City Council - Ways & Means Committee Hearing on Dockets #0201 & #0202

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Good evening. My name is Ben Weber. I'm the District 6 City Councillor and the Chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Ways and Means. Today is March 10, 2026, and the exact time is 6.10 p.m. This is a public testimony session. It is being recorded. It's also being livestreamed on boston.gov slash city dash council dash tv. and broadcasts on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, and Fios Channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee email at ccc.wm.boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all counselors. Public testimony will be taken throughout this session and individuals will be called on the order in which they signed up. If you haven't signed up and you want to speak, there is a sign up list over there or in the order that you've signed up online.

Each individual will be given two minutes to testify. You can watch the time on this clock behind me. And please, when you've reached two minutes, Please wrap it up. Be respectful to the other people who've come out here tonight to testify, and we'll just work together on that. When your name's called, please walk up to one of the two microphones over here in the back. You can go to either one. They'll both be on. And I may call a couple people out. at once, you can get in line behind each other. And again, here, the mics are over where I'm pointing. If you're interested in testifying in person, please add your name at the sign up sheet. And virtually, please, if you want to testify virtually, Email our central staff liaison, Megan,

Meagan.corugedo at boston.gov for the link and your name will be added to the list. Today's public testimony is a pre-budget public testimony session. Usually we do these after the budget comes out, while the city council reviews the budget. Today's public testimony Session is a pre-budget session, so counselors can hear what people want us to look at in the budget. We're going to have one of these today and we'll do another one on March 24th at 6 p.m. So if you know anyone else you think would like to testify, please tell them about that day. We'll be back here on March 24th at 6 p.m. After we receive the budget, we'll have at least one other public testimony session, maybe two will work on that. So today's public testimony session,

is on two dockets, docket number 201 in order for hearing to discuss Boston's FY27 operating budget and docket number 0202 in order for a hearing to discuss Boston Public Schools' FY27 operating budget. This matter is sponsored by myself and the Vice Chair of the Committee, John Fitzgerald, and was referred to the Committee on February 4th, 2026. Just to level set, tonight's agenda is focused on the residents of Boston, We'll have two opportunities to have these discussions before the budget comes out April 8th. We'll also host public listening sessions After April 8th. And before we get started, we're going to hear from my colleagues who've shown up in order of arrival. Councilor Durkan, Councilor Mejia, Councilor Culpepper, Councilor Pepén, and Councilor Louijeune.

Flynn. I've received a letter of absence from Councilor Flynn. So for each of my colleagues, I know I said two minutes. I'm going to limit that to one. You get one minute. Durkan, you're up first.

Thank you, Chair Weber. Today is not about us. It's about you. So excited to listen to the public testimony we have today. Also, Chair Weber, you have a penchant for picking the most beautiful day in Boston for this hearing. So for anyone who cannot join today, please make sure that you email in your comments. I imagine that people are running on Esplanade and doing other beautiful things right now. And so I hope that anyone who's not here who cares about this year's budget will also email our chair. Thank you and good to see all my colleagues.

Okay, thank you. Councilor Mejia.

Thank you, Chair Weber, and I want to thank the members of the public who are here. We are here to listen to you. I initially had a letter of absence because I do have another commitment that was already booked. Before this, but out of respect for you, I at least want you to see me, that I showed up. But the good thing is that this is being recorded and my team and I will be taking notes and reporting back. and making sure that we're taking the marching orders from those that we serve. And not just here to listen, but to actually act on what we hear because that's what people are asking us to do. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Councillor Mejia. Councillor Culpepper, one minute.

Good evening. Thank you, Chair Weber, for convening this hearing and providing the public an opportunity to testify on the fiscal year operating fiscal year 27 operating Boston Public Schools budget. At a time when many residents are facing rising costs and economic uncertainty, it is our responsibility to carefully evaluate spending, identify priorities, and ensure that city resources of being allocated in a way that delivers meaningful services to our community. As we move forward in this budget process, we must center equity, ensure that our decisions strengthen, not weaken the resources available to students, families, and those who depend on our public schools. Thank you for being here.

Okay, thank you, Councilor Culpepper. Let's see, sorry, Councilor Pepén.

Thank you Mr. Chair and thank you for everyone for being here today. It's very important whenever we do a public testimony session to hear directly from our residents and advocacy groups that are making sure that we hear what are your priorities. Thank you so much to the BTU and the Boston Education Justice Alliance for providing this letter already. Just today at 2 p.m., we had another hearing regarding BPS budget where we were able to ask questions. So this is I think it's a perfect day for it, timing-wise, so making sure we're asking the tough questions so we can get some results in the near future. So thank you, everyone. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for holding this space.

