State Aid: First the good news–the final state numbers have come out and the Chapter 70 funds include an increase over last year to $104 per student (in prior years we received $30 per student). However in the “not so good news” category, this increase was already included as part of the FY25 budget. The first image in this post is a screenshot of the final Cherry Sheets. The 3rd column shows the numbers used when creating the FY25 budget and the 5th column shows the final numbers approved by the Governor on 7/31. While there wasn’t an increase in the Chapter 70 funds, there were a couple of other line items that saw an increase which resulted in an overall increase in state aid of $115K that has not yet been allocated. That is money that could possibly be allocated at the Fall Town Meeting.

Cuts in the school budget: The Superintendent shared at the School Committee meeting on 7/29 that of the 29 positions that were eliminated in the spring, there were 2 paraprofessional positions recalled. That leaves a total of 27 positions cut–the full list of those cuts can be found in the second image below. Dr. O’Neil also stated that due to several resignations and retirements (and then back filling those positions with people lower on the salary scale), we are looking at a savings of $176,862. However, she added that she would be “extremely hesitant to bring back anyone” using that money, in part because she believes “we’re going to have this exact same budget situation next year and so we’re bringing somebody back just to lay them off” (to hear more about those reasons, take a look at the meeting video starting at 23:16) I also think it is also important to point out that the school budget currently includes using $1.9 million in school choice funds which is more than what we are bringing in this year. Given that we are using surplus school choice money, it is important to remember that this is money we will not have next year to supplement the budget.