The council is just not privy to them. Uh, the reason that the council was not on the response to the answers is because I didn't want it to appear as a deliberation with questions going back and forth between myself and Mr. Kelly and members of the, the city council.
▶ 1:08:32 Jen Grigoraitis: Les One second. I'll withdraw my, okay. So we have had a withdrawal of the motion. So I believe at this time we are looking for a motion to suspend the rules so we can hear from members of the administration. Madam President, I'll make a motion to suspend the rules. Second. Second. So we have a motion to suspend the rules made by Councilor Stewart. Seconded by Councilor McMaster. Mr. Clerk, can you please call the role Councilor Eccles? Yes. Councilor gpe? Yes. Councilor Jamine? Yes. Councilor Chetty? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Elli? Yes. Councilor Bruski? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Es? Yes. That's 10, yes. 10, yes. So the rules are suspended, and I believe we have Mr.
▶ 1:09:13 Shawn M. MacMaster: Kelly from the school department and Ms. Driscoll, the school committee chair here with us tonight. Thank you both for being here. Thank you for having me. Uh, councilor McMaster, did you have questions? Yes. Thank you. Uh, uh, Madam President. Uh, and again, just for the record, these are questions that I previously submitted, uh, to Mr. Kelly, uh, that he did respond to, uh, in writing. Uh, again, I just thank for the council's benefit, uh, and for the public's benefit. Um, it, um, would be helpful to have Mr. Kelly just answer these, uh, publicly, uh, this evening. Uh, so thank you Mr. Kelly. Uh, thank you, uh, chair diff for being here. Um, Mr. Kelly, when you appeared before us the last two times,
▶ 1:09:54 Shawn M. MacMaster: I had asked you about the balance of the, uh, special ed circuit breaker account, the reimbursement, uh, money that we get from, uh, the state. What is the balance of the circuit breaker account today? July 30th, um, I'm sorry, July 13th? Sure. Yes. It's about two point a little over $2.1 million. And, uh, would two point, would $2,114,495 and 63 cents sound accurate? Yes, that's correct. Thank you. Will any of that money, um, the current balance decrease, uh, over the next two days as you're looking to close out fiscal year? Not over the next two days. We do use the circuit breaker as an offset to our budget. Typically, that is an annual, uh, offset, uh, that's voted as part of our budget,
▶ 1:10:41 Shawn M. MacMaster: and that would leave a surplus that we could use to potentially help close the, the FY 23 school year. And how much circuit breaker money did we receive for FY 23? FY 23 with the, the two 2,114,000. So the, the total, and can you talk about the, the process, um, of receiving those reimbursements? How does that work? Sure. So we apply for those funds every year. The state, um, reviews that and then allocates, uh, uh, reimbursement to, to the, the city and to the school system. And so we received a, for the most part, equal distributions quarterly. I believe the last distribution was $2 more than, than the prior three. So the, the quarterly reimbursements add up to the current balance of Thats correct. Breaker account.
▶ 1:11:31 Shawn M. MacMaster: So is it not the practice of the school committee to, to pay special ed bills that come in over the course of the year? During the course of the year? So as part of the budgeting process, the school committee votes a budget number, and part of that is offsets like, um, fees for, um, athletic fees, um, rentals, facility fees. And so the, um, circuit breaker reimbursement part of that, that is, is voted as part of the op, the, uh, not the operating, but part of the overall school budget as an offset? Correct. Is are there So tan we do not draw funds down and use those funds over the course of the school year. Okay. Is there, um, a, a line item within the school, uh, department's budget that includes money that is
▶ 1:12:21 Shawn M. MacMaster: allocated through, through the city, but that's focused specifically on special education? There are different line items throughout the budget that are special education related and, and funded that way. So the circuit breakers is simply an offset? Correct. There are, there's, there's a way through the budget right now where certain costs for special education, um, are utilized. Correct. And that's revenue. That's considered revenue. And that's one of the issues we ran into last year was some of our, um, offset projections did like the, the, the ECC Early Childhood Center, um, ran a deficit rather than, um, generating revenue. So that contributed to last year's deficit. And, and generally speaking, this wasn't a, a question I asked you,
▶ 1:13:01 Shawn M. MacMaster: but more of a follow up question is what does that, that revenue look like in terms of what is being used for special education above and beyond circuit breaker or, um, money that may come out of the special education, uh, stabilization fund? So right now, our, our offset is about 1.7 million for, for the circuit breaker use, which would leave about 400,000 for, um, either to, you know, if the, the budget were to close at zero, that would be money that could roll over to FY 24 for special education, um, uh, expenses. Okay. Um, there were two figures in the ledgers that you had sent that were for 528,000 plus. Uh, just so I understand it, those are the, the quarterly, correct. Those are the quarterly distributions from the state. Okay.