Okay, thank you. Councillor Louijeune.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair. If we had bet, I would have lost the bet. I said that for the first public listening session, we tend not to have a great turnout of community, and today we have A great turnout of community, so I stand corrected. It is really important that we do listen and that we do internalize what we hear today. I want to echo what Councilor Penn stated and thank BTU and Mejia for providing us already with this document. It's really important for us to help us think about how we're thinking about the budget. So I just want to say thank you to everyone for being inside on this gorgeous day. And I just want to say that I unfortunately also do have a time, a conflict, but I will stay as long as I can so that I can hear as much testimony, but hope that we're also able to and testimony as well. So thank you for being here.

Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Okay. No, I'm not going to give you another minute, Councilor Culpepper. Yeah. You almost fooled me. I'm not sure. No, no, I think we've heard enough. Yeah, yeah. OK, well, so I really want to thank everyone who showed up tonight and everybody who signed up online. It's incredibly important for us as a body to hear from the people of Boston. The city budget is really the most important policy document that we take part in every year, and it's how we translate I know it's something everyone here and all my colleagues on the council

I'm going to call on The first five, and then for the folks waiting online, I'll go to the folks online and then come back to the people who've signed up, and then we'll just go, you know, in order. So first I have up, I have Keough McClay, then Hannah, oh my god, is this Hoeven? Okay, good, I got that right. Dr. Biara Ortiz, I don't know what that says. Am I reading it? Is it?

Okay, okay, then you, and then Cariz Manana, I'm sorry, after Dr. Ortiz, then it's Ayla Hicks Fernandez, Nyla, of course, because you just testified, and then Carles Manana. So it's one, two, three, four, five. So Keough, Hannah, Dr. Biara, Nyla, and then Carles. So, Keough, you ready? Oh, this is lower than I thought. Yes, I am ready. Okay, and then you can also, the next person can go over there if they want, but that's totally fine, so. Keough, you're up. I'm going to give you two minutes here on the clock, OK?

All right. Thank you. I do not have my glasses, so please bear with me while I try to read this off my phone. Good afternoon, Chair and members of the Council. My name is Keel McClay. I am the Executive Director of BEJA, the Boston Education Justice Alliance, a coalition of parents, students, educators, and community members fighting for a just and equitable Boston public schools. I'm here today with a simple message. Students in Boston Public Schools deserve better. The proposed fiscal year 2027 BPS budget is $1.7 billion. On paper, that sounds like a lot, but the reality is the money is not reaching classrooms. Yes, enrollment decline is real and some adjustments may be necessary, but the vast majority of new budget growth is being absorbed by rising structural costs like healthcare, transportation before it even reaches our schools. And when operating dollars don't make it to the schools, the positions that get cut are the people who work most closely with students, the teachers, the paras, the counselors, and mental health staff.

These are the adults our students rely on every single day. Mayor Wu said in her State of the Schools Address that the mission is to make Boston Public Schools the first choice for families. If that is truly the goal, then we cannot be cutting the very staff who make our schools supportive, safe, and strong learning environments. Boston is entering fiscal year 2027 with reserves well above its own policy minimums. The city has the resources to step up. We are calling on the mayor and the city council to allocate just 1% of the city's operating budget to cover these rising costs and prevent cuts to student services. And we must prioritize our high-need schools, the schools serving the greatest number of students with disabilities, English language learners, and economically disadvantaged students who are facing some of the deepest cuts. These are the same schools that we ask to improve in attendance, to improve in reading scoring, and other outcomes. But improvement requires investments.

We are especially concerned about the impact of the cuts to our English language learner students and students with disabilities. Boston is a multilingual city. English learners deserve bilingual education and cultural responsive classrooms to support their success. Cutting bilingual staff undermines both equity and academic outcomes and also to mention other things raised by students like Nyla Hicks around transportation for students with disability in Boston public schools.

Keough, can you wrap it up? Okay.

If we want Boston Public Schools to truly be the first choice for families, we have to invest the students and the staff who make learning possible. A compliance budget is not an equitable budget. Our students deserve better.

Thank you very much. So next is Hannah. And I would say, for anyone, just tell us your name, where you live, what organization, if you're here with an organization you're representing. That just helps us, I think, keep track of everything. So it's Hannah, and then Dr. Biara-Ortiz, and then Naila, and then Carly. So, Hannah.

