Two on Worcester Public Schools budget (this one on FY25)

At Thursday's Worcester School Committee meeting, we'll get our first high-level glimpse of the administration's recommended FY25 budget. That link is to the agenda; the backup for the report of the superintendent is not yet posted. 
Note of course that this means the budget is on the agenda, so if you have something to say on the budget, it could be a good time to do so. There also will be a (mandated) budget hearing before the Committee deliberates; as the preliminary budget calendar has the projected date for that conflicting with a graduation, I'd imagine it will be rescheduled?

I'm not actually sure when the below was created or shared, (found here) but I stumbled across it in working to chase down the quarterly budget updates for my last post. This has every indication of being something we'll see again both this week, and on May 10, when the recommended budget comes out.

from here

We also know that the decisions will be made using the district strategic plan. Regardless of whether your budget is adding or subtracting: if you don't have a plan on what you're basing those decisions on, it's not as it should be. 
And, of course, the Worcester Public Schools continues to abide by the Seven Point Plan for Advancing Student Achievement and Program Sustainability, codified in policy DA. 

Just to clear up one thing that came up at last week's meeting, at which there was a bit about the House budget about 2 hours and 50 minutes in, around an item posted by Member Binienda:

To discuss the possible impact on FY25 cuts in reference to the current House Budget

which seems to have been submitted with this backup, which is the House run of the comparison of chapter 70 in FY24 to the Governor's budget to the proposed House Ways and Means budget by community.
Binienda stated that if that budget passed, there would be a $19M increase for Worcester, and "we wouldn't be short that $22M."
As the $22M shortfall is based on the House 2 (the Governor's) budget, and, as the difference on the backup Binienda herself submitted shows, the difference in chapter 70 is $377,072, as Mr. Allen noted in responding to her. That stems from the correction on the poverty count--thank you, Pittsfield!--between the Governor's and House budget.
The only $19M difference is a difference between this year and last year, not between the House budget and the budget on which we have already seen estimates, the Governor's budget:

This is a pretty amazing misreading of the backup she herself submitted.

As Mr. Allen went on to note--and as anyone who's closely watched any of Worcester's budget presentations this or any year knows--the number isn't simply that $337,072 change; one does not simply pull the chapter 70 number for Worcester* and call it the Worcester Public Schools' funding. There's a reason why we talk about the cherry sheets, which give not only the total chapter 70 aid, but how much of that is going to the charter schools through tuition; how much is going to other districts through school choice; how much is going out in special education; and then how much is coming to WPS through charter school tuition reimbursement; and how much is coming in through school choice. This should sound familiar, as it's part of every budget presentation that we see on the Worcester Public Schools. That nets out to what Mr. Allen said was $160,000 increase

...which isn't going to save the bacon here.

The other thing that I want to remind people is where the balance of funds go:

p.23 FY24 WPS budget

And where the largest number of staff are:

p. 383 FY24 WPS budget**

...to bring some realism to the choices that are going to need to be made about $22M.

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*It had to be done:

**I am so tired of having this same conversation, but as it will probably come up again: