Good morning,

I hope that this email finds you well and that you’ve been able to enjoy some of this very nice weather these past few days. Michael and I wanted to write to you this morning to update you on some information from the School Committee meeting last evening, May 4, 2020.

School Calendar

Our school calendar was amended and approved last evening. Our last day of school for students will now be June 19, 2020. The previously scheduled half-days on May 22^nd  and June 5^th will now be full remote learning days. We will still have no school on Memorial Day, May 25^th.

Graduation activities are still being planned at this time as we await more information from Governor Baker on May 18^th which will greatly influence our options. Please stay tuned for more information and details. Thank you to Mr. Loprete, our Senior Class Officers,  town officials, and the high school team for their great work on this plan.

Budget

As many of you know, last night was our budget workshop. Due to the unforeseen circumstances related to COVID-19 and the impact on state and local finances we currently have a budget deficit from our modified level services budget of about $811,025. In order to close this budget gap there have been many suggested cuts and budget closing measures.

Despite these challenges, we have remained committed to our goal of keeping our employees whole during this period of closure. To that end, we recommended to the School Committee that our employees be paid their regular salaries through June 19, 2020.

Among the measures suggested during the workshop to close the budget gaps are to eliminate several new positions, to not fill some positions due to retirement, and to potentially postpone the start date of both the Assistant Superintendent and the Director of Facilities positions. While these are all difficult cuts and decisions we are trying to do our best to prevent cuts that will directly impact classrooms whenever possible. Our plan is to keep you informed of these and any other budgetary decisions as we continue to move forward in these uncertain times.

Refunds

Given the extreme hardships that many families are facing, last evening we also developed a plan to provide refunds to families for services that have been modified during this period of closure. This includes a full refund to students who paid a user fee for spring sports as well as some partial refunds for bus services, before school care, full-day Kindergarten, and full and half-day Pre-Kindergarten.

For those families who are eligible for the refunds you will be receiving a brief form via email to complete for each service. We anticipate that these emails will be sent later this week.

Since the district, in accordance with guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and other local districts, is continuing to partially pay for the continuation of services for transportation, athletics, and other services we will certainly welcome any donations in lieu of refund from those families who are able to provide such a donation at this time. 

Thank you all for your support of our students and school community!

Be well,

Dr. Daly​