Great, thank you. Good evening. My name is Hannah Houven. I'm a teacher at UP Academy Holland in Dorchester. I'm also a member of the BTU and the COPE committee, and I'm here to talk about how the proposed budget cuts will negatively impact my school. Up Academy Holland is in Dorchester and it's a super special place to work. Our students are amazing, they're very bright, and our staff is resilient, they're joyful, they're some of the best people that I know. With the help of dedicated teachers, we have actually been able to reverse our students' pandemic-era learning loss. We have recently exited our receivership status as a school, so we are no longer in receivership. With the support of these amazing special education inclusion teachers, teachers of multilingual learners, paraprofessionals, social workers, and other service providers, we have been able to achieve real results for our kids, keeping them happy, safe, and learning. Proposed budget cuts mean that all of this progress is put at risk.

We have already seen teachers being accessed, the same wonderful special education teachers, teachers of multilingual learners, service providers that I just mentioned. Without the support of staff that can meet their needs, I worry that students will not be maintaining the progress that we've worked so hard to meet over the past couple of years. And we know that they deserve so much more. In a year where the city is under financial pressure, I know that our students and my students are not the ones that should be taking the cut and paying the price for that. We call on the city to fully fund our schools and guarantee our students a high quality learning experience. They should be safe, happy, and thriving with adequate staffing to meet all of their needs. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Okay, Dr. Ortiz, I'm sorry, with the last name?

Wythe.

Wythe, okay. Yeah. I'm gonna have to learn how to read.

No, no, it's okay.

Handwriting again. Okay, you're up, two minutes.

Sure. My name is Dr. Bianca Ortiz-White. I'm a resident of Roslindale. I'm also the strategic researcher for the Boston Teachers Union. Tonight, I'm here to speak about the impact of the proposed FY27 BPS budget on school-level staffing. Boston Public Schools is facing real fiscal pressures. Health insurance, transportation, and special education costs are rising in the city and throughout the Commonwealth. At the same time, enrollment is declining, reducing state aid under the Chapter 70 formula. However, Boston is in a different fiscal position than many districts confronting these challenges. As of FY24, the city's unassigned general fund balance stood at $1.3 billion, approximately 30.1% of GAAP general fund operating expenditures. That's double the city's 15% policy minimum, and well above the Government Finance Officers Association's recommended benchmark. Certified free cash has ranged between $440 million to $500 million in recent years.

These indicators point to a city with substantial fiscal capacity and flexibility in determining how current cost pressures are addressed. In the FY27 BPS budget proposal, rising costs are largely absorbed through reductions in school-based staff. While the proposed budget increases total district spending to $1.71 billion, the budget balances those increases by eliminating approximately 531 staff positions across the district. More than 400 of which are at schools that will remain open. Maintaining current services would require roughly $48 million in additional school-level funding. Instead, those costs are absorbed through school closures and reductions in staffing at schools that remain open. In a white paper that the Boston Teachers Union will be publishing next week concerning the proposed FY27 BPS budget,

Our analysis shows that staffing losses fall disproportionately on special education paraprofessionals, bilingual support staff, and schools serving the highest concentrations of high-need students. At the same time, special education spending overall is projected to increase by $30.3 million across all funds, meaning that more money is being spent on contracted services out of district placements and centrally budgeted costs while in-school staffing capacity declines. I'll wrap up right now. Okay, thank you. Boston has the capacity to protect classrooms. The question is whether it will. The decisions made in this budget will determine whether the city's funding choices align with its commitment to providing every student with a high-quality educational experience. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Okay, for everyone who just got here, Nyla has been here since 2 o'clock at least and did an amazing job on an education panel that we had. So, Nyla, you're up.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Nyla Hicks-Fernandez, and I am a senior at Cash High School and the vice president of Boston Student Advisory Council. Thank you to the members of the Boston City Council for this opportunity to speak today. I'm here because the decisions you make about the 2027 budget will directly impact the lives, opportunities, and futures of students and young people across Boston. From a student perspective, many of our schools are already operating with limited resources. We fill in our classrooms and the programs available to us and in support students rely on every day. When resources are stretched thin, students feel the impact immediately. That's why conversations about deficits and potential cuts are so concerning for us students. It can feel like we constantly Sorry. It can feel like we're constantly being asked to do more with less in a system that is already struggling to meet the needs of young people. Students should not have to succeed in spite of underfunded schools.

