back to newsletters

Originally delivered on 1/24/2021 8:31 pm

SUBJECT: The Word newsletter - January 24 2021

WHS THE WORD

January 24 2021

Edition # 29

Missed an issue? Click HERE.

Email Us * WHS * WHS PTO * Facebook * WHS on Instagram


If you missed the Joint PTO Budget Presentation,  

you can watch it bu clicking HERE


UPCOMING DATES & EVENTS

JAN 25BOE WORKSHOP TO DISCUSS FY 22 BUDGET REQUEST - 9:00AM
JAN 25COMMUNITY CONVERSATION -SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH - 7:00PM
JAN 26BOE MEETING - PUBLIC FORUM WITH ADMINISTRATION ON FY 22 BUDGET - 7:00PM
JAN 28  K-12 EARLY DISMISSAL /PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
JAN 28BOE MEETING - APPROVAL AND ADOPTION OF FY 22 BUDGET - 6:00 PM
FEB 3K-12 EARLY DISMISSAL


IN THIS ISSUE

  • PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
  • BUDGET PROCESS
  • BOE REPORT
  • BOE FY 22 BUDGET REVIEW
  • SUPERINTENDENT SELECTION
  • ACT & SAT PREP BOOT CAMP
  • CLASS NOTES
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Dear WHS families,

I hope this finds you and your families well.  What a busy two weeks it has been since my last letter.  So much is happening locally and nationally.  I think I have read Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb’ 50 times.    It is so humbling to see a young woman a few years out of high school inspire an entire nation.   

Monday & Tuesday are two important opportunities locally to share your thoughts, ask questions, and stay informed.  Monday is the 2nd of the two meetings to hear about the search for a new WPS superintendent.  Tuesday is the BOE public forum about this year’s budget.  Links to both are in the calendar section of the website.

Thank you to all the administrators and principals for the budget presentation for all 4 schools last week.  If you did not get to attend, you can view the recording here:

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_LYlFYn1M-TIFx4AHaQrhHj3uvcDVNAv/view?usp=sharing

Thank you to BOE member Gina Albert for the budget process overview included in the next section.

There is lots of good information on our website – college test prep courses, recordings of PTO meetings, minutes, BOE meeting summaries – to name a few.  

 Stay involved and informed, ask questions and listen to learn because “our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation”.  

 

Best,

Janet Hoffman

WHS PTO President

BUDGET PROCESS


So everyone is hearing it’s budget season but what does that really mean? In this write-up, you will find a basic overview of Weston’s budget process and links to key documents/calendars. The Town of Weston’s (TOW) budget process is governed by state law and TOW’s own charter. The TOW budget is made up of basically 4 parts; the school operating budget, the Town’s operating budget, the capital budget and debt service. Outlined below is a month by month guide to the budget process. It is critical for Weston residents to engage early to understand the components of the school budget. If you can’t attend a meeting, videos of the meetings are available on either the WPS or TOW websites. Some critical dates are: Jan 26 (BoE public forum on the school budget), Jan 28 (BoE adoption of the FY 22 school budget), Feb 16 & Feb 25 (BoS review of BoE budget, Mar 30 (BoF public hearing), Apr 21 (ATBM), and May 1 (budget referendum).


October

The Weston Public School (WPS) administration works with the BoE to develop a detailed budget calendar. The calendar is voted on in the October BoE meeting. Here’s a link to the FY 22 budget calendar: Weston Public Schools Budget Calendar -- FY 2022 October 27, 2020 

Please note dates may change!!!!!!! The official calendar on the westonps.org website (click HERE) will have the legal postings for all meetings and our CABE database has all agendas and documents used in our meetings. Here’s a link to CABE: CABE's Public Portal.


January

The WPS administration presents a requested budget to the BoE during the first week of January. The WPS website has a section for all budget information. Here’s a link: Budget. The current FY 22 request as well as the approved budgets for the previous 8 years are presented in full. The backstory is the WPS administration would have been working on creating the budget for the past 3 months. Once the BoE receives the requested budget that kicks off a series of public meetings during January with a mandate by the TOW charter that the BoE adopt a budget and submit it to the TOW Board of Selectmen (BoS) on or before Feb 3. 

The first step is the actual presentation of the budget by the WPS administration. This is a public meeting for everyone to get a first look at the requested budget. The BoE will then have a series of workshops. As the name implies, a workshop is a working session between the BoE and the WPS administration. This is a public meeting so anyone may observe the collaborative work of the BoE and the WPS administration. There is no public comment at a workshop. There is public comment at our January BoE meeting. We will also have a public forum late in the month to allow the public an opportunity to comment/question any portion of the budget. The FY 22 BoE public forum is Jan 26. This is an excellent opportunity for everyone to have a say in the budget. The final piece is the deliberation/vote by the BoE to formally adopt the school’s operating budget and it’s requested capital budget items. This year, we are scheduled to deliberate and vote on the budget on Jan 28. The approved operating budget and capital projects then moves to the BoS. 


