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Committee approves one-time summer pay increase and lets seniors buy Chromebooks; user fees will revert to pre-pandemic levels
Summary
The committee approved a one-time summer pay bump to $45/hour for summer staff (funded largely by ESSER and partnerships) with one abstention, voted to allow seniors to purchase issued Chromebooks for $25, and discussed returning athletics/music user fees to pre-pandemic levels next fiscal year.
The school committee approved two operational budget items and discussed next steps for user fees during its May 12 meeting.
Summer staffing pay: administrators asked for a one-time increase in summer staffing pay from $35 to $45 per hour to remain competitive for enrichment and credit-recovery programs. They said most summer programming funding will come from ESSER grants and a partnership with the Boys & Girls Club. The committee approved the request; the roll-call produced one abstention.
Chromebooks for seniors: the committee voted unanimously to permit graduating seniors to purchase the district-issued Chromebooks they have been using for $25 if they wish. Administrators said devices are aging and that selling them avoids recycling/disposal costs while providing students optional ownership.
User fees: the committee discussed that pandemic-era reductions to athletics and music fees were written to cover only the current school year and, without a new motion, those fees will revert to the pre-pandemic schedule next fiscal year (for example, prior family cap was $600 and certain sport fees return to prior rates). Finance staff estimated the lost revenue from the temporary reduction to be $40,000–$50,000 per year.
Voting details: the chromebook purchase motion passed unanimously; the summer-pay motion passed with one abstention. Committee members asked staff to notify families about fee changes well before registration.