Boston's young people deserve strong schools, real opportunities, and a system that is fully equipped to support our success. If we want better outcomes for students, then Boston has to make a stronger commitment to investing in our education. As a senior getting ready to graduate, I'm asking this council to take long view and prioritize the future of Boston students. Please invest in our education and work with Boston Public Schools to address this deficit without taking away the programs, supports, and opportunities we already have. But supporting students cannot stop at the classroom doors. Many young people in Boston are balancing with school, but with real challenges like food insecurities and housing instabilities. When students are worried about basic needs, it becomes much harder to focus on learning and preparing for our future. That's why stronger investment in young support matters. Programs that provides food assistance, Employment opportunities and community support help create stability for our young people who are trying to stay focused on school and build our future.

Opportunities like youth jobs give young people work experience, financial support, and independence. Expanding these opportunities and increasing wages for young workers will be a meaningful investment in Boston's young people. One last thing. Because at the end of the day, a city's priorities are revealed by what it chooses to protect, and Boston students and young people should never be the place where y'all choose to fall short. The 2027 budget will show Boston students what's really important, whether we are the afterthought or whether we are truly a priority. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Hicks-Fernandez. Okay, so just because we're doing well, I think we're going to, I'll call in a couple more people who are in the room and then we'll go online. So Carly's, you're up, and then Simeon. Dantas, and then is it Genesis Cornejo? After that, we will. Okay, so Carlise, you have two minutes.

Okay.

Hello and good afternoon, Boston City Councilors. My name is Carlys Manana. I'm 18 years old. I live in Dorchester. I'm a senior at Margarita Muniz Academy, and I'm a part of Youth Justice and Power Union. Boston spends $477 million on the police budget. That's almost half a billion dollars and about a quarter of our discretionary budget. While housing receives $54 million and youth programs relieve received $22 million. We're getting crumbs, and that's not public safety, that's public neglect. So here's what I'm demanding, plain and direct. First, freeze BPD budget growth now and release an independent audit of overtime and equipment spending within 90 days. Second, cut the police budget by 10%. This year and put those funds straight into mental health crisis response teams. I've personally seen how cops can escalate what's really a mental health moment. A crisis response team is simple.

People who have mental health training, not weapons. Two people, a counselor and a community member. sent when 911 gets a mental health call with no weapon or threat involved. They deescalate and stabilize situations and then link folks to mental health care support. Cities running this model handle most calls without arrest or any violence or force, and that's the alternative we need. We need mental health response for mental health crises. Third, strip BPD of mental health and nonviolent violence. of Nonviolent 911 Calls and hand out work to train civilian responders, with funding moved by the next fiscal year. We can see it, but y'all think we can't. Our communities are being underfunded and overpoliced. A change needs to happen now. It's unacceptable.

Okay, thank you. Simeon? Dantas? Isamaya,

Hello City Council, my name is Samaya and I'm from Roslindale. First, I wanted to say that you should fund youth jobs and defund the police. Youth jobs used to get $27 million and now they have decreased to $22 million. while the police are funded more than $400 million. The police surround schools like mine due to schools being majority black, and not only that, they hang around a bus stop by Madison Park and patrol kids because they believe they are bad or insubordinate. Second, if the police and city were that worried about kids' safety, they should provide more opportunities for youth to work and build good relationships with the community. Giving children stability in their lives helps create more money-stable adults so that they can have a better future. Let's fix our demeanor as a community towards kids and fund youth jobs at least 50 million and defund the police. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Ms. Cornejo, how do you pronounce your first name?

Genesis.

Okay, great. Two minutes.

Okay. Hello, City Councils. My name is Jen, and the pay that youth receive for their hard work should be increased significantly. We need youth jobs to be way more accessible and it shouldn't be so hard to find a stable job. The youth need jobs that prepare them for the future and give them life skills in higher positions. And 19 to 24 year olds are getting paid 20 an hour and want that to increase to 24 an hour. People who go on the website see a lot of jobs without any openings. There needs to be more jobs so more people can access them.

Okay, anything else? No, okay. Thank you very much. Okay, we're now just gonna take a brief interlude to Zoom. Let me see. So we have five people. So first up will be Lori Radwin, then Aparna Lakshmi, then Ziba Cranmere, Ella James, and David Damien. So, Laurie's not on? Okay, so Aparna Lakshmi, you are up. Okay, Aparna, we can call on you later. Would Aparna prefer that or? Yeah, yeah, we'll come back. Let me know when Aparna's available. Ziba, my constituent. Um...

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes. I don't know. I'll give you two minutes. I'll let you know when it's up.

I'll speak fast. Ready?

Thanks.

Hi, my name is Ziba Cranmer and I'm here to speak about how the proposed budget cuts will negatively impact my school. My understanding that my child's school, the Curley, is facing a 10% cut about approximately 1.6 million. I am a new parent to a nine-year-old who joined our family at the end of June of last year. He previously attended a school in Dorchester where Despite an incredible teaching and social work team, they did not have the capacity to deal with his trauma. As a result, he had 16 Separate disciplinary incidents across the span of one year. I struggled when he came into my family to navigate the registration system, having missed the first three rounds of registration, managing shared custody with DCF, etc., But thanks to persistence and help, I was able to secure a seat for him at the Curley School. Since joining the Curley, my child has had no disciplinary incidents.

and at the school and he is thriving and the reason he's thriving is because he is a social worker with a manageable caseload so she has time to push into recess into gym class and other learning environments He has also benefited greatly from the co-teaching model, which is a key feature of the Curley's inclusion model. One is a bit gentler and the other is a bit more strict. I call them good cop and bad cop, but the combination of the two is exactly what he's needed. I'm terrified that reductions to the BPS budget will have an adverse effect on my child, even though he is in one of the most privileged schools in the district with an active and empowered The Curley is the largest K-8 school in the district with nearly a thousand students and I understand it also was one of the first inclusion schools and it plays, my understanding, a unique role in the district.

I'm even more fearful that the impact of these cuts will have on other students because I know firsthand the impact that a less-resourced school had on my child's ability to succeed. I don't claim to even begin to understand all the different factors driving the budget cuts or how it could have been prevented. What I do know is we have to find a solution. It's the behavioral specialists, especially the social workers, the reading specialists, the enrichment programs, My child lives for music, art, and gym, and math. Reading specialists are helping him learn to love reading. And these are all areas where we are likely to see cuts. But these are also the roles that made it possible for my child to succeed. I don't understand how a $58 million cut could have been a surprise and especially one we couldn't prepare for. I don't understand if the enrollment declines are projected to be permanent or temporary, but at a time when families are moving out of the district leading to enrollment declines, The last thing we should be doing is taking steps that will further degrade our school system.

We need to look at other places where we can save money from the rainy day fund if we have one. to the police budget as the Youth Power and Justice Union young people mentioned so that we can urgently meet the needs of our children and teachers. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much, Ziba. Okay, we have two, is Ella online? Anyone who's just walked in recently and you wanna testify and you haven't signed up, there is a sheet over here, and so... You can take the time to sign up. So Ella, James, and then David.

Hi, can you hear me?

I can. Are you ready?

Yeah, I'm ready.

Okay, two minutes whenever you want to start. Okay.

Hi, my name is Ella Simone. I'm a senior at Dearborn STEM Academy, and I work with YJPU. I'm here to talk about the experiences youth are having in our community. Young people need jobs, opportunities that keep us busy and help us build for our future. Jobs teach us responsibility, give us real-life skills, and for some youth, help support their families. Right now, thousands of youth apply for summer jobs but don't get them. Around 4,500 young people who apply still don't get a job. Last year, the city spent about $27 million on new jobs, but now the budget is closer to $22 million. At the same time, school year jobs through community organizations have been cut by about 40% over the past two years. We're asking the city to invest more in youth jobs and raise the pay to about $20 to $24 an hour so young people can actually support themselves and their families. But while young people are asking for opportunities, what many of us are actually encountering is surveillance and policing. Many of us are constantly being stopped or surrounded by police when we're not doing anything wrong.

For example, one of my friends were just walking to his aunt's house when officers from the gang unit stopped him. Five officers surrounded him and patted him down asking if he had a weapon when they realized he didn't have anything on him and they just left. There's no reason why young people should have to experience traumatic moments like that. Systems like the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, also known as BRIC, which work with the Boston Police Department, should not be targeting young people in ways that lead to experiences like that. Young people should feel safe in their own neighborhoods, not like we're being treated as suspects or simply existing. Instead of focusing on policing youth, our communities should invest more through youth jobs and programs and opportunities that help young people grow and succeed. Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. David?

Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, so two minutes whenever you're ready.

Great. Hello, my name is David Damiani, and I have served as a supervisor of attendance for the past three years. I'm from the Roslindale neighborhood. I'm testifying because I care deeply about the students and families that we serve and I'm very concerned about the proposed BPS SY 26 budget cuts to our department. The proposal would reduce our team by nearly half. Over the past several years, Boston Public Schools has made a strategic investment in attendance. When Superintendent Mary Skipper arrived in 2022, the district only had six supervisors of attendance, supporting more than 49,000 students across 119 schools. The district created the regional model and expanded our team to 10 supervisors of attendance. This investment allowed our work to become coordinated, data-driven, and more responsive to the needs of schools and families. and the results followed.

So chronic absenteeism has decreased every year since that investment was made. Mid-year data shows the district at about 25% and that exceeds the district's goal at this time. Attendance is currently one of the only quality school plan metrics meeting its target. This progress didn't happen by accident. In Boston, we often talk about equity and opportunity gaps, but the first step to opportunity is being present in school. As enrollment and chronic absenteeism has been reducing, supervisors of attendance are working to bring students back to school. Please don't cut the strategy that's finally working. We, as supervisors of attendance, work directly with students and families who face the greatest barriers to getting to school. We conduct home visits, coordinate with school teams, work with agencies like DCF and Suffolk Juvenile Court,

and help families navigate challenges such as housing instability, transportation, and language barriers. In my years of doing this work, I've knocked on many doors. Sometimes a parent opens the door worried, overwhelmed, and unsure on how to get their child back on track. and sometimes the student answers the door themselves, surprised that someone from their school came looking for them. That moment matters because for that student, it means someone noticed they were missing. If we cut the supervisors of attendance, there will be fewer people knocking on those doors and more students who never hear that knock. Please do not take that support away from Boston students. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Next up, we'll go back to in-person testimony. I apologize if I'm butchering names here, Janine Lee, Joaquin Atala Gutierrez, then Leonard Liebend, then Jack Oh my god, it starts with an F, but I have no idea what's after that. Is it F-U-T-I? You're the only person whose handwriting is worse than mine. Okay. So, Jianli, Joaquin, Atala, Gutierrez, you're up. Great, and then it's Leonard, Jack, Then the next one is Malcolm Sherman Godfrey. So let's start with you. Okay, you ready? Yes. Okay.

Two minutes. Hi, my name is Janiyah. I'm originally graduated from BDA to the class of 2025. I'm with YJPU. The city keeps on putting money into policing, but hasn't put a lot of money into community. You would think that they would prioritize their community more than putting money into policing. That's obviously not helping if it was. Our community would have been a really wonderful, beautiful, thriving community, which it isn't. Beverly Hills People, things like housing, youth jobs, food, and community research. Research tells Bostonians a lot of us are moving out of the city because we don't have a lot of money in our housing. When people... Let me go off script.

Anyways, like I'm saying is we keep on putting money, money into policing, but not money, money into our communities. Our communities are not thriving when we having policing. If it was, we would be a thriving community. Sorry. No, I'm not sorry. I just rushed this, but... That's all I have for right now, but yeah.

Okay, well thank you very much for being here tonight. I know we all appreciate it. Okay, are you ready?

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Joaquin. I'm 17 years old, and I live in Hyde Park in Dorchester, and I work with Youth Justice and Power Union. As a young Palestinian-Mexican American in Boston, the amount of money that goes into policing and not what the community needs is disgusting. Many people have come to City Council demanding that money goes from the police budget to housing, youth jobs, participatory budgeting, and mental health. The police budget gets $477 million from the city, while used jobs gets $22.1 million. Mayor Wu promised every single young person in the city a summer job, and in the summer of 2024, 15,000 youth applied to youth jobs, and 4,500 young people did not get jobs.

Youth jobs are very important to the community in Boston as it creates safe spaces for youth to be in rather than getting wrapped up in the wrong crowd, which is easy when living in spaces where money is needed, which also leads where youth jobs give money to youth which is needed as they provide in their homes for their families and much more. Youth jobs also prepare youth for the future in working spaces and practicing responsible ways to spend money. Police have $57.7 million in overtime money, which is almost triple the amount that youth jobs gets in total. Police don't actually bring safety to this community, and instead of preventing crimes, they put people in cages. As a community, we should focus on more of a restorative process to make our communities safer rather than having people with guns showing up and putting people in handcuffs. The police are built off a racist system that dates back to slavery and catchy runaway enslaved peoples.

The racist bias that police officers have towards different people is highlighted in the ways they treat different people based on their skin color, economic status, gender, et cetera. The community needs to be a safe environment and not have racist cops walking around with guns. Thank you for your time.

Okay, thank you very much. So Leonard Lieben, then Jack Zafutti, sorry, Malcolm Sherman Godfrey, then Patrick, another, Bob? Balot, and then Sofia Balkovsky.

