League of Women Voters’ Segment B Warrant Briefing This Thursday, 7PM

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Photo: The budget will be discussed this Thursday at the Warrant Briefing

Town Meeting members and the public are invited on Thursday, May 20, to attend the 2021 ‘Zoom’ Warrant Briefing on all things budget for next week’s resumption of the annual Town Meeting .

The meeting is cosponsored by the town’s Warrant Committee and the Belmont League of Women Voters.

Residents and members will have the opportunity to ask questions of town officials and department heads about the budget articles and amendments prior to the annual legislative gathering on Wednesday, June 2.

Laurie Slap, chair of the Warrant Committee, will preside.

  • Please click the link below to join the webinar by computer, tablet or smartphone: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86589919600
  • To join by telephone, call: 1 (929) 205 6099. When prompted, enter:865 8991 9600 # When prompted, enter #
  • Follow along live on Belmont Media Center Gov/Ed TV. Watch in Belmont on: Ch 8 – Comcast or Ch 28 – Verizon
  • Watch from anywhere on belmontmedia.org/govtv

Garvin Has Her Ear(marks)To The Ground Finding Bucks For Belmont

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Photo: Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin.

Patrice Garvin is likely the sort of person who has the innate ability to find loose money others overlook: quarters on the ground, $10 in coat pockets, a box of cash under the bed.

It’s certainly one way to explain the Belmont Town Administrator’s aptness in finding a steady stream of cash from state, federal and outside sources that go into town coffers. The latest example coming last week when Garvin securing nearly a quarter of a million dollars in state supplemental appropriation funds with the hope of a whole lot more from Washington DC.

“This is outside of the operating budget so these are things that we would not have been able to do without these appropriations,” said Garvin, who started her tenure in the Town of Homes in January 2018 obtaining a $30,000 Community Compact Grant from the state for new forecasting software. Later appropriations included state transportation funds, private grants and federal funds.

The biggest “get” by Garvin was the potential of $3.5 million for the construction of the community path from Brighton Street to Belmont Center being accepted by US Rep. Katherine Clark who submitted it to be funded through the congressional bill HR 2, the Moving Forward Act. Board Chair Adam Dash thanked Clark for taking the interest because a congressional earmark “is a big deal. I don’t even know when Belmont ever did that last, so this is great.”

“Federally earmarked for the community path is excellent,” said Dash using his best Mr. Burns impression.

Garvin also scored on three of her five supplemental appropriation requests to State Rep. Dave Rogers. Technically, supplemental appropriations are a tool for policymakers to address needs that arise after the fiscal year has begun.

The three earmarks included:

  • $125,000 to redesign two intersections; Winter Street and Concord Avenue and Mill Street and Concord, which have become increasingly unsafe due to ever increasing vehicle traffic which pre-pandemic reached 12,000 daily trips.
  • $60,000 for Rock Meadow to allow greater maintinance – mowing the fields, creating wider paths and introducing more trash recepticles – at this important regional recreation site which as seen visitor number jump since COVID-19 arrived.
  • $60,000 to invest in IT equipment and infrastructure to allow town boards and committees to continue remote meetings after public meetings return later in the year.

“David [Rogers] is a great partner to the town. He really brings in a lot of money for us,” said Garvin.

Board member Roy Epstein thanked Garvin for including Rock Meadow in her requests noting it “an orphan child.”

Garvin said through the fiscal year residents, boards and stakeholders will ask the town to “keep them in mind and that’s kind of what we do when we … go for this additional money.”

“The amount of money you bring into town, Patrice, is astounding. Don’t ever stop,” said Dash.

No Increase In Belmont Water, Sewer Rates … Again

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Photo: Water main on Brighton being repaired

The annual adjustment of the Belmont water and sewer rates was no adjustment at all as both will remain unchanged from the previous fiscal year. This marks the third consecutive year for water and fourth for sewer where rates remained flat, said Jay Marcotte, director of the Department of Public Works who announced the report at the Select Board’s virtual meeting held Monday, May 10.

The average Belmont homeowner will see its monthly bill remain at approximately $140 for fiscal 2022 beginning July 1.

“It’s surprisingly good news for the ratepayers. I wasn’t expecting it to be this good,” said Select Board Chair Adam Dash.

The zero rate comes as the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority imposed a whopping 9.7 percent increase in Belmont’s assessment, up from the one percent hike in 2020. “This year my eyes popped out of my head when we got the increase,” said Marcotte, as it represented a $296,000 jump from 2021. The MWRA sewer assessment came in at a more typical 3.6 percent.

