Page 2 Need a hall for your special event? The Schiavo Club, located at 71 Tileston Street, Everett is available for your Birthdays, Anniversaries, Sweet 16 parties and more? For more info, call (857) 249-7882 LIKE US ON FACEBOOK ADVOCATE NEWSPAPER FACEBOOK.COM/ADVOCATE.NEWS.MA THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, ApRil 5, 2024 BUDGET | FROM PAGE 1 relatively stable since 2003, when there were 7,285 students after a low point of 6,813 in 2022. A 5.21% increase is not unusual. Wakefi eld’s is going up 5.5%. “I am totally satisfied with how the EPS budget office approached this budget cycle,” School Committee Chairperson and Ward 3 Member Jeanne Cristiano said. “The Superintendent and his team have developed a plan that allows us to build on important social-emotional initiatives, expand and enhance instructional supports, and boost student achievement. Most of all, I appreciate the fact that our budget was signifi cantly shaped by collaborative and in-depth conversations with administrators and building leaders from throughout the district. The priorities of this budget refl ect the priorities of our schools.” Chapter 70 funds, outside those raised locally, include $1.9 million from the Student Opportunity Act Plan (SOA) enacted in 2019 to provide funds for students with the greatest needs. “The SOA Plan addresses a subset of a district’s overall initiatives focusing on evidence-based programs and strategies that will improve the educational experiences and outcomes of students, including English Learners, students with disabilities and low-income students,” a memo for the School Committee prepared by Superintendent William Hart reads. “At the heart of the SOA plan is the selection of Evidence-Based Programs we will use to drive improvements for selected student groups. This year, EBPs are aligned with DESE’s [Mass. Dept. of Elementary & Secondary Education] new Educational Vision and Strategic Objectives, along with the recommended menu of metrics we can choose to include in their plans. This year’s guidance establishes an improvement target for districts to include in their SOA plans that focus on the lowest performing student group, along with the option to establish additional targets to support individual student groups as needed based on data analysis. “To that end, our SOA Plan will spotlight critical, actionable evidence-based programs and strategies that are focused on rapidly improving outcomes for students with low academic performance whether we are enhancing ongoing eff orts or introducing new initiatives.” Over the course of three years, SOA funds will total $5.7 million. “The district was given guidance from DESE as to which student group should be most impacted by the SOA Plans,” Director of Instruction Anne Auger elaborated for the School Committee at their meeting Monday, March 18. “Based on those guidelines and the district’s academic outcome data, we’ll address English as a Learned Language in Grades K-8. Our plan seeks to invest in fi lling three evidence-based priorities: a comprehensive approach to early literacy, early literacy screening and support and targeted academic support and acceleration.” “Are these students struggling with food insecurity, shelter insecurity or, possibly, mental health issues?” Ward 2 School Committee Member Joanna Garren asked. “I didn’t see any information about root causes for disparate outcomes or basic needs.” “DESE asks us to look at data within our control, like instructional programs,” Auger answered. “They send us a heat map with a lot of data, and it behooves us to pick data from that as to why we’re going to pursue certain initiatives.” The CoderZ Knowledge Base website defines Heat Maps, which are more like tables or spread sheets than geographBUDGET | SEE PAGE 5
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