School Committee - Regular Meeting

Call to order the budget hearing for the FY27 um Salem Public Schools budget. This meeting is taking place in person at 29 Highland Avenue, room 227 in Salem, Massachusetts. You can also join via Zoom using the link posted in the meeting agenda. Uh, is there a motion to open the public hearing? Motion to open the public hearing. Second.

Uh, motion made by member Miranda, seconded by member Cornell. Under discussion, seeing none, all in favor? Any opposed? Matter carries. The public hearing is now open. The Salem School Committee would like to hear from the public on issues that affect the school district and are within the scope of the committee's responsibilities. Spanish interpretation is available for anyone who needs it. The members of the school committee would like to remind the public that Salem public school students regularly attend school committee meetings. We encourage all meeting participants to model respectful and productive public discourse for our young learners. If you wish to participate in the public comment portion of the hearing, you may come to the podium to speak during this section of the meeting. If you are on Zoom and you wish to provide comment, you may do so by clicking the raise hand feature. And when it is your turn to speak, the host will announce you and unmute your line to allow you to speak. Uh we'll start with any comment in the chambers. Um

we did have slides. Did you want to do the slides first? Do not have that on the agenda. I was like, is he changing his mind? I wasn't really sure. He kind of hesitated for a minute. I got nothing prepared. It was a busy day today. Sounds good. Um do we need to sign in? There's no signin sheet. Do we need to sign in or no? No. No. Okay, cool. You're you're welcome and to provide your name if you wish.

Okay. Hi, Anne Burman, president of the Salem Teachers Union teacher at Bates Elementary School. Um I am have nothing prepared to speak about this evening, but I want to say that I know a lot of um energy and thought process went into this budget. Totally understand that. I appreciate that um you folks at your end did everything you could to save as many jobs as possible. I recognize that. I don't know if the public will recognize that, but I do. I see that. I know we've had countless meetings. I just want to bring forward um a concern where a lot of positions were put onto a grant line and these are positions that we have to have in our schools. I'm concerned about what happens when the grant uh goes away and I think some proactive planning needs to happen now as we think about where we're going to be next year if we don't get the chapter 70 formula fixed which is going to take everybody um from our unions to our school committees to our families and our community members who don't have kids in schools. um if we don't fix that, we're going to be in the same position next year, but it's going to be worse because we don't have another school to consolidate. So, I just want to put that out on the radar that I am concerned about that and what next year's budget's going to look like. Um going into negotiations with all three of your unions in the next couple of years, uh has to be on the forefront as well. And um I also want to say that I think that the cutting of the family engagement facilitators is going to be hugely impactful on our schools. This year where we were already cut from 8 to 5 uh made it work. But those people who do that job have very specialized skills

that educators don't have. Not all of us have the um uh not all of us are bilingual. It's really hard when you're trying to communicate with a family in the heat of the moment and have to get interpretation services. So I am very concerned about that. I think that we need to have a world where our ML population grows after our country changes and we should be aware of that and be prepared for that. Um, so I'm I'm not sure how you fix that. That's a bigger that's a bigger um issue that you folks have to address. I don't know if I have the wherewithal to address what we do when we need to put these positions back. Um, but it is a concern of mine. So, good luck tonight. I know you have to then present to uh city council. Uh, if you let us know when, we can be there to support this and maybe advocate some more funding. I don't know. And um stay tuned as we'll be advocating for chapter 70 um forums and um job actions uh not against any district but working with the state house to fix this formula that isn't working. Thank you. Additional comment in chambers.

Hi, my name is Arabella Susiano. I'm a family engagement facilitator for Carlton Elementary School and also Sen Style. I'm going to hand out um um some information that I've written out. I am picking out just a brief briefly u certain points. Yes, thank you so much. So, I'm speaking with my colleagues who are all family engagement facilitators and you'll see that they too have read this or included their names on this. Today, I'm here to speak about the proposed budget budget cuts and the impact that they would have on family engagement facilitator position. The role is not an extra position. It is an essential success of our students, families, and school communities and is directly related to our strategic plan. Specifically, priority three, centering belonging. And priority four, strengthening our our foundation. Family engagement facilitators serve as a critical bridge between home and school. We facilitators ensure that families have access to clear, timely, and meaningful information about their child's education and school experience. We not only impact access to students education, but also increase caregiver participation in community events, ultimately strengthening the hometoschool connection. The role is also deeply tied to equity and inclusion. Our family engagement facilitators are often people of color and bilingual and bilingual, which allows them to connect with families in

ways that are culturally responsive and linguistically accessible. For families with marginalized identities, this can make the difference between feeling excluded and feeling empowered. Without this role, many families would face greater barriers to engagement and access. Eliminating or reducing this position would not just be a budget decision. It would be a step backwards in our commitment to equity, inclusion, and family participation. Thank you. Hi. Uh, my name is Katherine Jaw. I'm an eighth grade educator here at Collins Middle School. I also have a six-year-old and I live in Salem, so hopefully she'll be able to attend the the schools, too. Um, I actually wasn't going to say anything. I was just going to kind of sit here and support, but after looking at the budget again and sort of thinking about some of the things that were just said, I wanted to speak on behalf of my ML students and also my ML parents. Um, I mean, as we know with what's happening in this country, a lot of my students feel very scared to leave their homes. Their parents feel very scared to leave their homes. Um, and I think what I love about Salem Public and our schools in general is that we are very inclusive and we care very deeply about our families. The educators that I work with care very deeply as well as the administrators and everybody else as well. Um, what concerns me about the budget at the moment is the cuts that we have directly

