By NEIL ZOLOT

NORTH READING — The 2024-25 school year is just beginning and the Fiscal Year 2025 budget was passed at Town Meeting less than three months ago, but preparations are already being made for the FY26 School Department budget.

On Monday, September 9, the School Committee will present its FY26 budget goals, followed by a Large Capital Improvement Plan presentation on Monday, October 21.  Principals and directors will be given budget request sheets on Thursday, October 24.

On Monday, November 25 the School Committee will vote on large capital projects for FY26 and the five- and 10-year enrollment projections will be completed.

Budget requests are due to Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Michael Connelly on Thursday, December 26.

On Friday, February 14, 2025 preliminary budget books will be given to the schools with a preliminary budget presentation being made to the School Committee on Monday, March 10. A webinar on the preliminary budget will be offered Wednesday, March 26 at noon.

Scheduled for Monday, April 7 is a budget workshop at 5 p.m. and the formal budget hearing that evening. Another budget workshop may be held on Monday, April 28, if necessary.

On Wednesday, May 7, the budget will be presented to the Finance Committee followed by the anticipated approval of the spring Town Meeting warrant by the Select Board on Monday, May 12. The date of the spring Town Meeting is anticipated to be held on Monday, June 9 (the actual date will be decided by a vote of the Select Board in late winter 2025).

At the School Committee meeting Monday, August 26, chairman Scott Buckley inquired how this schedule might affect a proposal for a budget override question to add funding. “If the School Committee pushes for an override, I want to make sure we have enough time,” he said. “A lot of people said we were running out of time last year,” a reference to the failure of the Proposition 2 1/2 override vote on June 18 for the current fiscal year.

Buckley believes anticipated decreases in state aid next year might make it necessary to request an override again. “Projections show us receiving less next year,” he said.

Superintendent Dr. Patrick Daly responded with a suggestion that two budgets be prepared, one with override funds and one without, as was done for FY25.

IN OTHER BUSINESS

In other business, the committee approved changes in the student handbooks for the town’s three elementary schools and Middle School. The only major item is explicitly requiring Middle School students to wear identification badges or lanyards.

“We want to make sure there’s something on their person that’s identifiable to know who’s supposed to be in the building at all times,” Daly said. “It’s for safety. Students are expected to wear IDs and for them to be visible, but there was no mention of it before. A lot of time was spent last year clamping down on lanyards.”

The Committee also approved a first reading of changes in policy about delayed openings. Under the changes, when delays are called for inclement weather or other emergencies, school start times will be delayed for two hours rather than the current 90 minutes. Under such circumstances both morning pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes will be cancelled, notification will be made by the Superintendent or his/her designee, and persons responsible for updating the district website, social media, and calling TV and radio stations will state that the delay will be for two hours not 90 minutes and there will be no morning kindergarten classes.

Second lunch price increase

The members also approved a recommendation by Daly and Connelly to increase the “type A second entree” lunch prices by 50 cents at all schools for the 2024-25 school year. This will increase the cost of an elementary school lunch to $3.50 and increase the cost to $3.75 at the middle and high schools.

“These increases will allow the District to be in compliance as we prepare for an administrative review with the Department of Education this upcoming school year,”  Connelly stated in memo issued to the committee on the matter. “Even though there will continue to be universal free meals for the upcoming school year, the North Reading Public Schools is still required to charge (a fee) if a student takes a second lunch. The paid lunch equity provision still applies and requires all School Food Authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program to ensure paid lunch prices are enough to cover the costs of paid meals or otherwise provide enough funds to support paid meal costs. The North Reading Public Schools is required to increase lunch prices for a second meal for the 2024-2025 school year. Not many students opt to take a second lunch throughout the school year so this will have a minimal impact on families.”

“To adhere to these paid lunch regulations, the North Reading Public Schools will need to increase the price of student second lunch options to bring the District above the weighted average of $3.56, the difference between the free Federal reimbursement and the Federal reimbursement for paid lunches. Our current weighted average of our lunch prices is only $3.11. My recommendation for the 2024-2025 school year is to increase second entree lunch prices. It would raise North Reading’s average weighted price calculation over the minimum required amount of $3.56 (likely to increase for 2024-25) to $3.61,” Connelly added.

“In addition, to meet the required regulations, the adult meal price must increase this school year. The adult lunch meal needs to increase from $4 to $5 per meal.”

The memo cited Adult Meal Pricing Guidelines as: “Adult meal charges must be priced at the Federal reimbursement for a free student lunch plus ($4.43) the USDA Foods per meal value ($0.45); inclusive of covering the cost of preparing and serving the meal and must be charged state meals tax, (7%).”