Superintendent and staff brief board on special-education monitoring, dental program revival and budget reductions

Administrators told the board the district began a Department of Education special-education monitoring process that includes documentation reviews, staff and parent surveys and community feedback sessions; monitoring work runs through April 6 with opportunities for parent input either in person or virtually. The administration said the DOE typically sees 5 to 25 parents participate in such reviews and asked the board to help publicize the events to improve turnout.

The superintendent reported that state funding has become available again for school dental programs and that administrators are investigating whether Timberlane can rejoin a state-supported dental program this year; the program would be opt-in for families. Administrators also thanked the nursing staff for continuing CPR instruction for district employees.

On budget matters, administrators summarized the warrant and budget timeline: an initial $92 million proposed budget was reduced by the budget committee to about $88 million after $4 million in reductions that included moving $900,000 in lease payments to the next fiscal year, removing $1.3 million from capital, and cutting approximately 21 positions to achieve savings. The board was reminded that detailed warrant language and hearings are coming up, including citizen petitions and a January public hearing.