As with last year, planned use of retained earnings was used to offset the MWRA increase. “We’ve been purposely drawing down [earnings] to basically stabilize rates and not have any impact to our [customers],” said Marcotte.

Marcotte told the board the DPW will continue its quarter-century water improvement program in which all of Belmont’s pre-1928 cast iron mains – which makes up 42 percent or 38 miles of the town’s total – will be replaced. This year, about 6,970 linear feet of pipe will be removed resulting in 31.4 miles of the pre-1928 mains now replaced with the program 83 percent complete.

On the sewer side of the ledger, the town will replace two existing pump stations and start a new one in the Winn Brook neighborhood while budgeting $450,000 for sewer and storm drain main repairs and upgrades.

In addition, $150,000 from both water and sewer capital will go to the installation of fuel tanks at the DPW Yard.

Town Meeting, Segment A: A Resounding Yes For Indigenous Peoples’ Day Article

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Photo: Belmont approves changing the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day

On the last night of Segment A of Belmont’s Town Meeting, members overwhelmingly approved the article to rename the holiday on the second Monday of October from Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples’ Day to honor the Native Americans who lived centuries in the Americas and what is known as Belmont.

The final vote taken virtually after three hours of debate on Wednesday, May 5, was 212 yes, 32 no with 13 abstentions.

When first presented by two Belmont High School students – Alex Fick and Lora Ovcharova – in the fall of 2020, Indigenous Peoples’ Day appeared to have wide support as it became a non-binding article at the annual Town Meeting.

But a grassroots campaign alleging the article demeaned and offended Italian-Americans created a lot of debate weeks before the meeting, making it one of the more contentious measures to come before members since the McLean development plans of the late 1990s. The sticking point for many was the article’s preamble which listed in great detail Columbus’ atrocities to indigenous tribes during his voyages and his contribution to bringing the slave trade to the Americas.

Yet members stood fast behind the original article, rejecting two amendments, one supported by Ralph Jones, Tommasina Olson, and Judith Feinleib, which would have kept Columbus Day as a celebration of Italian-American heritage while providing an alternative day in August for honoring Indigenous People.

“We are proud to be able to say that Belmont is moving forward in alignment with its promise of anti-racism,” said Fick after the vote. “There is much more work to be done in Belmont, but this is a big step towards making Belmont a more welcoming, inclusive community for everyone.”

“We want to thank all of the Town Meeting Members who voted in support of Article 10 unamended, everyone who signed our petition, and everyone who helped us along the way, especially Stephanie Crement and Emily Rodriguez,” he said. 

Belmont Select Board Chair Adam Dash opened the meeting supporting the original language of the resolution.

“Article 10 is about unity. The unity of Belmont residents standing up against racism and discrimination,” said Dash. “Passing this article will be forceful to those who scrawled swastikas on our schools and hurl epithets at our neighbors of color.”

“Tonight is the night that we face the question; are we serious about combatting racism in this town or not?” Dash said, asking the members to follow the lead of a growing number of towns – Arlington Town Meeting approved a similar measure this week by a vote of 222 to 1 – and states and “stand on the right side of history.”

Dangerous stereotypes

Fick and the article’s co-creator, Lora Ovcharova, spoke on the reason why they campaigned for the change. “The celebration of Columbus Day continues to perpetuate dangerous stereotypes about indigenous people and contributes to their erasure from American society and history, rather creating a positive day for the celebration of Native Americans by renaming Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day will help us begin to make amends for the past and honor [them],” said Ovcharovsa.

Guest speaker Mahtowin Munro, chair of United American Indians of New England told the nearly 265 members that designating the new name will “spark conversations and educate about indigenous people, our history, our resilience, and contemporary cultures.”

Supporting the Jones/Olson/Feinleib amendment, Diane Modica of the Massachusetts Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America (whose headquarters is on Concord Avenue) said while her group supports recognizing native Americans and their history, it should not come at the expense of well over a century of the close association of Columbus with celebrating Italian American pride and culture.

“Christopher Columbus became a symbol through which Italian Americans have celebrated their ethnicity and it’s the only legal holiday that recognizes the heritage of an estimated 18 million Italian Americans,” said Modica, and it is “imperative that we do not thoughtlessly, unnecessarily, and unfairly take away from one group for the misplaced purposes of another.”

Speaking for his amendment, Jones believed the article’s preamble laying at the feet of Columbus a long list of atrocities was “unnecessary.” Seeking a middle ground, he suggested following a 1982 United Nations resolution on the Declaration on the Rights Of Indigenous People which observes Aug. 9 as Indigenous Peoples’ Day, while allowing Columbus Day to remain as a symbolic day for Italian Americans, possibly by another name.

