• Contact Us
  • Events calendar
Entering Swellesley
Pinnacle, Wellesley

The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

  • Advertise
  • Business index
  • Contribute
  • Wellesley Square
  • Private schools
  • Camp
  • Eat
  • Schools
  • Top 10 things to do
  • Embracing diversity
  • Kids
  • About us
  • Events
  • Natick Report
  • COVID-19
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Athlete of the Week
  • Seniors
Needham Bank, Wellesley
Write Ahead, Wellesley

Wellesley Town Meeting passes budget, now onto the fun stuff

March 27, 2019 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

wellesley town meeting

Wellesley Town Meeting on Night 2 of the annual government extravaganza passed a nearly $170M budget, including a 3.5% increase on school spending. You can review the Town Meeting Scorecard to catch up on what’s been voted on so far and watch the meeting on Wellesley Public Media.

Wellesley Public Schools Superintendent David Lussier was the star of the show on Tuesday, presenting the proposed school budget and then returning to the podium over and over to answer Town Meeting members’ questions on everything from hiring a director of diversity, equity and inclusion (What will the person actually do? Who will the director report to? Will it be a permanent gig?) to possibly replacing Macs with Chromebooks to progress on minority hiring (Lussier said the system failed to hits goal this past year, but not for lack of trying). The superintendent, operating with a “home field advantage” at the Middle School, thanked Town Meeting members for “helping me with my cardio tonight,” in reference to his frequent getting up and down.

Tension over school spending, including between the School Committee and Board of Selectmen, was a theme throughout the evening. Speakers cited the need for a better system for determining huge outlays for school facilities and services even while the town has other big non-school projects in the works. With the school system readying for a new 5-year plan, there will be plenty of discussion on the topic in the months to come.

The School Committee Matt Kelley said the committee, the Board of Selectmen and Advisory Committee need to work together going forward to ensure educational excellence is available in Wellesley. “We need to have the residents of the town weigh in on how they value that excellence [in education] and what they think is appropriate funding for the schools,” he added.

One school budget challenge is how not only to prevent falling back from where we are on school services, but to invest strategically in prepping students for 21st living and working. Lussier said his team has evolved its strategy for ensuring it has enough resources to cover variable special education-related expenses after giving back requested funding to the town last time around when special education expenses turned out not to be as high as they could have been. This was “good but problematic,” Lussier said. Not including so much of a buffer in the budget this time around — and continuing to grow the rainy day fund — could help to ensure that more money is available for general education investments, he said.

The big excitement for the night took place during a vote on whether to amend a motion on the overall town budget to include additional funds for a director of libraries across the schools. Moderator Mark Kaplan heard correctly that the Nos outnumbered the Yesses. But a standing vote was called for by Town Meeting members and that resulted in “tellers” armed with clipboards tallying the number of each after the Nos and Yesses were asked to stand up separately — and the Nos took it.

Town Meeting members also used the budget discussion period to raise issues such as:

*Investing more in mental health services in schools and for other residents

*Fixing sidewalk potholes

*Reviewing the teacher step-up salary structure

Town Meeting resumes on April 1. That promises to be fun, as items yet to be discussed include sports fields, citizens’ petitions, and more.

More on Wellesley Town Meeting

print

Share

Filed Under: Education, Town Meeting

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You have to agree to the comment policy.

Linden Square, Wellesley
Deland, Gibson, Wellesley
Wonderful Wellesley, see what's new

Tip us off…

Please send tips, photos, ideas to [email protected]

 

Advertisements

Wellesley Square
Wellesley, Jesamondo
Edge on Science
Sexton test prep
Feldman Law
Fay School, Southborough
Wellesley Theatre Project
Volvo
Cheesy Street Grill
Admit Fit, Wellesley
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Never miss a post with our free daily Swellesley Report email
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please wait...
Please enter all required fields Click to hide
Correct invalid entries Click to hide

You can subscribe for free, though we appreciate any contribution that supports our independent journalism.

