Wayland school finance subcommittee opts against full-day K warrant article

WAYLAND — December 20, 2023 — Wayland school finance subcommittee will fund full-day kindergarten through the operating budget rather than a warrant article. Subcommittee chair Jeannie said Superintendent David, along with Finance Committee members Brian and Michael McCall, recommended against a placeholder article ahead of the Jan. 15 filing deadline, accepting a one-year lag in Chapter 70 reimbursement built into the state aid formula. Finance Director Susan said 193 of 195 kindergartners are already in full-day classes and that the town would have received roughly $893,000 in additional Chapter 70 aid this year had the program been in place last October. Susan said state Deputy Commissioner Jay Sullivan and finance director Rob O'Donnell could not recall a district being exempted from the lag. "We have to leap," subcommittee member Erin said. The subcommittee also reviewed a streamlined, mostly digital fiscal 2025 budget book of roughly 30 narrative pages.