▶ 1:13:56 Shawn M. MacMaster: So that, so we went from the 1.1 0.6 million, $1,585,870 and 63 cents in that initial ledger to the current balance of the ledger because of the quarter for reimbursement. Sure. I think the day after you had requested the balance, we received our quarter four. So I just wanted you to have the, the actual balance as of what it was, I believe on Monday. Okay. And what is the soy balance or soi? Sure. That's the, the start of the year balance. That's what, that's any remaining funds from the prior year. Okay. And I, I think in one of your responses, Mr. Kelly, you mentioned the, the closeout on July 18th. I, unless I misunderstood, I thought the closeout was July 15th That we had to have. So that's, we, we hope to, you know, have our books closed.
▶ 1:14:42 Shawn M. MacMaster: We are very short staffed, so we will probably not be quite closed up on as of tomorrow. Um, we do have our partner from our, our consultant from C that will be working with us on Tuesday to start the closeout process, but we are still closing purchase orders as, as you know, from FY 23, um, to make sure that the bills are paid. And we, we are getting some, you know, some June invoices coming in. So, so we are still trying to, to process the end of the year. And, and what does the billing process look like? There are, there are, um, services that are provided by entities. Other, other schools, correct. Other partners, transportation. Correct. They wait till the end of the school year to receive reimbursement.
▶ 1:15:22 Shawn M. MacMaster: Um, some do. We took, we, we also, you know, we have services that we provide in June that we would get invoices from, from vendors and things that, that, you know, from June that would, uh, come in over the, over the, the past several, few weeks. But there have been invoices that have been paid using the other revenue that, that you described. We pay invoices throughout the year. So for Special, but for spec special Ed? Correct. Yes. So the, the remaining, the remaining invoices for special ed that hadn't been paid, that would be used with the offset, the 2.5 million and the 400,000 that, uh, is being requested from the council and special ed stabilization fund. So we have to pay the bills that for special education,
▶ 1:16:06 for tuitions transportation, we're obligated to pay those bills. Those are costs that, that we are obligated to pay. And that's part of the overrun about 600,000 is part of the overrun for FY 23. So respectfully requesting the 400,000 will help us pay those, those, um, the gap from those costs. And we do have a little bit of a surplus from the circuit breaker that we can, you know, reclass and, and help fill that gap as well. So, um, I think that asking the council's help respectfully to help close out FY 23 with the, the appropriation from stabilization. I understood. I'm just having a difficult time understanding what the outstanding cost is, what the invoices are that exist with a balance one day before the
▶ 1:16:53 Shawn M. MacMaster: closeout of the fiscal year of o of over $2.5 million, and then a request for an additional $400,000. That just seems like an awful amount of money. And it must be a num, I mean, I can't imagine how many invoices are, are before You. So I guess What Is, I guess I wouldn't categorize it as like a stack of invoices waiting to be paid. It's more like those costs have incurred over the course of the school year and have accumulated. Um, and so like I said before, the 1.7 of that 2.1 circuit breaker is, is already, um, allocated as an earmark. So that's, that's not available to pay. Um, that's part of our budget already. That's not available to pay. Um, you know, the, any of the, um, the overrun the gap.
