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Parents, retirees and students urge Brookline to protect middle‑school conservatory program amid budget talks
Summary
Multiple public commenters — parents, a retired nurse and Brookline High students — urged the committee to preserve the grades 4–8 Conservatory program and to support a proposed override, saying the program feeds the high‑school performing arts pipeline and provides life skills for low-income students.
At public comment, several speakers asked the Brookline School Committee to preserve the Conservatory music program for grades 4–8 and to support the upcoming override.
Rachel Goodman, board chair of Steps to Success Inc., announced she will reschedule a joint presentation with the district and noted the nonprofit’s 25‑year partnership serving more than 350 Brookline Public Schools students from lower‑income families.
Parents and retired staff gave personal testimony about the program’s value. Emily Gallagher said her sixth grader’s participation in the Conservatory has been “devastating” to consider cutting away, crediting teachers with strong instruction and stressing that many families make financial sacrifices to remain in Brookline. Retired school nurse Beverly Gallagher described decades of watching students gain confidence, teamwork and life skills through the program and warned that without it some students will lack access to subsequent high‑school courses.
Brookline High students Ronnie Chang and Peter Clark described the Conservatory as the source of the high school’s robust ensembles: they said middle‑school participation enables three high‑school orchestras and three choirs and urged the committee to support the May override so those pipelines can continue.
Committee members acknowledged the comments during the meeting. The district’s budget update later in the agenda noted the Select Board had placed a single-question $23.25 million override (phased over three years) on the May 5 ballot; the superintendent said $7.94 million of that total would go to schools. Public speakers tied their appeals to that proposed override and asked the committee to consider program preservation if the override passes.
What’s next: The May 5 override vote will determine whether additional school funding is available; staff said they will continue to plan for both outcomes and to follow legal contract deadlines tied to possible reductions in force.
