Town Boards Begin Discussion of Budget

William_Band-5

https://www.winchester.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_03252025-6200
Fincom Meeting Tuesday, March 25, 2024 7:30-9:30 pm.
In-person- Waterfield Room
FY26 Budget Discussion
Guests: Representatives from Education budget to join

William_Band-5

https://winchesternews.org/20250328_tweaked-winchester-school-budget-process-equals-more-engagement-more-time/

Rich_Rohan-2

Here are the two meeting recordings of the Finance Committee:

March 20th: https://youtu.be/HAaHsUTZgDA

March 25th: https://youtu.be/OjkCKD-I7Sc

Carol_Savage-5

Rich_Rohan-2 Thank you to Finance Committee for providing meeting recordings. These were important discussions, and there are more to come.

Brian_Vernaglia-4

Rich_Rohan-2 Yes, this is huge. I would love to see every committee in town that doesn't already record / broadcast their meetings follow in FinCom's suit. The debate should always be about issued not access.

Rich_Rohan-2

Here is the link to the Finance Committee meeting for 3/27/2025.

https://youtu.be/enbpjbD71Jw

Carol_Savage-5

Interesting Boston Globe article worth a read - - Winchester is not the only MA town facing serious budget deficits and feeling school budget pressures driven by salary increases and other inflationary factors, especially difficult in towns towns with little commercial tax base, low state aid and with revenue growth rates limited by prop 2 1/2.

"Even well-to-do towns like Milton are hard hit by school fiscal problems"
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/27/metro/milton-schools-budget-override-deficit/#bgmp-comments

Brian_Vernaglia-4

Carol_Savage-5 They should have passed MBTA 3A! ;)

But seriously, it is an issue all around and only getting worse.

Rich_Rohan-2

Read past the headlines. Not just about Milton.

Brian_Vernaglia-4

Rich_Rohan-2 Yes. I have seen elsewhere (Andover maybe), but I can't read because it is paywalled.

Carol_Savage-5

Try this link to The Boston Globe article -- let me know if this works:

"Even well-to-do towns like Milton are hard hit by school fiscal problems"
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/27/metro/milton-schools-budget-override-deficit/?s_campaign=8315:varf

Also, here is another interesting article:

Why do those groups care about our local elections?’ In Andover, MTA and MassGOP enter electoral fray.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/24/metro/andover-massachusetts-teachers-association-massgop-school-committee/?s_campaign=8315:varf

Brian_Vernaglia-4

Carol_Savage-5 Thanks, these work. As far as the second article, hey, if libertarian billionaires can give millions toward elections, why not the MTA?

Carol_Savage-5

@Brian_Vernaglia-4 Haha, point taken. Suffice to say the federal, state and local context this year is making it an unusual budget season.

Brian_Vernaglia-4

Carol_Savage-5 For sure!

Rich_Rohan-2

Here is an article on how the situation in Washington DC could affect Massachusetts schools.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/trump-cuts-massachusetts-school-funding/64353028

Rich_Rohan-2

Finance Committee 4/01/2025

https://youtu.be/eltEtd8TbeA

Next regularly scheduled meeting will be Tuesday, 4/08/2025.

Rich_Rohan-2

Teacher layoffs in Andover.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhummBXqsI

Carol_Savage-5

Tonight & tomorrow night - two more opportunities to get informed about the FY26 Budget Challenges:

Finance Committee's second session for Town Meeting Members
Wednesday, April 16 (7:30–8:30 PM) — In Person, Winchester Room, Town Hall

Thursday, April 17, 6:30 pm - School Superintended Zoom for Town Meeting Members
You're Invited: Andrew Marron, Director of Finance & Operations, and I appreciated meeting many of you during the small precinct meetings these past few weeks. For those of you who have not been able to attend, we’d like to offer an opportunity to meet next Thursday at 6:30 PM via Zoom. We’ll cover the FY26 School Committee Approved Budget and answer questions. To attend, please register at this link: [https://winchesterps-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_A4yA_AXtSvmMncvxABZeAg]

To learn more about the School Committee’s Approved Budget, visit [https://www.winchesterps.org/operations/#budget]

Frank Hackett, Ed.D
Superintendent of Schools

Carol_Savage-5

It was great to see such turnout at the Finance Committee and School Superintendent Information sessions and hear Town Meeting Members 's asking such thoughtful questions! 👍🏼 Also a great turnout at the New Member Orientation session -- much appreciation to our New Moderator, Phillip Fratarolli, Town Clerk Mary Ellen Marshall, and Town Counsel Jay Talerman.

Rich_Rohan-2

Risks of losing federal funding to Massachusetts public school systems.

https://www.wgbh.org/news/education-news/2025-04-01/federal-government-terminated-106-million-in-massachusetts-k-12-education-grants

https://www.wgbh.org/news/education-news/2025-04-03/how-federal-cuts-to-education-will-impact-massachusetts-schools

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