Seeing more than Columbus

While not absolving the abuses committed, Jones said there is an emotional bond between Italian Americans and Columbus. “A professor at Queens College in New York put it this way: ‘When I see Columbus on a statue, I don’t see Columbus. I see my grandfather’.”

The Select Board’s Mark Paolillo said while feeling conflicted about whether to support the Jones et al amendment, a second one from the Select Board’s Roy Epstein or the unamended version, he sought counsel on this political issue from his 27-year-old son.

“He said, ‘Dad, it’s a difficult issue be we absolutely have to lift up and support indigenous people who have been brutalized, marginalized and discriminated against for decades and still are today’,” said Paolillo. While he wanted some acknowledgment of the contributions Italian American’s have made, Paolillo would support the original amendment. “As a proud second-generation Italian American, I would not feel diminished by doing that because I know that we will continue to celebrate in this town, in this state. and country Italian heritage and culture.”

The majority of comments and questions from Members indicated a level of support for the un-amended article that would hard to defeat. Karen McNay Bauerle, Precinct 6, recalled her own childhood in Georgia where the United Daughters of the Confederacy, whose eternal suffering was “the loss of their heroes and their way of life,” funded memorials to the Lost Cause throughout the US. That shameful celebration of Southern heroism is no different than hailing the accomplishments of Italian Americans by commemorating the voyages of Columbus.

“There is so much to celebrate but we cannot celebrate together when our national mythologies that precedence over the experiences of indigenous people and Black and Brown bodies in this country,” said Bauerle, adding that approving the article “is a good symbolic beginning.”

Precinct 1’s Kathryn Bonfiglio said she was one of many Italian Americans who support the original article. “I am not anti-Italian. I’m anti Columbus and I’m proud giving indigenous people the lead on what changes they need to begin restorative justice on this issue.”

Lisa Carlivati, Precinct 5, said while Columbus is a point of pride for many Italian Americans, “what I’m hearing is that Columbus is causing a great deal of pain to indigenous people.” She said the amendment if approved would honor native people in August outside the school calendar while the conversation at Belmont schools in October would be about Columbus.

“What should happen on the second Monday in October is a conversation about the Massachusett and Wampanoag tribes … and the people who were the caretakers for that land for centuries,” she said.

The Jones et. al amendment was defeated 77-190 with 3 abstaining.

The second amendment by Roy Epstein which would add a paragraph to the article:

Columbus Day was established to recognize the discrimination and injustices
experienced by Italian Americans as well as their invaluable contributions to the United States,
and the creation of Indigenous Peoples Day in Belmont as a counter-celebration to Columbus
Day would in no way deny that history or diminish its significance.

Epstein said his addition was “that we the most mild of edits to remember that Columbus Day really did have originated in an admirable purpose to combat discrimination [of Italian immigrants.]” With its attempt to show the holiday was just as much a recognition of heritage as a man, the amendment received some greater level of acceptance, but it could not reverse the trend of night, being defeated 97 for, 171 against and 1 abstained.

For the student authors of the article will add a new voice to advancing civil rights in Belmont.

“We are grateful that Town Meeting came together to vote with vindication to listen to Indigenous Peoples in replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. The rejection of amendments properly centers the voices of Indigenous Peoples’ and sends a signal to marginalized communities that we care about fighting injustice and that we will listen to them,” said Fick.

Light Board Goes Independent After Vote At The First Night Of Town Meeting

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Photo: The first night of Segment A saw a change in the governance of Belmont Light

The first night of Belmont’s annual Town Meeting held Monday, May 3, attended virtually had a few hiccups – final vote results were delayed, members forgot to unmute themselves and one rather loud commuter rail whistle was picked up by Town Clerk Ellen Cushman’s microphone – but, all in all, it was a successful start of the yearly gathering.

In the big vote of the night, Belmont will have another list of candidates to vote for at the next Town Election in 2022 after the meeting voted overwhelmingly to support a five-member independent board to manage Belmont Light, the town’s electrical utility.

The final tally was 223 for the article and 43 against with a few “emergency” votes.

Article 2 was rather straightforward with those supporting the article were seeking to transfer oversight of the department from the current Light Board which is made up of the members of the Select Board. The Select Board’s Roy Epstein who spoke in favor of the article said due to the lack of expertise the select board has in running a modern utility, the Light Board has been increasingly reliant on the advice of the Municipal Light Board and Light Board Advisory Committee made up of appointed volunteers many with real-world utility experience. It would be best to have a group of experts beholden to the electorate to run the utility, said Epstein.

