Meeting Recap: 6/24/24

Hello all. We had a special meeting last night to, among other things, pass the $77.75 million dollar budget presented to us by the district leadership team (spoiler alert: it passed). Read on for details:

1. Coming out of executive session, we ratified agreements with two bargaining units—custodians and administrative assistance. Thanks to everyone who worked on these and congratulations to everyone who can sleep easier knowing these are in place for the next three years. 

2. Superintendent Edouard-Vincent reported on her district-wide, student learning, and professional development goals. Her annual performance review will be conducted over a series of (public) meetings, both subcommittee and committee of the whole, in the months to come. 

3. We had a very long conversation about a potential partnership with City Year Boston to provide educational support teams at the Missituk and McGlynn elementary schools in the upcoming school year. Questions centered around cost, work duties, compensation, sustainability, professional development, and more; excitement was expressed about the program itself, opportunities for expanding after-school care, and learning opportunities. Ultimately, we voted to move this forward so that program participants could begin making connections within the community, but requested a more detailed plan from district administrators. 

4. Assistant Superintendent Cushing requested (and received) committee approval to enter into five-year contracts for a new telephone system at the high school and a new time reporting system.

5. We took paper 2024-30 (concerning the consolidation of school district administrative functions with those of the city) out of order. This was approved, as was a motion that a detailed plan come before the school committee before any services are consolidated. The understanding was that consolidation would apply to maintenance functions only.

6. Reverting to the regular order of business, we approved the budget following some commentary by the committee, a few comments/questions from parents, and two additional motions—that the district report to school committee this fall on the impact of position reductions, and that the vice chair work with the joint financial task force to identify additional funding for the upcoming school year to achieve certain goals, including the reduction of class sizes, increase in substitute pay, and more financial flexibility for upcoming collective bargaining. [I forgot to copy the full list/exact language out of the chat but I’ll try to update this post when I get those minutes.]

7. We approved policy DCA describing the process for capital improvement planning (and requests to various funding bodies). This was developed in subcommittee earlier this year and we voted to waive the second reading, so it is officially ready for the new fiscal year and MSBA application.

With the vote to adjourn, I think that about covers it. I hope everyone’s summer is off to a good start!