▶ 1:17:39 Mark Garipay: Thank you. I'll allow, um, if any of my colleagues, if any questions. Sure. Thank you. Thank you, Madame President. Thank you. Councilor Repe. Thank you. Um, thank you for being here. I apologize, um, for not being here at the, at the last meeting I had a, a work commitment, but, um, I appreciate you sending the information that we had requested. Um, counselor McMaster had asked a couple, um, couple of my questions. I'm trying to, I know it's different than the, than the private sector, right? But yes, it is. Here we are, we're, we're three days before the close and we still, we're still have 2.4 million in an account. And it's one point we, we, we still don't know where we are. I, I struggle, I struggle with that,
▶ 1:18:28 Mark Garipay: not having more of a finite information. We're talking about a $400,000 swing, really an $800,000 swing. If you're at 1.7, the 400 and then the other 400 that you want from stabilization, that's a large number to be off. That's, that's, So, yeah, I guess I would say it's off 20% not, um, 10, 10% of the budget, or, I think that what you said is accurate in that we've have about, you know, if, um, the, uh, request for stabilization at 400,000, and then we will probably have about 400,000 from circuit breaker that, you know, at the end of the year we do reclass things. We have, um, some grants that we use as reclass, and we, um, anticipate needing to use some of that, that circuit breaker surplus as a reclass as well. Um,
▶ 1:19:11 and so whether we have remaining funds from the requests from stabilization, or we have it from Circuit Breaker, those are, those are funds that we could use for FY 24. And we know that f y 24 is already a challenge. Um, the superintendent, um, Sarah wanted to be here tonight. He's away, he's not able to be here tonight. Um, he wanted me to convey, he appreciates you, you know, um, considering our requests and that, um, our budget's already frozen. We wanna do our part to try to, you know, um, uh, conserve resources as much as we can. So we're trying to do our part there. Um, but whether there's a little bit left from the stabilization request or from circuit breaker, that's, that can go towards helping f y 24 special ed costs.
▶ 1:19:55 Mark Garipay: Totally understand that. Where I sit here and, you know, we have to make decisions for the whole city, that's $400,000. You're right. That we may not have needed for free cash that could have been used in another department. That's where, that's where I struggle with all this. I know. It's, it's the schools and we all know that it, we need to, it needs to be funded. We, I keep on hearing it in the school committee meetings. I understand that. I'm just trying to figure out what the numbers are and it, I I, I always feel like that the numbers shift and move so quickly and they're large gaps. Um, will we go over the 2.4 million? The 2.4 I guess is just tell me which number you're referencing there.
▶ 1:20:39 Mark Garipay: The special ed. Uh, so you, is there a chance when we reconcile the books that you're gonna, that we're gonna need more money other than the 2.4 like we were in last year, 2.4 in the, uh, circuit breakup plus the special ed. Is that enough to cover your close of FY 23? I would say, so I guess 2.1 is what we have in circuit breaker. So I'm not, I, Sorry, sorry, 2.1, I apologize. No, No, it's fine. I, I anticipate, yes, we would be with the special ed stabilization requests, um, and what we have available to Reclass, and it's not a lot, you know, that will leave us with minimal amount to, to put towards FY 24. And that's what we really, that's our goal, is to be able to build that up a little bit so that we can prepay some things
▶ 1:21:16 Mark Garipay: like tuitions in the next fiscal year, which is pretty much what you're allowed to do with any remaining circuit breaker funds other than carry it over. Um, but yes, that we anticipate we would be able to close with, with respectfully the consideration for the, the stabilization Request. So is it safe to say if you're, if you have an additional 400,000 in circuit breaker, then we, the, in theory, the deficit going into next year will be, instead of roughly 4 million, we're looking at 3.6 or we are, we're not gonna use that 400,000 to go and add new positions or anything like that? No. Correct. No, We're staying within the budget. No. The circuit breaker, whether it's from stabilization or the circuit breaker,
▶ 1:21:53 Mark Garipay: any surplus would go towards a special education cost predominantly to tuitions. That's usually what we look at to, to, if we, you know, if we're allowed to, um, prepay anything, it would be tuitions. Um, I have a question on transportation. Um, you see, you had sent out a copy of the cost by month. Why is it such a, if, if the special ed transportation is pretty consistent, other than you said, you know, we could get, uh, you know, an unexpected two or three extra students, and I could understand a, a, um, an increase month over month, but when I look at, you know, we went from 71,000 to 2 75 to 10 to 3 0 6, why isn't that consistent? Are they not sending the invoices out or shouldn't we be budgeting that monthly?
