THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2023 Page 5 School Committee approves $121M FY’24 School Dept. Budget By Barbara Taormina lights. The biggest change, he told the committee, was a $14 million increase over last year in Chapter 70 funding or state aid for education. Ferrante went on to say that the district is increasing staff with 98 new members. Ferrante said the district intends to hire 57 new classroom teachers, 13 instruction coordinators, 19 paraprofessionals, seven parent information aides and three psychologists. Ferrante turned the presentaMICHAEL FERRANTE School Committee Ways & Means Chair T he School Committee reviewed and voted to approve the 2024 School Department’s $121,711,646 budget this week. School Committee member Michael Ferrante, chair of the committee’s Ways & Means subcommittee, presented the numbers, but acknowledged it has been a challenge to gather exact fi gures. “I think there are three diff erent versions of the budget and the numbers are always moving,” Ferrante told fellow committee members. Still Ferrante was able to provide the committee with some signifi cant changes and hightion over to Assistant Superintendent Richard Gallucci to explain the district’s investment in fl ip locks, a security device that acts as a barricade and makes it impossible to open doors. Gallucci said the new security devices also avoid asking students to take part in training to barricade classrooms. According to Gallucci, the locks, which cost $15 each, can be transferred to the new high school. A question was raised about the 60 percent increase in salaries for the School Committee members. “This School Committee has never received a raise in 18 years,” said committee member Stacey Bronsdon-Rizzo, who added that the new salary was comparable to other nearby cities. Salaries for School Committee members will increase from $6,000 to $10,000. RevereTV Spotlight S chool’s out! Watch the Class of 2023 Graduation Ceremony as it replays on the Community Channel every day this month. The ceremony streamed live on all RevereTV outlets a few weeks ago, and it will also remain posted to YouTube. Revere High School’s underclassmen were celebrated at an awards ceremony last week that will soon be playing on RevereTV. The cast and crew of the Revere High School Drama Club’s performance of “In the Heights” were honored at the State House. This recognition ceremony is now replaying on the Community Channel. While you’re in the mood for musical performances, check out the Garfi eld Middle School 7th Grade Band and the Garfi eld Middle School Spring Concert, which will be playing on RTV at various times through the month of July. All events covered by RevereTV can be found on YouTube as well. The summer is heating up and so is the RevereTV Kitchen Studio. Be on the lookout for new episodes of “Fabulous Foods with Victoria Fabbo” and “What’s Cooking, Revere?” Victoria is sure to bring a new light and fresh seasonal recipe to share. Her new episode will be premiering this week on YouTube and the Community Channel. Next up on “What’s Cooking, Revere?” will be a longtime community member and professional wrestling expert, Rocky Raymond. This cooking show always features a guest host from around Revere willing to share personal family recipes. This episode will be recorded in a few weeks, which is when you can expect to see it on RTV and YouTube. City government meetings will soon slow down through the Fourth of July, but it is budget season at City Hall. The Ways and Means FY2023 BudREVERETV | SEE Page 16 ~ OP-ED ~ A Lesson on Civics By Anthony Zambuto Councillor-at-Large S eparation of powers is a model that divides government into separate branches, each of which has separate and independent powers. Separation of Powers in the United States is associated with the Checks and Balances system. The Checks and Balances system provides each branch of government with individual powers to check the other branches and prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. On a federal level the United States has the Executive Branch (The President and Vice-President), Legislative Branch (Congress), and the Judicial Branch (The Supreme Court). On a local level, The City of Revere operates under a Plan B form of government which includes a Mayor (Executive Branch), the City Council (Legislative Branch), and the Massachusetts Court System (Judicial Branch). For the purpose of this op-ed, I will be discussing the Executive and Legislative Branches of the City of Revere. Currently there are six employees of the City of Revere who are also candidates for City Council. Hypothetically speaking, if all six candidates were successful in their campaigns, there would be no separation of powers between the Mayor’s Office and the City Council. In other words, there would be no Checks and Balances system in place, and the Mayor would become too powerful. Without checks and balances, there would be a lack of integrity in public service which devalues the trust and confidence in the abilities of those City employees to serve on the City Council with true impartiality. There will always be an underlying appearance of confl ict by those City employees. Any vote taken by City employees who are also City Councillors would cause any reasonable person to Gerry D’Ambrosio Attorney-at-Law Is Your Estate in Order? Do you have an update Will, Health Care Proxy or Power of Attorney? If Not, Please Call for a Free Consultation. 14 Proctor Avenue, Revere (781) 284-5657 5.0 %APY* INSURED 9 Month CD Your nest egg just got an upgrade. A GREAT RATE AND INSURANCE? NO WAY. YES WAY! Here’s your chance to reach your savings goal faster than ever. Everett Bank’s 9 Month CD with an amazing 5.0% APY* gets earnings with Everett Bank’s 9 Month CD. Go to everettbank.com to easily open your account on-line in just minutes. believe that the City employee can be improperly influenced by their appointing authority, the Mayor. There would also be many instances where City employees who are also City Councillors would have to recuse themselves from discussion and participation on any matter, fi nancial or otherwise, having to do with the department in which they work. It is a duty of the City Council to vote on legislative matters and if City employees who are also City Councillors cannot vote and perform their Council duties because of confl icts of interest, then what is the purpose of them serving? assumes that interest remains on deposit until maturity. A withdrawal will reduce earnings. A penalty may Member FDIC | Member DIF All Deposits Are Insured In Full.
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