Resident urges Town of Brookline to preserve world language program as receipts outpace forecasts

Resident Jeffrey Ellis pressed the Town of Brookline Select Board on May 29 to preserve the town’s world language program, saying recent revenue figures indicate the board may be able to avoid the proposed cut.

"We already have 34,000,000 this year for a partial year with 2 months to go," Ellis told the board during the public-comment period. He contrasted that figure with prior-year receipts he cited as roughly $38 million and $43 million and said the town had been conservative in its revenue forecasts for three years.

Ellis said the town had invested in teacher training and that cutting program staff would make it harder to recruit and retain experienced language teachers. "I would be very sad to end this program," he said.

Staff later responded that the issue is more complicated than a single funding line. A staff member who was thanked by the chair as "David" said a recent program review found uneven offerings across schools and that running the program well "would need to devote more time to it and also more resources." That staff member warned that restoring roughly $1,000,000 would not by itself address the review’s findings about staffing, assignment load and inequitable access across schools.

Ellis also referenced local reports, saying the Thomas Sauer and Pearl reports "didn't suggest cutting the language program" and that recommended approaches emphasized using strong language teachers to train colleagues rather than eliminating the program.

The Select Board acknowledged the public comments and moved on to the posted FY25 budget discussion; the transcript records no formal vote or decision on the world language program during this short session.

Next steps: the board did not record a formal motion or vote on the program in the transcript; staff and the board indicated they would continue discussing budget details and follow up after reviewing revenue figures and the program review findings.