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Eastport-South Manor elementary principals present 2025-26 budget priorities: makerspaces, furniture for self-contained classrooms, expanded Spanish and 'ESM'支持
Summary
Principals from four elementary schools outlined small percentage changes to building budgets for 2025-26 and described program priorities including makerspaces, upgraded furniture for special-education classrooms, a K–6 schedule that preserves ELA/math allocations and the expansion of Spanish instruction to grade 5.
Elementary school principals presented proposed budgets for the 2025–26 school year and outlined priorities that the district said are intended to maintain core instruction while expanding selected programs and upgrading classrooms.
Principals Jean Marie Zambelli (Tuttle Avenue), J. M. Jackson (South Street), Tom Fabian (Eastport Elementary) and Shalita Wachis (Dayton Avenue) described building-level proposals that district staff presented as small net changes compared with prior years. The principals said the district will continue to provide art, music, physical education, world language and library time across K–6 while preserving 90 minutes of daily ELA and 40–60 minutes of daily math in elementary schedules.
District staff and principals highlighted several recurring and one-time budget priorities:
- Makerspace and technology integration: The district reported continued investment in makerspaces that include Glowforge machines and 3-D printers. Principals said makerspaces are being used for class projects, service-learning (for example, Veterans Day pins) and after-school clubs, and that additional consumables will be needed to sustain student access.
- Furniture for self-contained (8:1:1) classrooms: Dayton Avenue and other principals described a design plan for one self-contained classroom that uses furniture and shelving to define activity areas, add calming corners and create individual workstations. The principals said they consulted behavior consultants and BCBAs to design the layout and that one classroom would be outfitted in the pilot.
- World language expansion: The district will expand Spanish instruction to include fifth grade, so that grades 3–5 will receive scheduled Spanish instruction; principals said K–2 will continue to receive 10 world-language periods per month.
- PBIS, Leader in Me and social-emotional learning (SEL): Principals said the district will retain positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) and the Leader in Me SEL programming and will add murals and signage to reflect building themes.
- Makerspace equipment and extracurriculars: Principals said they will support after-school clubs (including LEGO robotics) and field trips and noted associated costs for competition registration and consumables.
Budget numbers presented to the board included building-level changes described by the presenters: Tuttle Avenue showed a 4.1% increase (described in the presentation as roughly $3,000), Dayton Avenue showed about a 3% increase (driven largely by an additional furniture/asset purchase and an extra room), Eastport showed a 4% decrease (largely because some equipment purchased in prior years is not repeated), and South Street showed a small drop. District staff added that many purchases are treated as taggable assets (items over $500), barcode-tracked, and audited periodically.
Board members asked about vendor and audit practices, whether furniture purchases were coordinated with behavior consultants (principals said BCBA staff were involved), and how some PTA fundraising projects — including a book-dispensing machine for one elementary site — are progressing. The board also heard that the district had funded new marching-band uniforms in the prior budget and that students will wear them in upcoming St. Patrick's Day parades.
The elementary budget discussion was informational; the board later approved the full consent agenda for business/operations and personnel items (consent items M1–M9 and N1) during the meeting's business section. District staff said the formal public budget hearing is scheduled for April 9, with the community vote set for May 20, 2025.
Why it matters: The proposals preserve core instruction time while making targeted investments in special-education classroom design, makerspaces and language instruction that district leaders say will support classroom learning and extracurricular opportunities.
What’s next: Administrators will present further budget details in subsequent budget sessions (technology, central office salaries and benefits are scheduled), hold a public budget hearing and present a final budget for the May 20 community vote.