“The Light Board does require considerable technical expertise in running a utility,” Epstein said. “This is not just something that lay people can do easily. This does require a genuine expertise” in areas such as renewable energy and sustainability, conservation policies, strategic electronification of homes and other industry topics “that were never issues in the past.”

Select Board Chair Adam Dash presented the “no” position, asking “why change what’s not broken” as Belmont Light was been winning praise for its green power initiative and quick response to local outages. “This is a bad time to be introducing structural inefficiencies into town government when we just had a failed override and we have a Structural Change Impact Group doing just the opposite.”

Dash also warned an independent board – like the school department or the library trustees – doesn’t need to coordinate with the town on anything under its purview including increases in electric rates, the future use of sale of both the incinerator site and the former headquarters of the Light Department adjacent to the newly-renovated Police Station and possibly reducing or outright rejection to make the annual $650,000 PILOT to the town.

“What do you want more from Belmont Light that you’re not getting now?” said Dash.

When debate was opened to members, it was clear early on the “yes” argument was trending upward.

Steve Klionsky, Precinct 6, who for five years was the chair of the Advisory Committee, said he saw the Select Board being “stretched so thin with all its other duties to the town that they just did not have the time or expertise need to make decisions on certain matters.” Since his committee had no really authority to institute reforms and changes without the Light Board’s consent, “it was very difficult for Belmont Light to work through complicated issues.”

Having worked in the utility sector of 40 years, running a municipal electric company is much more complicated than it ever has been, said Klionsky, “I believe it’s time we acknowledge that complexity and put in place a governance structure that provides the needed assistance and oversight to Belmont Light. An elected board would be a huge step forward.”

Paul Roberts, Precinct 8. said the current reliance by the Light Board of the Advisory Committee has a detrimental impact on the running of Belmont Light as the department has two competing bodies – the advisory committee which it works closely on creating policy and the board which has ultimate control – it must heed to. Roberts alleged the lack of the clear leadership forced out General Manager Chris Roy from Belmont Light in the midst of his modernizing the department’s infrastructure and strategies.

Bonnie Friedman, Precinct 2, countered the “yes” enthusiasm by favoring an appointed rather than an elected board based on reading 10% Less Democracy: How Less Voting Could Mean Better Governance (2020) by economist Garett Jones, in which Jones found that elected light boards are more concerned often with being elected arent as necessarily more professional. Cosmo Macero, Precinct 6, joined Friedman in opposing electing members as the board becomes a political office. He suggests creating an expanded appointing committee – made up of more than just the Select Board – to select the “men and women of different walks of life who can bring that expertise to this kind of body.”

David Webster, Precinct 4, said if the new board moves in the direction Dash was worried – not making PILOT payments or allowing the former Light headquarters to fall into disrepair – “I think the voters will be holding them accountable.”

Article 4 Changing the Composition of the Capital Budget Committee

The debate on changing the membership of the Capital Budget Committee didn’t come down to who was coming onto the board, but rather, who is doing the placement.

The measure passed 174 to 77 with 6 abstentions and three emergency votes.

The article is fairly simple: after a number of years it was determined that the representative of the Planning Board on the seven-member committee is “not really essential to what the committee does,” said Anne Marie Mahoney, chair of the committee. Instead, a new at large member would be selected by the Town Moderator to replace the Planning Board’s delegate.

While seemingly a non-controversial issue – Stephen Pinkerton, chair of the Planning Board, agreed with the change – the major area of concern would be the influence of the Town Moderator on the reconstructed board as he will be selecting a majority (4) of the body.

Micheal McNamara, Precinct 7, said by adding another at-large member “now the moderator is now essentially in power” over the committee. Joining McNamara was Paul Roberts who worried that the majority of members will likely be reappointed to the board without the chance of new members being selecting until the three years are over.

Kate Bowen, Precinct 4, said “This is not the right time to make a change the Capital Budget Committee.” She pointed to the recently formed Long Term Capital Planning Committee, and wants that group’s work completed before making any alterations to Capital Budget.

Article 6 Cushing Square Road Modification and Property Conveyance

The new owner of the gas station at the corner of Trapelo Road and Common Street wants to take nearly 1,000 square feet of a public way to allow an awning over the pumps at the gas station. The Zoning Board of Appeals is OK with it so all that needs to be done is covey the land to the owner at cost.

201 yes, 38 no and two emergency votes.

Some members expressed the concern that the town should hold on to its stake in the land for reasons. Round and round the comments went for a conveyance that both sides agreed to. Roy Epstein said this push back to the article could be a prime example why Belmont is perceived to be at least somewhat hostile to businesses.

