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Brookline parents, teachers urge committee to exempt staff children from materials-fee denials for special-education services

Brookline School Committee · March 5, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Two public commenters, including a Hayes librarian, told the School Committee that enforcing the district’s materials‑fee policy against staff children who require 1:1 aides would force families to leave schools and potentially force staff to resign; speakers urged the committee to grandfather currently enrolled students and to amend the policy to preserve access to IEP services.

Lindsay Anderson, a librarian at Hayes, told the Brookline School Committee that her 5‑year‑old son — currently enrolled at Runkle as a materials‑fee student — recently moved from a 504 plan to an IEP and now requires a 1:1 aide. Anderson said she was told that if the child still requires that support next year, he may be denied continued enrollment at Runkle under the district’s materials‑fee agreement and that the policy, as enforced now, creates a “ticking clock” for children whose needs change over time. "Disabilities do not align with budget cycles," Anderson said, urging the committee to allow her son to return and to avoid removing students who require…

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