▶ 1:22:43 I, I'm just trying to figure out the fluctuation on that. You're Correct on both. So it's could be that, you know, depending when we receive invoices from the vendors, um, it could be last minute changes too. Like if we just had one the other day where, um, you know, it's looking like we had two students on, on one van that we'll have to separate, which doubles the cost when we can't have, you know, efficiencies of, of two students riding in the same van. Um, but if that's the student needs, that's the student needs we're, you know, we're, we're, um, we're obligated to, to get the student to school. I just, um, struggle with the, um, where if it's consistent, this, I mean, some of the months come down, you know, 200, $175,000. Um,
▶ 1:23:22 Mark Garipay: and we've talked, I've, I've looked at a bunch of meetings and we know that transportation is a major expense and there is a plan. And I keep on hearing that we're looking to bring that in-house, Not the entire operation, that's No, No, but drivers looking hide. We are trying, I went on the website, I didn't see one, one posting for any drivers. So we're currently looking at our roots right now. We have, um, we have a, um, about five drivers right now. We have seven vans. So it would be bringing on one driver right now. Um, and we'd like to keep one vehicle and reserve to cover if there's a, a breakdown. Um, but that also would need to be, we would need that driver to take on route. So we are actively looking right now at what route we may be able to cover if we
▶ 1:24:06 Mark Garipay: do bring a driver in house. And when do you think that'll be completed? Um, typically mid-August is when route start to get set. Right now, the, you know, um, our transportation coordinator is hard at work with the summer and the summer programming, and he'll start to shift his focus to, um, the, the school year probably in, in a couple weeks At the end of, uh, when you closed the year, can you, can you re uh, respond back to us with what the, uh, balance was left in the circuit breaker account? Yes. Yes. And, um, but you don't think, you think it's gonna be, at least 1.7 will be spent outta that? It's not. So the answer to your question is yes, that's the offset amount. So that, that's not anything that, you know, I would change or would,
▶ 1:24:53 Mark Garipay: would have the ability to change. That's what's, you know, uh, been voted as part of the budget. So that's, that number is locked in. That was voted in f y 23? Correct. Okay. Um, why just, I, I think for, for me as a city council, when I look at the budget is, um, I, when you were before us regarding the salaries, we back, it was about, I think it was during the budget, we still had 5 million left. We'd only spent like 72% of the salaries. And, and, and I watched it, um, on one of the previous meetings. It's, we have a big June month to help us. Why, why wouldn't we encumber that? So we at least know that that money's spent. So when we look at it, we are thinking that, oh, they're not spending all the money. I, I mean,
▶ 1:25:42 Mark Garipay: that would be something to help us going forward, is ex encumbering some of these expenses. Same with the special ed. We, we knew that this 1.7 was gonna be spent. If we encumbered that, maybe we wouldn't be asking some of these questions. Nope, That's a great point. And thank you for that. And we do plan to encumber salaries, um, last year for a couple different reasons. We were not able to do that. We did it on in spreadsheet based. Um, but the, the, uh, we will use the immune system this year to do just that. Um, and we didn't have a real big salary overrun last year, just so you know, that that wasn't one of our major overruns. Um, that's it. I look forward to working with, uh, with you and the new superintendent. Hopefully we have a lot of struggles, uh,
▶ 1:26:27 Robb Stewart: a lot of struggles next year and, and, um, Yeah, I would agree. And I appreciate that. I look forward to working with you as well. Thank you. Councilor Stewart. Thank you Madam President. Appreciate all. Um, so I'm just trying to put the numbers together and I'm not quite getting it yet. So I got my little spreadsheet open. Um, so you, you say that, okay, there's 2.1 in the super in the circuit breaker, but 1.7 of that is allocated, which means that's 400 available. Correct. All right. And then transportation was 2 million. So what that allocation of 1.7, what is, what is that being allocated to? Sure. That's a, it's a budget offset. It's just comes in as a revenue. Um, for, um, you know, there's a about nine different, uh,
▶ 1:27:22 offset accounts that we use each year. They're voted ahead of time and they're part of our budget. So it, it's not like it's extra. It seems like it's extra money coming in. It's not, it's actually part of, of the budgeted, um, uh, money we use for the fiscal year. Yeah. Okay. So then there's 400 left over, but you need an additional 400. So you're saying that we are 2.8 short, it's 2.8 total that you need? No, we would, we're asking for the 400,000 for Right. We're between 950 and a million dollar gap to close FY 23, about 600,000. A little over that, a little over 600, uh, is special education related costs. Um, we have, uh, some other overruns, like athletic transportation went over. There are some other things that make up the, um,