Previewing Segment A: First Part Of 2021 Annual Town Meeting Highlights A Change In Who Runs The Light Department

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Photo:

Traditionally the first half of Town Meeting – known as Segment A – is a multiple night affair with speechifying from long lines of Members on a menagerie of topics. Who could have thought in 2019 that increasing the Town Moderator’s term to three years would prompt an uproar, or citizen’s petitions on snow removal and yard sales could cause a ruckus and creating marijuana districts and the transfer of liquor licenses would stretch meetings past the 11 p.m. witching hour.

Fast forward to opening night at this year’s virtual event of the Annual Town Meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, May 3 and the entire segment could be finished before Rancatore’s shuts its doors. With only two articles set for debate – one on May 3 and the other May 5 – the meeting could see the rare incident of where there are no more members in line to speak on a subject when the article/amendments are called.

First some facts about this week:

  • The Annual Town Meeting will be held May 3, 5, 10, 12 [Segment A] and we’ll take a pause and will return June 2, 7 and 9 for Segment B. All sessions begin at 7 p.m. There are 22 articles on the warrant, only 11 will be taken up in Segment A, the remainder will be taken in Segment B.
  • The Special Town Meeting will be held Wednesday, May 5 starting at 7:30 p.m. and is expected to conclude early, allowing the meeting to return to the business of the annual.

For the Monday, May 3 session of the Annual Town Meeting, the articles will be:

Many of the articles will be of the housekeeping kind or will be made moot – in the case of the citizen petitions articles 8 and 9 – leaving two which will be brought before the legislative body for a vote. With Article 8, it is the intention of the sponsor, Adriana Poole, to move to dismiss this article while the intention of the sponsor of Article 9, Alexander Corbett III, will move to dismiss this article.

ARTICLE 2: Municipal Light Board change in governance

This article will create a separate five-member Municipal Light Board. Currently, the Select Board members are also the Light Board.

Both the Select Board and the Light Board voted two for and one for the article. The aye votes – Roy Epstein and Mark Paolillo – point to nearly 80 percent of municipal utilities in Massachusetts have similar voter-approved entities with members who will have a background in or great interest to provide electrical power to the community rather than a Select Board who are, as they admit, not that well versed in the subject.

Adam Dash, the nay vote, said there are two issues that prevented him from coming on board with his colleagues. The first is the outstanding manner that the Light Department is performing, noting Boston Magazine named it “the greenest municipal light department.

“I think we’re doing really really well and I’m puzzled as to why we’re going to mess” interfering with our green energy initiative,” he said.

And as it will be elected, it will be independent to do as it pleases with its assets and policies without the interference from the other town boards and committees, said Dash.

“It’s going to cost the town money: in the future of the Belmont Light Building in Belmont Center, the post closure use the incinerator site, and PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) payments. I think a lot of that could just go away if there’s a separate Light Board. I’m concerned that the PILOT payment goes away and blows a $650,000 hole in our budget.”

Paolillo said he believes the Select Board will have the same relationship with this new board as it does with the School Committee and the Library Trustees, based on “a collaborative working relationship … and there’ll be accountability as it relates to the residents.”

The Select Board and the Light Board will report on this article.

Wishin’ and Hopin’: While School District Finalizing Cuts, Optimism Remains That Federal Monies Will Save The Day

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Photo:

When Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan was asked earlier this month by the School Committee to “think creatively” in finding ways to fill a $2.1 million chasm in the school’s fiscal year 2022 budget, he need only look back one year for a successful template to the problem at hand.

When the COVID-19 pandemic suddenly interrupted last year’s budget process, Phelan – speaking before the Belmont School Committee on Tuesday, April 27 – noted how the district was able to rely on an emergency injection of dollars from Washington DC to allow the schools to keep teachers while moving to a remote and then hybrid education model.

Belmont in Austerity

“We used financial support from the federal government to be able to service the district as best we could,” said Phelan. This year “[w]e’re hoping to do something very similar with fiscal ’22”, by using federal grant money to close a deficit created after residents rejected a Proposition 2 1/2 override vote at April’s Town Election.

But rather than submit to the committee a single fiscal blueprint going into next year, Phelan presented two separate avenues the budget could travel to Town Meeting for a June vote: the current fiscal ’22 operating budget with $2.1 million in cuts and lost positions and several ambitious budgets in which federal funding is used.

“We’re going to explain the budget in two different segments,” said Phelan. “We want to make for sure that there’s a clear distinction in all our minds as to our operating budget … and using one time money to support students and teachers next year.”

School Committee Budget Community Forum

Please join the Belmont School Committee and Administrators for an opportunity to ask questions regarding the Fiscal Year 2022 School Budget.