aiming at ML educators, our ML students, family engagement as well. Um, I think this is unfortunately starting to send a message that I know was not intended in any way. Um, but to a group of people that already feel very ostracized by a country, this is a place that is a safe haven and a place where they do feel loved and cherished here. And I also don't think it's a big wonder as to why we don't have as many parents here of our ML students, mostly because there's not a full understanding of how all of these systems work as well as translation things. Um, I participate in a lot of stuff for the schools. I did design day here and the population that we had that came was not really representative of the population that attends our schools and I think we're working on that as a school system and as a school in general and that's incredible but I don't think we are able to work on that while also sending this budgetary message which once again I'm going to say I don't think anyone intends to send that message but there is a message that is being sent and I just think we need to be aware of that and I wanted to highlight that. All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Erica Clifford and I'm the PTC president at the Horus Man Lab School. I'm here to tonight to speak about the proposed changes to the family engagement facilitator role. First, I want to acknowledge that we understand the position the district's in. These are difficult decisions and we know the goal is to make the best use of limited resources while minimizing impact on students. I also want to be clear, we understand this role is not being eliminated entirely, but we have concerns about how these changes will impact the effectiveness of the role in practice. Family engagement facilitators play a unique role in our schools. While many of their responsibilities like communication, outreach, and support can technically be done from a central office. What makes this role effective is not just the tasks, it's the relationships. At our school, our family engagement facilitator, Sophia, is often the first and most trusted point of contact for our multilingual families. Families call her directly. They know she will answer. They know she will get back to them. But just as importantly, they know her and she knows their kids by name. They see her in the building. They meet her in person. They build a relationship with her. And that matters because family engagements engagement is not just about communication. It's about connection. We heard it clearly that connection is different behind a than behind a phone or an email. When you move these positions out of schools and into a central office, you move them from the very place where that trust is built, where the students are, where the families are, where the daily interactions happen. She's also supported our community by providing translation during PTC meetings, helping ensure that more families are able to participate and feel included in our school community. And it's those kinds of moments where families feel welcomed, understood, and able to engage that build a true sense of belonging. You can't build that belonging from a distance. That connection is built through consistent in-person presence. Our FFS call families when deadlines are approaching, sometimes reaching out to

every family on a list to make sure documents are submitted. They help parents navigate registration forms, follow up on missing paperwork, and problem solve when something like a physical or an appointment becomes a barrier. Without that kind of proactive personal outreach, access becomes complicated. Deadlines are more likely to be missed, and it becomes easier for families to become disconnected, not because they don't care, but because the system is harder to navigate without their support. They also go out into the community to housing developments and resource centers to meet families where they are. If our vulnerable vulnerable families cannot come to the school, they go to the families. We heard it described clearly. They are the net that catches families before they fall through the cracks. Our concern is when this role is centralized and spread across more schools, that net becomes less consistent. I understand that keeping three facilitators may feel like a way to preserve this work, but the concern is not just about whether the role exists. It's about whether it can function the same way. When facilitators are no longer embedded in school buildings, access becomes more limited, case loads increase, and the day-to-day relationships that make this role effective become harder to build and maintain. This change may preserve the function of the role on paper, but it changes the way the role works in practice. And I want to connect this to something the district has rightly prioritized, attendance. Strong family engagement is a key part of keeping students connected to a school. Facil facilitators help remove barriers, keep families informed, and maintain the relationships that support consistent attendance. When that support becomes less accessible, we we risk creating conditions where staying connected to school becomes more difficult, especially for our families who already face barriers. And that impact may not be evenly distributed. It could be felt by the families who rely on that connection the most. If these changes are going to move forward, I would urge the district to consider how to preserve what makes this role effective. Ensuring that facilitators remain present in schools,

accessible to families, and able to build the relationships that this work depends upon. Because ultimate ultimately it's that connection, not just the tasks, that make the difference. Thank you. any additional comment in the chambers comment on Zoom. If there's anybody on Zoom who has comment to offer, please use the raise hand function and we'll call on you based on your name. We say motion to

close your Okay, I'll make a motion to close the public hearing. I'll second. That motion's made by member Cornell, seconded by member Miranda. Under discussion, seeing none. All in favor? Any opposed? The matter carries. The uh public hearing is now closed. Is there another motion? Motion to adjurnn. Oh, motion to adjurnn. A second. Motion made by member Cornell, seconded by member Miranda. Under discussion, seeing none, all in favor? Any opposed? The matter carries. Uh this public hearing is adjourned. Sorry about the next