February

The BoS will review the BoE operating and capital budgets in a series of meetings during Feb. These meetings are open to the public. They ask questions of WPS administration and BoE leadership to gain an understanding of the request. The BoS will then vote to recommend the budget to the Board of Finance (BoF).For FY22, the BoS is scheduled to vote on the BoE budget on Feb 25. The BoS may include a recommendation for a reduction to the operating budget or an elimination of a capital expenditure at this point. This is a recommendation only. It is not an actual approval or reduction of the BoE budget. The process then moves to the BoF.


March & April

The BoF holds a series of meetings with WPS administration and BoE leadership to gain an understanding of the BoE operating budget and capital project requests.  The BoF will also hold a public forum to allow TOW residents to question/comment on any portion of the budget. The FY 22 BoF public forum is scheduled for Mar 30. The BoF then deliberates and votes on the school operating budget and capital budget. It should be noted, the BoF only votes on the total of the WPS operating budget. The BoE has the sole authority to adjust individual line items of the operating budget. The BoF will also approve each individual capital project. The amounts voted on by the BoF are the amounts presented at the All Town Budget Meeting (ATBM). The FY 22 ATBM is scheduled for April 21. The ATBM allows for Weston property owners to have another opportunity to challenge the various components of the complete TOW budget. If there is a quorum present, any single individual can request a reduction to a line item in the TOW operating budget or to any of the requested capital projects. There will be discussion and then a vote by the Weston property owners present. A simple majority vote can adjust any line item in the budget. At this point, the BoE operating budget is a single line item. The budget amounts approved at the ATBM are the budget amounts presented for public vote in the final step of the budget adoption, the budget referendum vote. 


May

And finally, we are at the final step, Weston property owners vote on the budget in a town referendum. The FY 22 budget referendum is May 1.

BOE REPORT

There are many things happening with the BOE!  We have added a few summaries for you to read on our WHS PTO page (link below).

http://www.westonpspto.org/Page.asp?n=158527&org=westonpspto.org


Highlighted topics include:

BOE 12/21/20

- 3 New Course Proposals (2 of which fall under the District's Inclusive Curriculum)

- Update from Weston Facilities Optimization Committee

- Move from ESS to Alternative Pathways

- CREC Teacher Residency Program

- Update on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work


BOE 1/19/21

- School Scenario Task Force Updates, Semester Checkpoint 

- Update on Superintendent Search Process


Curriculum Committee 12/9/21 and 1/13/21

- Gauging Progress, Assessments Framework, How We Measure Success

- 3 New Course Proposals (2 of which fall under the District's Inclusive Curriculum)


Please contact WHS BOE Rep with any questions or comments at kristana.esslinger@gmail.com

BOE FY 22 BUDGET REVIEW

The BOE is entering a pivotal week in its widely publicized Budget Review Calendar. This is the week when the BOE will complete its month-long deliberations on the Recommended FY 22 Operating Budget, with a final vote for adoption on Thursday, January 28. Here are the scheduled sessions:


Monday, January 25, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon -- BOE Workshop to Discuss FY 22 Budget Request. 

Tuesday, January 26, 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. -- BOE Public Forum with Administration on FY 22 Budget. This session is designed for the public to ask questions and make comments about the budget. Questions may be submitted starting today via the link below. Submitted questions will be read and answered at the meeting on Tuesday. Form for FY 22 Budget Questions and Comments 

Thursday, January 28, 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. -- BOE Approval and Adoption of FY 22 Budget. 


As announced on January 8, all BOE Budget Review meetings are conducted in public via Zoom and are accessible via live-streaming on YouTube. Each session is recorded and publicly posted for future viewing. The YouTube Link to access the live-stream is available here: WPS BOE Livestream. Time for Public Comment is provided as posted in all sessions other than the Budget Workshops. Instructions for how to submit Public Comments are posted with the WPS Google Calendar item for each meeting. 

SUPERINTENDENT SELECTION

“Your Voice Matters – Selecting the Weston Superintendent of Schools” 

The Weston Board of Education will be hosting the 2nd of two virtual evening opportunities for community members to share their insight on the hiring of the next Superintendent of Schools.

On Monday, January 25, Dr. Joseph Erardi, the search consultant working with the Weston Board of Education, will be facilitating a one-hour meeting dedicated to gathering community input for the superintendent’s hiring committee.

 Attendees log into the meeting using the following link:

Monday, January 25, 2021 – 7PM

meet.google.com/vzh-zuut-njs 

Any resident needing additional information on the community conversation should contact Dr. Erardi at 571-480-0313

ACT & SAT PREP BOOT CAMPS for Sophomores and Juniors

Click here for info on our upcoming ACT & SAT Prep Boot Camps for Sophomores and Juniors (the images are being corrected, but you can still make a purchase). Registration deadline is Sunday, January 31. Contact Stephanie at stephaniemm270@gmail.com with any questions.

CLASS NOTES
SENIOR CLASS

Facebook: Please join our Class of 2021 PTO parent page. Here is the link

JUNIOR CLASS
SOPHOMORE CLASS
FRESHMEN CLASS

Facebook: Please join the WHS PTO Class of 2024 Parent Group