Tuesday May 4, at 6:30 PM

Please click the link below to join the webinar by computer, tablet or smartphone:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82730714204

Under a sub headline he called “bad news,” Phelan presented the committee the difficult reductions in what he has long said “makes many students want to come to school”: extra curriculum activities including athletics and the arts.

In sports, $200,000 would be saved with the elimination of ninth-grade teams and cuts up and down the budget – not replacing worn uniforms, reduction in travel expenses, playing only the minimum number of league games – while fully a third of visual and performing arts clubs (four at the Chenery and ten at the High School) would be dropped saving $28,000. Finally, approximately a quarter of a million dollars would be taken from associated revolving funds which totals up to $418,000.

Supplies – the pencils, copier paper and electronics – the necessary day-to-day stores for a school to function efficiently will see significant reductions, from $5,000 to $7,000 at each elementary school to $17,000 at the high school and $18,000 at the Chenery for a total of $57,200.

While the majority of the committee suggested even greater cutbacks targeting sports and the arts could be coming in the near future, Committee Chair Amy Checkoway and newly-elected committee member Meghan Moriarty sought to keep the cuts to a minimum.

“I’m pretty concerned about cutting all freshmen sports in the high school, my sense is that ninth grade is a particularly stressful time academically and with that transition,” Checkoway said, while Moriarty pointed out that athletics and clubs are where “kids are gaining confidence, they learn life-long skills from these endeavors … and how to work together in a band and on a team” suggesting that any major cuts be delayed by a couple of years.

The reductions announced Tuesday are on top of the 11 total FTE reduction of existing staff Phelan provided at the last School Committee meeting two weeks ago. Those salaried reductions – making up 75 percent of the total school cuts – included four elementary teachers, one each from the Middle and High schools as well as a slew of administrator and teacher aides, totaling $635,000. A final determination on the specific teacher and staff member who will be made redundant will be determined next week.

But before those specific reductions are made public, 24 staff and administrative positions that supported the district’s COVID efforts will be pink-slipped on Friday, April 30 while 22 will return to their previous teaching and staffing slots.

Phelan’s “good news” is the possibility of sources of federal funds and any increase in state aid coming from the state legislature above Massachusetts Gov. Baker’s submission that could ease the pain of filling the deficit. He pointed to successfully using federal money last year in fiscal ’21 to pay for the one-year COVID related position and services.

Two sources of funds coming from Washington directed only to schools are the second and third installment of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund – known as ESSER funds – in which Belmont is in the process of applying for $1.4 million. Both funds have strict criteria; expenses have to apply to academics and instruction, address unfinished teaching and learning, and social emotional support to address mental health and well being to name a few.

Priority COVID services in ’22

Phelan and the committee have long sought to allocate ESSER II and III money to pay for anticipated services in the COVID related expenses in fiscal ’22. Those items – which Phelan called priorities totaling $876,000 – include:

  • Hiring teachers, aides and supplies to run an “academic recovery” summer school to service all grades ($100,000)
  • Adding a pair of nurses ($163,000),
  • Two social workers for mental health and social emotional learning ($163,000), and
  • Beefing up remote education with teachers, specialists and other material ($450,000)

There are a slew of other costs such as COVID testing, personal protective equipment and the “wedding” tents at each school to allow for outside classes and lunch.

But by only funding the four COVID priority items and redirect money from areas that may not longer be needed – the school committee could determine to eliminate an aggressive testing plan – Phelan indicated the schools would split the hoped for $1.4 million giving $750,000 to the COVID expenses and using $650,000 to restore three FTE positions at both the High and Middle schools as well as filling three Special Education slots.

While rearranging the ESSER funds will allow for the retention of a handful of positions, the greatest wish from the school committee is to get its hands into the most recent pot on money coming Belmont’s way. The American Rescue Plan Act signed in March by President Biden will provide the town upwards of $7.2 million which several committee members and the leaders of the No Override campaign are hopeful the ARP guidelines are loose enough to allow the town – which will receive the funds – to provide the schools with additional monies to apply to the district’s bottom line.

If federal regulators do determine the ARP funds can be optioned whatever way the town wishes, Phelan said he would work with Town Administrator Patrice Garvin to find a way to pay for all COVID costs, fill the $2.1 million fiscal ’22 deficit which will reverse the pink slips to the 11 teacher positions set for next month while restoring the 12 new FTE educator and staff slots which Phelan was anticipating to hire (for $870,000) until the override failed before sitting down and figure out a strategy for using the remaining change over the next two years.