Hi, my name is Leonard Libano. I'm a resident of East Boston, and I'm here with Boston DSA to talk about public restrooms. Boston is severely lacking in public restrooms across the city, specifically in East Boston. There's actually a map that the city hosts on their website. And for the entire neighborhood of East Boston, that map lists a total of nine public restrooms. Public restrooms are important, not just for people that are trying to walk between parks or in public spaces, but also just anyone who wants to go outside. and wants to have access to use the restroom without needing to enter a business. We believe that these public restrooms would be beneficial in places of high traffic, such as T stations, but also in public parks and other places that allow people to easily access the city on foot, by bicycle, or by using the T.

We know that there are various public restrooms across the city that also do not meet regular availability. Many of them are closed during Many of them are seasonal needs. Many of them are closed outside of business hours even if they are not reliant upon a business. And we want to advocate for keeping at least these restrooms open for longer and better maintained and then to eventually open more public restrooms. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Okay, Jack and then Malcolm, Patrick and then Sophia.

Hi. Hello, city councilors. My name is Jack Fursey, and I am a member of the Boston DSA living in Alston. I am here today to state that I would like improved public restroom services to be considered for the city budget, particularly around major transit hubs. This includes new public restrooms opened in high traffic areas, mainly around T stations, and improvements to existing restrooms in these areas such as extended hours, maintenance, more readily available information on when bathrooms are open, and accessibility upgrades. I, along with other Boston City residents that I've spoken with, have found the experience of taking public transit to be lacking in this regard. I believe new and improved public restrooms would make public transportation more equitable and accessible for all residents of Boston. I additionally believe that any and all improvements to the public transportation experience will have positive downstream environmental impacts by helping to alleviate dependence on cars for people who feel like they cannot utilize public transportation at this time.

I hope that you will please take these thoughts into consideration as you move forward with the city budget and consider that accessible public restrooms are critical infrastructure for an accessible Boston.

Thank you for your time.

Yeah, F-U-R-C-I.

C-I, okay, just so we get your email correct. Okay, thank you. Okay, Malcolm, Sherman, Godfrey, then Patrick, then Sophia. Whenever you're ready.

Thank you. My name is Malcolm Sherman Godfrey. I'm an organizer with the Boston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. And first of all, I'd like to say how impressed I was to see so many of Boston's young people coming out here to talk about ways in which their city is letting down their community. I'd like to speak about another way I believe Boston is letting down members of our community, which is a serious lack of public restrooms we have in this city. I know that I never felt that issue more pressingly than when I was a young person trying to go downtown and unable to afford $4 for a Boston ice cream. Dunkin' Donuts Coffee just to be able to use a bathroom. As of right now, according to the Boston City government-run website and private attempts to map the public restroom network, there is not a single public restroom within a quarter mile of downtown crossing T Station. Meanwhile, at other stations like Ruggles and the government center right outside of here, the only public restrooms listed are inside of government buildings like police stations and this city hall building we're in right now.

At a time when many of our neighbors are understandably afraid to enter the halls of power for fear of being snatched up by an increasingly fascist federal government, I don't think this is acceptable. I think we need new public restrooms built at these major areas of pedestrian and public transit traffic that are open 24-7 and accessible to all members of the public regardless of their economic or ethnic background. Additionally, many of our existing restrooms, such as the only restroom listed within reasonable walking distance of Park Street inside of Boston Commons, are not even open at their currently listed hours. Putting aside the fact that it is kind of ridiculous to close a public restroom entirely for all of the winter when that is advertised as a major place for people to go and enjoy outdoor winter activities in our city. For both the residents of Boston and the tourists who are traveling through our beautiful city, I think this is a serious shame, especially when our peer cities, places like Los Angeles and New York, are currently investing enormous amounts of money and have

are active projects where they're building tons of new public restrooms specifically focused around high traffic areas like near public transit. It's not too much to ask for every Boston resident and visitor to have access to a public restroom which is free, accessible, Open 24-7, Near Public Transit, Clean, Well-Maintained, and Stocked with Sanitary Products. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Okay, so Patrick and then Sophia. I don't know if... Polkowski is here, so you're up.

All right. Hi, my name's Patrick Balog. I am here with Boston DSA's Ecosocialism Working Group. I'm also speaking in favor of increased funding for public restrooms in the Boston area. To expand on point Malcolm made, the current Boston city public restroom map shows that the only accessible restroom close to Park Street and Downtown Crossing is The Boston Frog Pond Public Restroom on the Boston Common. According to the website, it's only open from April to October. I don't think it's acceptable to consider a public restroom something that's only open half the year. Additionally, when I've personally tried to access that restroom during hours that it's said to be open It has been closed. As someone with a gastrointestinal disease, I know firsthand the anxiety of trying to move around a city with the constant anxiety of being able to find a public bathroom at a moment's notice.