▶ 1:28:14 Robb Stewart: difference to about nine 50 to a million. Yeah. Okay. Um, I feel like we have to picture it, you know, I mean, sort of seeing it on a spreadsheet where you can show what we expected and what the overage was, and that way the numbers make sense. It's hard to, it's hard to make a decision when you're saying imagine this. Right? Uh, so that's feedback. I hope it's taken seriously, uh, because it's hard to, um, understand this, uh, I think to the level that we can make an informed decision, um, what happens if this doesn't pass? Where does the money come from? If, if, if this request doesn't pass, if this request doesn't pass, we would not have the funds to close FY 23. And I, I don't, we, the,
▶ 1:29:04 the school system does not have the revenue to cover the whole entire gap. Okay. So pretty much, and, and then what happens? I know that when, um, I was here with CFO De La Russo, he was saying that the year just can't close in a deficit. That's not something that I think it, um, we would wanna allow. Um, so I, I I don't, I don't have an answer for you. I'm sorry. I, I just know it's something that we wanna avoid. Okay. Okay. No more questions. Thank you Madam. P Any other counselors with questions? Councilor Garrett? Yeah, just, um, so I, I'm, as I sit here right now, I'm not sure how I'm gonna vote on this. Um, I understand that it's, it's needed. I just struggle with, with the numbers and the difference in information. Um,
▶ 1:30:06 Mark Garipay: yeah. I don't, um, I just hope next year as we plan, we can get more updates, especially if the, if the school committee's gonna be coming in front of us for free cash, which affects the whole community, it affects all the other departments. And, um, you know, we have a major issue. We all know that. And I don't think it's gonna be settled by FY 25. So I would appreciate it. Maybe quarterly, if, if the, you know, the new superintendent can at least give us an update, especially if you're gonna be coming before us with, um, with requests, especially large requests like we've had. So, um, that's just some more feedback. I would like to see that. I know we have separations, but there's still, there's still last minute here.
▶ 1:30:57 Margaret Raymond Driscoll: We're trying to close the close the year and we're, we're backed into a corner again. And it gets perfectly honest. It gets old. So, um, that's it. Thank you. Thank you, counsel. The feedback is helpful to us. Thank you. What's That? Yes. And if I could add that, uh, thank you. Uh, councilor Gar pay, it is the full intention of the committee, the superintendent, to be as transparent and detailed as possible, um, so that everybody has a clear understanding of what is happening. And so we can be honest with our citizens. Councilor Elli, thank you, um, for being here. And if you can just indulge my, what maybe is like the fourth math question you're gonna be asked in a row. Um, so 2.1 million in the circuit breaker,
▶ 1:31:42 Leila Migliorelli: 1.7 has been allocated, or you were relying on that to pay bills. That was just, that's how the revenue comes in. You'll pay off that 1.7. So 400 s remaining, you're asking for another 400 from the special education stabilization fund. Correct. Because you're anticipating, so that's 400 plus 400, 800,000. Yep. You're anticipating you will use that 800,000 to close the gap. Cause I keep hearing some different numbers here and I'm just Wondering if that's No, you're correct. So if we had to reclass some of that circuit breaker surplus, we could do that to pay further special education costs. And that would allow us to help close the gap in other departments. Yes. Okay. Cuz Circuit Breaker does not have to be used for special
▶ 1:32:25 Leila Migliorelli: Education. It does have to be used for special. It does. It does. Okay. So, but other departments, you're meaning like, say re-say that again. Sure. So we, we can reclass things like, um, uh, funds that we know we're going to bring in at the end to help us close the books. We can reclass those to, um, to, to other areas to help Okay. Close the gap. Okay. And I, I think, I mean, I've already spoken in two separate meetings about the challenges of the, the budget and what, what needs to be done. I guess with this request, this council had voted to put this money into, into special ed St. Stabilization. We are now voting to take it out to pay special ed special education costs. That Is correct. That's
▶ 1:33:11 Leila Migliorelli: The request. It's not, is Correct. We're not debating free cash going from one City department to another. Nope. This is literally the purpose of the funds. Correct. How we got here, how we will move forward. Very, very, like, worthwhile conversation. Um, and I look forward to the new superintendent coming in front of us and hearing more about plans. And you've mentioned some tonight about, you know, giving feedback for other council's recommendations and taking that into consideration. So I think that's great. Um, I, I think, we'll probably, as I think I said last time, maybe need more sort of regular updates check-ins. So we feel like we're, you know, involved in monitoring the process, um,
▶ 1:33:50 Jen Grigoraitis: and feeling like we're getting our questions answered throughout the year. Um, but just for this request, I'm, you know, gonna be supportive of it because it is 400,000 from a special education stabilization fund to fund special education costs. That Is correct. Thank you. That we have To do Thank you. And the feedback from the council is helpful to us. Thank you. Is there anyone else wishing to speak who hasn't spoken? I, I have Councilor Gupa in queue. I just also wanna be mindful that we have to, um, recess out of this meeting in five minutes in order to be in compliance with open meeting law for appropriations and oversight. So there's, is there anyone else wishing to speak? Councilor Gupa?
