Superintendent of Schools Pamela Angelakis and Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operation Cheryl Herrick-Stella met with the Finance Committee to further evaluate the school district’s budget for Fiscal Year 2025.

The School Committee voted 3-2 in favor of the proposed district budget of $32,600,554 for fiscal year 2025 at their last meeting on Jan. 30. The committee’s main frustrations that led to a “begrudging” budget approval stemmed from their desire to receive additional financial support from the town. Herrick-Stella presented the approved budget along with other details to the Finance Committee as they discussed the best ways to utilize the funds. Special education was a major focus at the virtual meeting Monday night, as that cost center is a significant portion of the budget. Committee member Erik Schneider asked Herrick-Stella if the state has changed its reimbursement method for circuit breaker funds to help support a 14% increase in out-of-district special education tuition.

“They passed something that seemed like it would be a positive for this year for us, which is you can apply for extraordinary relief if you hit a certain threshold with Circuit Breaker,” Herrick-Stella responded. “They lowered that threshold significantly. The caveat to that thought is if you apply for it this year, all they do is net it out of your FY25 money.”

The implementation of the reading interventionist program was categorized as a “high priority” for the district in FY24 but was unable to be adequately met. Therefore, it remains a significant interest point heading into FY25.

“We put all our focus on a new math program, the interventionists there, the coaches for the teachers, the implementation of that program, and we saw those scores rise,” Angelakis said. “Now it’s time to do the same thing in literacy.”

Committee Chair Eric Hartmann noted that core costs of basic things such as staff have slightly decreased over the years due to reduced staff.

“I think people should understand that some of the real drivers are coming from some of these more extraordinary items,” Hartmann said.

Staff compensation saw an approximate $500,000 increase from FY24 to FY25. Herrick-Stella said that if there were no reductions in staff, the increase would have been close to $1.6 million. Angelakis expressed satisfaction with her relationship with the teachers’ union, especially considering the recent teacher protests in Newton. FY25 is the final year of the teachers’ current contract.

Angelakis revealed that based on discussions she has had with the Nahant School District, Nahant will be retaining its sixth-grade students in the next academic year. She lamented that it leads to a loss of revenue.