Click on Entering Natick sign to read our Natick Report

Entering Natick road sign

Most Read Posts

  • Father's Day rescue in Wellesley
  • Wellesley Public School employees honored for loyalty
  • One final Hunnewell clap-out & shouts of "Judie! Judie! Judie!" for beloved crossing guard
  • Wellesley overwhelmed by Westwood in state final for girls' lacrosse
  • Wellesley school news: Wellesley High grads return to Hardy; German students feast; Get your kids into consulting

Upcoming Events

Jun 28
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Fay School admission information session

Jul 6
10:00 am - 11:00 am

Open House at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

Jul 16
10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Wellesley Square July Jubilation Sidewalk Sale

Jul 19
8:00 am - 9:00 am

Fay School admission information session

Jul 20
10:00 am - 11:00 am

Tour at Boston Outdoor Preschool Network

View Calendar

Popular pages

  • Wellesley’s 7 official scenic roads

Recent Comments

  • Uncle Danny on Wellesley overwhelmed by Westwood in state final for girls’ lacrosse
  • Fred Wright on Father’s Day rescue in Wellesley
  • Michael on Father’s Day rescue in Wellesley
  • Bob Brown on Restaurants in Wellesley, Mass.: more than 50 dining options
  • Bob Brown on Sneak peek: We visit Wellesley’s Laughing Monk Cafe

Links we like

  • Great Runs
  • Jack Sanford: Wellesley's Major League Baseball Star
  • Taquitos.net
  • Tech-Tamer
  • The Wellesley Wine Press
  • Universal Hub
  • Wellesley Sports Discussion Facebook Group

Categories

  • 2021 Town Election (24)
  • Animals (416)
  • Antiques (49)
  • Art (576)
  • Beyond Wellesley (47)
  • Books (364)
  • Business (1,499)
  • Camp (11)
  • Careers/jobs (48)
  • Churches (79)
  • Clubs (228)
  • Construction (294)
  • Dump (127)
  • Education (3,108)
    • Babson College (250)
    • Bates Elementary School (16)
    • Dana Hall School (34)
    • Fiske Elementary School (9)
    • Hardy Elementary School (44)
    • Hunnewell Elementary School (42)
    • MassBay (55)
    • Schofield Elementary School (24)
    • Sprague Elementary School (19)
    • St. John School (2)
    • Tenacre Country Day School (11)
    • Upham Elementary School (35)
    • Wellesley College (608)
    • Wellesley High School (961)
    • Wellesley Middle School (203)
  • Embracing diversity (69)
  • Entertainment (786)
  • Environment (748)
  • Fashion (141)
  • Finance (14)
  • Fire (161)
  • Food (342)
  • Fundraising (612)
  • Gardens (157)
  • Government (553)
    • 2020 Town Election (47)
    • 2022 Town Election (14)
  • Health (850)
    • COVID-19 (200)
  • Hikes (3)
  • History (388)
  • Holidays (405)
  • Houses (153)
  • Humor (47)
  • Kids (849)
  • Law (8)
  • Legal notices (6)
  • Letters to the Editor (62)
  • Media (70)
  • METCO (4)
  • Military (11)
  • Morses Pond (108)
  • Music (568)
  • Natick Report (29)
  • Neighbors (273)
  • Obituaries & remembrances (73)
  • Outdoors (642)
  • Parenting (62)
  • Police (757)
    • Crime (386)
  • Politics (551)
  • POPS Senior Profile (8)
  • RDF (6)
  • Real estate (330)
  • Religion (131)
  • Restaurants (331)
  • Safety (150)
  • Scouts (2)
  • Seniors (120)
  • Shopping (143)
  • Sponsored (6)
  • Sports (980)
    • Athlete of the Week (6)
  • STEM (107)
  • Technology (164)
  • Theatre (392)
  • Town Meeting (23)
  • Transportation (230)
  • Travel (17)
  • Uncategorized (1,230)
  • Volunteering (346)
  • Weather (177)
  • Wellesley Election 2019 (21)
  • Wellesley Free Library (276)
  • Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend (19)
RSS Feed Icon Subscribe to RSS Feed
Deland, Gibson Insurance, Wellesley

© 2022 The Swellesley Report
Site by Tech-Tamer · Login