▶ 1:34:27 Mark Garipay: Just one. Uh, can you just clarify, you were talking about reclassification. I, I didn't understand that. We have the circuit breaker that is 2.1 million. That's for special ed expenses. Mm-hmm. You, we have the stabilization, special ed stabilization that's going to special ed expenses. Correct. What did you mean by reclassification money? I didn't, I'm trying to, So we would, we could reclass, um, if there was surplus of the circuit breaker, we could reclass more of, of that sur and again, that's above the 1.7 that we've already allocated as part of the budget. 100,000. Right. So we could, we could re some of the circuit breaker to special education costs that we've incurred this year already.
▶ 1:35:10 Okay. And if you reclassify it, or you wouldn't reclassify it unless you need it, I'm saying could you reclassify it for next year? If it rolled over for next year, would you reclassify it next year? You can, yes. You can allocate if it's, if there's remaining circuit breaker funds, you can, you can apply them to the following year. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion because we don't have, we withdrew the motions. We're withdrawn. Um, motion to For passage second. So we have a motion for passage made by Councillor Elli, seconded by Councillor Williams. Is there any discussion? Councillor Carm Shady? Um, I just wanna say, I think my 25 years as a pub public educator are sort of a blessing and a curse
▶ 1:35:59 Manjula Karamcheti: in the discussions that we're having. Ric regard regarding the school budget and the order in front of us. Um, I will just say again, and I feel like a broker record the elephant in the room that we really aren't addressing and perhaps isn't in our wheelhouse right now, but needs to be named again. We need to critically evaluate our special education leadership program services, listen to our CPAC families and our students, um, who are involved in special education or in needing services. Um, or this will keep happening, um, in terms of the financial situation that is before us right now. Um, and that means supervision and evaluation, hard conversations, hard decisions, as well as innovation. Um,
▶ 1:36:46 Manjula Karamcheti: I am gonna be supporting this order because it's really the only opportunity and option we have at the moment, but it, to me, it really needs to come with some important conversations on how we move forward. Cuz we can't keep doing what we're doing. Thank you. And if I may, speaking on behalf of the committee, um, our interim superintendent is working very hard and very closely in his first two days that he's been able to be with us, um, on doing just that. The committee is very watchful and very interested to have, uh, consistent and, uh, clear understanding of that work, uh, within the boundaries of our own roles. So that, I expect that has started and that it will continue. Mr. Clerk, can you please call the role
▶ 1:37:39 Jen Grigoraitis: Councilor Eccles? Yes. Councilor Gepe. Yes. Councilor Jamine? Yes. Councilor Chetty? Yes. Councilor McMaster? No. Councilor Elli. Yes. Councilor Abramsky. Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Williams? Yes. President Greg? Yes. Uh, nine. Yes. One nay. So, nine. Yes. One nay. That motion carries. And that concludes our council Special Counsel meeting Agenda for tonight. I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Second. So we have a motion to adjourn made by Councilor Williams. Seconded by Councilor Elli for the last time. Mr. Clerk, can you please call the role Councilor Eccles? Yes. Councilor Gepe? Yes. Councilor Jamine? Yes. Councilor Chetty? Yes. Councilor McMaster? Yes. Councilor Elli. Yes.