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Brookline School Committee approves several routine items and hears residents plead to save music conservatory as override vote nears
Summary
The committee unanimously approved consent items, leases, gifts, transportation and several policy revisions while residents — parents and students — urged preservation of the middle-school music conservatory; administration updated the committee on a May 5 override question for $23.25 million.
At its March 26 meeting the Brookline School Committee approved multiple consent items, accepted gifts and approved contract and policy items, while hearing repeated public pleas to preserve the district's conservatory music program as the town prepares for a May override vote.
Votes at a glance - Consent agenda (accounts payable): approved unanimously (committee roll call recorded in the meeting). The motion to approve the consent items carried with affirmative votes from committee members present. - Acceptance of gifts: committee approved two gifts recommended by finance subcommittee; motion passed unanimously. - Lease extensions (classroom capacity at two houses of worship): approved on a motion from finance; unanimous vote. - One-year transportation contract extension (Eastern / Local Motion): approved unanimously after finance noted the district's comparatively limited price increase. - Policy votes (second readings and approvals): physical restraint policy (E2B), administration/delegation of prescription medications (E2D), and a middle-school CTE pathways exploration policy all passed on second reading with recorded affirmative votes. - Town procurement support: the committee voted to endorse the town's environmentally preferable procurement policy to preserve grant eligibility.
Public comment and budget context Several parents and students urged the committee to preserve the music conservatory program for grades 4—, expressing immediate concern about possible cuts tied to the budget. Emily Gallagher, a parent, said the conservatory's two-times-per-week programming and in-district private-lesson access "has had such a great impact on my child" and warned that eliminating the program would force families to reconsider living in Brookline for musical opportunities. BHS students Ronnie Chang and Peter Clark described the conservatory as the primary feeder for high-school ensembles; Clark said the district-wide music offerings "wouldn't even be able to happen" without the middle-school conservatory.
Superintendent's budget update Superintendent Wong reported the Select Board voted to put a single-question override on the May 5 ballot: a $23.25 million, three-year, phased proposal with about $7.94 million earmarked for schools in year one. District leaders said they are planning for multiple outcomes: they will prepare for staffing adjustments if the override fails and are negotiating with unions and town HR to align any required RIF timelines so notices do not go out before the election if possible.
What the votes mean Most votes at the meeting were unanimous or procedural. Several committee members said they appreciated staff work that reduced projected outsourced HVAC costs by hiring in-house technicians; the committee approved a reallocation of $54,500 within the buildings/accounting plan to support repair-and-maintenance work and endorsed hiring two HVAC technicians to lower overall service expenditures.
The meeting adjourned after subcommittee reports and a preview of a new, volunteer-built warrant-level spending tracker that committee members said staff and finance will review before any public deployment.