But Phelan readily admits that it remains unknown if – and that is a big “if” – the federal government will allow any or all of the three funding sources to be used beyond reimbursing expenses directly impacted by the COVID pandemic. For example, under the ARP, Belmont can use the funds “to support the public health response and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable economic recovery” by providing “assistance to households, small businesses and nonprofits, aid to impacted industries, and support for essential workers” and “invest in infrastructure, including water, sewer, and broadband services.” There is no language currently that allows any portion of the $7 million to be transferred for school aid.

A second concern of using any federal funds or additional state aid to save educators positions – a worry championed by Geoffrey Lubien of the Financial Task Force – is that one-time funds are just that, money whose funding cycle ends after a single year and isn’t renewed. Phelan acknowledged that any additional position that could be saved in the coming fiscal year would need to be terminated on the final day of the 2022 school year.

“It’s important to me to say this out loud because when we start to talk about next school year and the potential use of federal funds … those dollars will only be one time dollars and they would not be able to carry into future years,” said Phelan.

But Phelan said despite the limited time frame of those funds, if allowed, he would hire teachers and administrators just for that one year, saying it is similar to someone who has crashed their car and despite having another vehicle ready to go “not using it for the year,” he said.

“We could use any of these (federal) dollars to support some parts of our school for the next year, even if we have to make layoffs in other areas,” said Phelan. “We just have to be flexible.”

Checkoway Named School Committee Chair. Vice Chair? Let’s Wait On That

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Photo: A Zoom capture of Amy Checkoway

Amy Checkoway was unanimously elected chair of the Belmont School Committee at its organizational meeting a week after the Town Election. She takes over the reins of the six member board from Andrea Prestwich.

An education policy researcher for a large international consulting firm, Checkoway enters her third year on the committee having won a seat in 2019.

“I’m really committed to building and fostering really strong working relationships with all members of the committee, with our town leaders and perhaps most importantly with our community,” said the Pequossette Road resident, adding there is also a need to improve the committee’s governance structure, decision making and communications.

“I don’t think I have all the answers. I recognize what a challenging time this is, and the trust that needs to be repaired on many fronts,” she told the committee.

Newcomer Meg Moriarty was named the committee’s secretary.

A request to create the position of vice chair to the committee never got a chance to be voted as the committee decided to spend the fortnight between gatherings to allow the proposal to sit and wait.

Committee member Mike Crowley noted the need for the new post was necessary due to the avalanche of work Prestwich undertook during the height of the pandemic without a designated second in line to help manage it.

“The role of the chair in ordinary times, it can be an overwhelming amount of workload,” said Crowley. “It would be very helpful to be able to share the work that the chair currently has as their responsibility in order for this committee to be more effective,” said Crowley.

Prestwich, who led the committee for nearly the past year, said it was not just the volume of work but also the wide range of meetings – executive, negotiating, finance – that requires coverage.

While the vice chair position would be similar to the Select Board’s post, Moriarty wondered if anyone would wish to undertake the position noting that no one was eager to step into the secretary’s role – Moriarty was nominated for the role and accepted after one member deferred and the four remaining members were left quietly eyeing the others resembling a scene from the western “Deadwood.”

“That’s a very fair point,” said Checkoway.

While she acknowledges the need for the position, member Kate Bowen felt it would be helpful to have clearer guidance about the leadership roles and spreading the authority.

While Crowley pointed to an urgency to vote to add the vice chair position since the burden and volume facing the chair remains considerable, the measure was tabled as there are two new members who weren’t involved in previous dialogue, and despite having been discussed in the past, some agreed with an obscure parliamentary point that it wasn’t listed as an item in past meeting agendas.

Town Meeting Warrant Briefing Set For Thursday, April 15 at 7 p.m.

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Photo: Poster for the April 15 Warrant Briefing

The Warrant Committee and Belmont League of Women Voters will co-sponsor a Warrant Briefing for Town Meeting Segment A to introduce Town Meeting Members to the articles in the warrant for the first section of the annual 2021 Town Meeting on Thursday, April 15 at 7 p.m.  

For new Town Meeting Members, the warrant is the legal notice of the Town Meeting, showing the agenda that will be discussed and voted by the Town Meeting assembly beginning Monday, May 3. 

The Warrant Briefing is not an open debate or detailed discussion, nor is it a replacement for the full debate/airing that must take place at Town Meeting. It’s an opportunity for the Warrant Committee Chair Laurie Slap to briefly explain the goal of the article and Town Meeting Members can ask a question to help everyone better understand the intention of the sponsor of the article in putting it on the warrant. It’s a very valuable meeting to attend, this year exclusively by Zoom.

