Randolph school committee to press town council for earlier budget briefing after president declines in-person presentation
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Summary
School committee members said Town Council President Christos Alexopoulos told them a joint presentation likely will not happen until May; committee scheduled finance subcommittee meetings April 10 and April 17 and plans invites to all town counselors and the town manager ahead of the May 1 budget hearing.
The Randolph Public Schools School Committee recessed its regular agenda on April 3 to plan next steps after the town council president, Christos Alexopoulos, indicated a joint council–school-committee budget meeting likely will not occur until May.
Committee leadership said Alexopoulos told them the joint meeting would probably not take place until May, a reply the chair called insufficient given the committee’s desire for earlier face-to-face discussion. The chair told members she had asked for an earlier meeting and asked committee members to help press for a date in the next few weeks.
Why this matters: the school committee wants to present detailed budget needs and to "educate the town council on what the landscape looks like for the school department," the chair said. The timing affects the committee’s ability to gather feedback before the public budget hearing scheduled for May 1.
Planned steps: during a finance subcommittee meeting the committee set a schedule to finalize the school budget presentation. The committee will meet April 10 at 6 p.m. to finalize the presentation and hold a special finance meeting April 17 at 6 p.m. The chair said she will send a personal invitation and calendar invite to every town councilor and the town manager and will CC the school committee on correspondence. The district plans to incorporate council feedback into a final presentation for the May 1 budget hearing; the committee also noted the finance meeting time on May 1 should read 5:30 p.m. for a finance session ahead of a 7 p.m. full-committee budget hearing.
District members said the town council president instructed them to submit their budget request to the town manager rather than present in person; the committee nonetheless plans outreach and repeated invitations to councilors. No formal vote occurred at the meeting on this approach; committee members agreed to the April meeting dates and outreach steps.
The committee asked staff to send calendar invites, include links to the meetings and to track responses from town councilors. The chair said she will follow up with town-council leadership to seek an earlier joint meeting if possible.
