By Kendra Foley
Chair, Watertown School Committee
The Watertown School Committee has been busy over the last two months tackling budget decisions, discussing policy changes, and reviewing educational data that affects our school community.
After three budget meetings, deliberations, and hours of work from school administrators, the Committee approved the Superintendent’s Recommended FY27 Budget at the end of March. This year was the most challenging budget process in Watertown in more than a decade, requiring us to close a $2.5 million budget shortfall. This gap was caused in large part by a significant increase in out-of-district placements and tuition costs. Administrators took a number of steps to balance the budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Those steps are outlined on slides 19-22 of the budget presentation. These actions allowed us to fund priority requests that support the evolving needs of our students (slides 23-27).
As part of the budget process, we approved a reinstatement of athletics fees and an increase in bus fees. And, since we have a small number of mandated bus riders (elementary students who live more than 1.5 miles from school and 6th graders who live more than 2 miles from school), we will also consolidate morning bus routes for Watertown Middle School and the Hosmer School. The School Committee approved scenario 3, as outlined in this memo. The extensive current middle school busing with four buses was part of the high school building project. This change restores the level of busing within the School Committee policy.
Last year, the Massachusetts State Senate passed a bill that bans cell phones in schools. Last week, the House passed a similar bill. These bills will be conferenced by the House and Senate to work out their differences. Based on the language of the bills, we expect the final law to include a K-12 ban on cell phones for the entirety of the school day. In the meantime, we are considering a policy that will keep us in line with that eventual law. We had a first reading on a personal electronic device policy at our meeting on Monday and will take a vote at our May 4th meeting.
We also discussed updates to our school buildings and grounds policy, and a policy on religious holidays and observances.
There have been general discussions about the use (and possible overuse) of technology in the classroom. The Superintendent will be reviewing current practice and will present her findings and potential recommendations at one of our May meetings.
We heard an update on the WPS Special Education Strategy. As part of its ongoing commitment to continuous improvement, WPS is developing a Special Education Strategy to strengthen services, systems, and partnerships that support students with disabilities. Like many school districts, WPS periodically reviews its special education programming to identify areas for growth and improvement, using multiple sources of information, including external program evaluations, data analysis, and guidance from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), including its program review processes. In response, the district convened a representative team of educators, administrators, and stakeholders to examine current practices and identify opportunities to strengthen the system. Through this collaborative process, the team developed a theory of action, four strategic priorities, and a set of initiatives to improve collaboration with families, strengthen instructional practices, build staff capacity, and ensure that resources and systems effectively support student success.
Superintendent Galdston shared an update on the annual 5 Essentials Survey. a nationally recognized school climate and organizational assessment developed by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. The survey gathers feedback from students, teachers, and families and analyzes responses across five key domains that are strongly associated with improved student outcomes. The five domains include Effective Leaders, Collaborative Teachers, Involved Families, Supportive Environment, and Ambitious Instruction.
Each month, one school hosts Teaching and Learning showcases, highlighting a variety of different efforts and sharing them with our Committee. Students from Watertown Middle School joined us in March and walked us through student leadership opportunities at the school. This week, the Hosmer Elementary School shared an update on their family engagement efforts.
Thank you to our state legislative delegation, Senator Will Brownsberger, Representative John Lawn and Representative Steve Owens, who secured additional funding for WPS in the supplemental budget. We appreciate their support and leadership! And, Watertown made it all the way to the US House of Representatives in Washington DC this week! Congressman Jim McGovern gave us a shout-out on the House floor. See the clip.
Spring is a busy time in our schools for students and staff. Be sure to say thank you to your student’s teacher/s during Teacher Appreciation Week May 4-8th. We are so grateful to our hardworking educators!
The Watertown School Committee wishes you a safe, happy, and restful April break.