The Zoom viewing options are:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86589919600 Zoom meeting ID: 865 8991 9600

Live broadcast: Belmont Ch 8 (Comcast); Ch 28 (Verizon) Livestream or on-demand: belmontmedia.org/watch/govtv

The warrant and all associated documents will be emailed to Town Meeting Members either Tuesday or Wednesday. If you are newly elected and have not provided a contact sheet with your current email for Town Meeting please do so right away so you don’t miss the mailings.

‘There’s No Panic On Pleasant Street’: Phelan Resolute In Difficult Year As Educator Pink Slips Coming In May

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Photo: John Phelan, superintendent, Belmont Public Schools

It was day two of “Belmont after No” as the town and its residents began coming to grips with austerity being the guiding policy for local governance in the unforeseeable future after voters rejected a $6.4 million override on Tuesday, April 6.

But to Schools Superintendent John Phelan, the reduction of millions in funding and pending teacher and staff layoffs is not going to cripple student learning for the upcoming school year beginning in September.

“There’s no panic on Pleasant Street,” said Phelan, referring to the location of the school district’s headquarters while speaking at a joint meeting of the Belmont School Committee Finance Subcommittee held virtually on Thursday, April 8.

“We’re going to reduce $2 million worth of expenses [but] the school department is not going to fall apart. I want every single family to know that their child will be taken care of next year. School will happen,” said Phelan, who praised both teachers and staff for their dedication to teaching during a pandemic and, now, job firings

Phelan reassured the committee and community that the approaching 2021-22 school year – which will start in person this September at each of the town’s six buildings – will be “on par” with the 2018-19 and “much better” than the current year of remote and hybrid schooling.

That’s not to say the cuts won’t be felt by every student that attends the district, said Phelan.

Cuts in activities and increase in class sizes

“Class sizes will be higher, and there’ll be some parts of your [student’s] day that won’t be available to you with clubs and activities that were in years past, but we will get through this,” said the superintendent.

The reality of the difficult decisions as a result of the austerity budget came when Phelan announced two rounds of RIF – a reduction in force – totaling 22 full-time equivalent positions. On April 30, educators hired in the past year to contend with COVID-related issues will be made redundant.

But it will be on May 15 when the gut punch to the district will be felt as 11 current teachers, staff, and administrators (totaling $635,000) will receive pink slips while an equal number of educators which the district had planned to hire ($870,500 in wages and benefits) will be set aside. The cost of $1.5 million in cuts is the loss of programs and activities, higher class sizes, and fewer teachers.

Just where the cuts will come will be determined this week by the district’s Leadership Council, made up of school principals and administrators. Earlier in the year, Phelan noted the district will not follow a “last hired, first fired” approach when determining who is let go. Rather, it will come down to where the need for teachers is greatest. With middle and high school numbers are expected to continue to grow while early elementary classes – such as kindergarten to first grade – are beginning to stay level, the greatest share of cuts will come from the cohort teaching kindergartens to fourth grade.

In addition, there is growing support in the district and on the committee to hire a new diversity director that is on the chopping block for next year as well as other positions the school committee believes “have value,” said Phelan.

If the committee feels those positions that were being cut or set aside are necessary, that would result in further reduction of teachers and staff beyond the 11 FTEs slated to be fired.

The staff reductions will be accompanied by nearly half a million dollars in cuts to all extra curriculum activities including clubs, music, theater, and sports district-wide. While no decisions on reductions have been made, discussions in the past few months pointed to possibly eliminating freshman sports teams while creating “intermural” programs in arts, music, and theater.

Revenues remain ‘fluid’

If there is a glimmer of hope for the beleaguered budget it was highlighted by Phelan and Town Administrator Patrice Garvin at the Warrant Committee Wednesday night acknowledging that funding for both schools and town “remains fluid.” Both point to the Massachusetts State Legislature which has yet to present its version of the 2022 state budget which includes Chapter 70 Local Aid. In addition, the town has been allocated $7.2 million in the American Rescue Plan Act signed by President Biden in March.

Yet the state legislature has yet to show any indication local aid will deviate far from Gov. Baker’s proposed $12.5 million to Belmont which the town is using as a placeholder in its budget calculations. And the federal government remains quiet on issuing guidelines for using the $7.2 million.

Even before the state legislature acts and the guidance on the ARP comes down, Phelan is in early talks with Garvin on possibly using those funds to “fill in the gap” in the school budget.

An example of this approach would be “to parlay those federal dollars into services that would help students in lieu of something that we might have to reduce” such as hiring a high school social worker to help with mental health issues related to the pandemic, said Phelan.

“We have a discussion with the town if there’s any way that the $7 million can be used for COVID-related issues,” said Phelan. “We know it’s really going to come down to whether or not those definitions of the four areas of expenditures for the town” which include responding to the coronavirus health impacts or economic impacts.