SC Meeting: January 14, 2025
At the January 14 School Committee Meeting there was a Public Hearing on the Superintendent’s FY26 Budget Request, FY26 Budget Consultation with Town Manager, Needham High School Student Advisory to the School Committee Report, and FY26 Budget Discussion: Information Technology.
Public Comment
- Senior at NHS and his mother discussed inequitable treatment for students of color at Needham Public Schools, in particular, at Needham High School.
- Three parents discussed recent purchase of Lucy Calkins Revised Units of Study Curriculum by Needham Schools while literacy pilot ongoing and given significant critiques of this particular literacy curriculum. One parent expressed concerns about methodology of the ongoing pilot.
Public Hearing on the Superintendent’s FY26 Budget Request
- Superintendent presented revisions to the budget discussed in December 2024
- There was a 7% increase proposed in December. A 4-5% increase is now more realistic; budget must be reduced by $2.5 million
- As of January 14th, only 1.4 million in budget cuts were identified. School Dept still working to identify resources to cut (still at a $1M shortfall), including FTEs and existing programs.
- Current proposal will likely lead to reduction of ~12-15 FTEs. Some will be from attrition/retirement or from not making planned new hires.
- Key drivers of the budget include federal grant shortfall, increase in fine arts, compliance and investments like transportation and new literacy curriculum, and student support resources (including ELL support and mental health support resources). Except for compliance and investment, none of the key drivers can be sustained under current budget plan.
- Enrollment remains generally steady
- Discussed increased mental health concerns and the fact that some schools have counseling caseloads under ASCA recommendations. Plan was to move some schools forward for balanced caseloads for guidance counselors. That will not be the plan for FY26 but this remains an important priority when funding is available.
- Superintendent proposed specific non-personnel service level recommendations and non-personnel program investment recommendations
- Superintendent proposed FTE Recommendations with no additional counseling to meet student needs, reduced support for special education students, no additional nursing or ELL staff, higher class sizes and reduced program offerings, and reduced staff and administrative support
Superintendent’s Comments
- On next Monday morning, several town organizations led by the Needham Diversity Initiative will hold an MLK Jr celebration in NHS auditorium
DISCUSSION ITEMS
FY26 Budget Consultation with Town Manager
Kate Fitzpatrick, Town Manager and David Davison, Assistant Town Manager/Director of Finance were available for the discussion
- Kate Fitzpatrick did a short presentation. The Town hasn’t identified sufficient revenue to cover all budget requests submitted. Town has just under $8M in new revenue and over $15M in requests. Trying to figure out different ways of doing things and what can be delayed to future fiscal years. It has been a long time since the Town had this big of a gap. Final state numbers are not yet available as the Governor’s Budget has not yet been released.
- School Committee then asked questions, including exploring reasons for the shortfall (for example, revenue going down, inflation, increases in health insurance costs and changes to the health insurance market), how other Town Departments are reacting to overall town shortfall, state aid that the Town receives (majority of which is dedicated to education), and timelines and next steps on finalizing the FY26 budget.
Needham High School Student Advisory to the School Committee Report
Max Scott, Chair and Student Representative to the School Committee (2025), Maeve Newman (2026), Jack Arvedon (2027), and Sabrina Rauch (2028) were available for the presentation
- A representative from each grade provided updates on fundraising and class activities and answered questions from School Committee members, including about cell phone policy and cell phone use at the High School, culture post-COVID, and inclusion and belonging.
FY26 Budget Discussion: Information Technology
Mark Messias, Interim Chief Technology Officer and Chris Gosselin, Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation, were available for the presentation
- IT department now covers both school & town needs with companion budget requests through the school & town budgets
- Biggest request in the ITS budget is the purchase of a cybersecurity platform for both town & school use
- Additional School requests include a Learning Management System and DLD/Laptop Replacements for Student and Staff
- School Committee engaged in discussion and asked questions about the different platforms discussed.
- All FY26 budget documents are available on the district’s budget webpage: https://bit.ly/needhambudgetdocs
Continued discussion by Superintendent on reluctance to come to the School Committee on January 21, 2025 for a formal vote before finalization of Governor’s budget, which is planned for January 22, 2025. School Committee discussed delaying the vote and decision was made to delay the vote to most likely January 28, 2025.
The next School Committee Meeting will be January 21, 2025 at 6:30pm.