News&Notes from the Superintendent

“Cause a little bit of summer is what the whole year is about.” – John Mayer

I am excited to share with you the Mid-Summer's Edition of the News & Notes! I just wanted to keep everyone up to date on all things SBRSD while hoping you are enjoying a fun-filled summer vacation! Summer school ends on Thursday after a very successful session! We saw lots of smiling faces, strong participation over the last several weeks, and heard wonderful stories of growth and accomplishments by many! Thank you to all of the amazing faculty and staff members who made this year's program so successful.

The Administrative Team has been working hard all summer, including four full-day retreat sessions and attending intensive professional development conferences, in an effort to review and refine the District's Strategy for Continuous Improvement and to get ready to welcome everyone back for the 2024-2025 school year!

Please find below updates & events happening in our District ~

This week, Governor Healey signed the $57.78 billion state budget for FY25. The Governor's team stated that this budget reflects significant investments that deliver on the state's shared goals of making Massachusetts a more affordable, equitable and competitive place to live, work and grow a business through investments in our education system, from birth through career.

The fiscal year 2025 budget allocates approximately $8.2 billion for DESE, a $238.1 million (3%) increase over the final enacted FY24 budget.

• The Fiscal Year 2025 budget proposal fully funds the fourth-year implementation of the SOA, dedicating $6.9 billion to Chapter 70 education aid, inclusive of $104 per pupil in minimum aid

• $170 million to continue universal free school meals
  • Massachusetts is one of only eight states to continue funding this after federal funding sunset

• $20 million for Literacy Launch, a nation-leading strategy to expand access to evidence-based reading instruction for Massachusetts students

• $5 million to develop a new statewide mental and behavioral health framework for birth through higher education; this work will be a partnership between EOE, EEC, DESE, DHE & stakeholders

• Over $47 million to Reimagining High School through programs like early college and innovation career pathways

• $10 million for the Green School works program that provides financial support to eligible K-12 public schools or districts for projects to install or maintain clean energy infrastructure

More specifically for SBRSD, the FY25 State Budget provides the following:

• $104 per pupil in Minimum Aid Chapter 70 Funding - up from $30 per pupil
• Universal free lunch is funded at $170 million - which is not full-year funding
• Rural Aid is funded at $16 m up $15 m from FY24
• Regional Transportation Reimbursement is at 84% which is down a few percentage points from last year
• The request to form a Chapter 70 Task Force to review required contribution, hold harmless aid, and declining enrollment issues was NOT included in the final budget submission.
  

As always, we will keep you informed with new information, updates, and opportunities to advocate on behalf of students and our school community.

To review the documentation presented at the SBRSD hearing, please see the District website at https://www.sbrsd.org/documents/district/budgets/fy25-budget/567699 .

I am so looking forward to this year's Superintendent Student Advisory Council meetings which will begin again in September!

Of course, we will be reaching out over the next few weeks to our students to help us with the planning as well as participation in our opening days as we welcome the faculty and staff back for the new school year!

We are thrilled that our partnership with Transcend continues this school year as we work to build the BerkStudio Programming!

This summer, the work has been on-going with our four sub-committees meeting several times to tackle the areas of Student Voice and Interest, BerkStudio Program Development & Innovation, Eagle Education & Advisory Board, and Funding and Resource Management. We are so appreciative to all the participants and for the ideas, energy, dedication and excitement coming from our school community, as we strive to develop relevant and engaging innovative educational experiences for our students!

In August, we will share more of what the teams have come up with and will encourage other members of our school community to join us and share their thoughts and expertise as we continue our journey forward!

To learn or become a part of this incredible community focused initiative please find the link here at https://www.sbrsd.org/page/transcend-partnership.

Congratulations to Superintendent Regulbuto who was recognized by the National Association of School Superintendents and nominated for the 2024 Excellence in Small School District Leadership Award! You can read about Dr. Regulbuto's interview with NASS here!

From 2008 until 2024 Dennis Sears has served as both an appointed and elected school committee official for our five-town regional school district. We are grateful for his dedication to the committee and his leadership surrounding the finance and policy subcommittees. Dennis set a goal for school committee participation that will serve as a gold medal standard for which we can all aspire. Thank you for serving the Southern Berkshire Regional School District!

Don't forget to mark the first day of school on your calendars. We can't wait to see you on August 28th!

Take a look at our Early College course offerings below! Do you see a class that interests you? Talk with our Early College Coordinator, Lindy Marcel, and enroll now!

Interested in learning more about our Early College program? Visit our website!

Innovation Pathways offers opportunities for students to explore cutting-edge technology and in-demand fields! The program emphasizes real-world skills through career-focused experiential learning. Participants connect with industry mentors, go on field trips, get set up with internships in their areas of interest, and more!

Mount Everett currently offers two technical pathways in Advanced Manufacturing and Information Technology.

To learn more about our Innovation Career Pathways please use the links below! To express interest in learning more about Innovation Pathways please use our form - Expression of Interest Form

Please feel free to reach out with questions or concerns as I welcome the opportunity to hear from you.

Best,

~ Dr. Beth Regulbuto, Superintendent of Schools