It shouldn't require a series of secrets or private institutions where you're required to purchase a product in order to find access to something that should be accessible to everyone. I think this is a A public health matter and also just some necessary infrastructure for Boston to truly be a vibrant city for its residents and visitors. So I'd also like to reiterate a call for increased funding for maintenance of public bathrooms that are open 24-7 and are well stocked, and for the city to invest in building new public bathrooms. I'd also just briefly like to also iterate my solidarity and support with the Boston Teachers Union and the students who have spoken on behalf of reversing the cuts to the Boston Public Schools budget. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Sophia? I will say, as you walk down, as a workers' rights attorney, the right to go to the bathroom was an incredibly important workers' rights issue. I know a law professor I had at the University of Iowa teamed up with his urologist to show how much harm was being done to workers by not having access to the bathroom. And a colleague of mine, Jennifer Rosenbaum, actually Unionized, a chicken processing plant in eastern Tennessee that started with a worker who was eight months pregnant and wasn't allowed to use the restroom. And with some of my colleagues here, New York City has a right to pee ordinance for food delivery workers they can access. RESTROOMS AT RESTAURANTS THEY GO TO. SO IF ANY OF MY COLLEAGUES WANT TO JOIN ME ON THAT, YEAH, SO WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT LATER.

Hi, I'm Sophia and I'm here on behalf of BDSA and I would like to advocate again for the public restrooms issue. In the city of Boston, thousands and thousands of workers commute to and from City of Boston within it and to work most importantly and just for their daily lives and many times especially work-based commutes involve multiple transfers and maybe an hour-long commute and at this time we only have a few There used to be a bunch of public restrooms within the T and the city of Boston. Over time, these have closed down and have gone out of disrepair and out of maintenance, and I think it's a huge dignity issue. and a workers rights issue as well as you were saying as well as just you know as somebody who is visiting and being within the city of Boston I think it's a very important issue to have additionally I think that without the and the public restrooms.

I think that only creates more issues in the long run with, you know, it's more difficult, creates more congestion for businesses, for people who might not be necessarily visiting those services, as well as more cleanups on streets later on down the line. So thank you for listening, and yes, I hope that we can... work towards improving the dignity of the people who live in and commute through Boston.

Thank you. Thank you very much. So we have a few more people. Here, who signed up, Peggy Wang, Khalil Howe, Michael Caine, Andrea, James, I think, and Kat Zick. before you go however we've received four letters of public testimony there's a couple of them I think I can read out in under two minutes so I'm just going to I'll read them out. I'm sure it's going to sound worse coming out of my mouth than they would be able to testify, but here we go. The first is a letter from Michelle Mualem. My name is Michelle Mualem, and I'm the parent of two curious and thoughtful children at the BTU Pilot School in Jamaica Plain. For years, our community has been advocating for funding to make necessary safety and accessibility improvements to our playground so that all students can safely access and enjoy our outdoor space.

When the proposed BPS budget was released, we were deeply disappointed to learn that not only were playground renovations not included, but that we were also losing our beloved librarian, Ms. Billy. The BTU Pilot School is a truly special place, and a single strand school with only one class per grade. All of the students know one another and every adult knows every child. This close-knit community is part of what makes the school so meaningful for our families. My first grade daughter looks forward to her weekly trips to the school library where her love of animals and geography are encouraged. As a family with working parents and hectic schedules, weekly trips to our city library aren't always possible. Because of Miss Billie, our daughter reads new books she checks out from the school library to her little brother each night. These moments matter. They build literacy, curiosity, and confidence. Ms. Billy works intentionally to ensure every child feels seen and represented in the library

She curates books at all reading levels in multiple languages and representing many cultures and identities. At our recent book fair, she made sure that every student in my son's class went home with a book, whether or not their families could afford to buy one. When my daughter began asking questions about her Arab identity, Ms. Billy helped her find a book in the school library that celebrated Aero Culture and helped her feel proud of who she is. These moments mean so much to our family and reflects the care Ms. Billy brings to every student she serves. I'm gonna have to skip a couple things and at the end I urge the City of Boston and Boston Public Schools to reconsider this choice and restore funding for the BTU pilot school librarian. I will say I went to the BTU library with Ms. Billy and we did an election day

An election sort of thing for fifth graders where we did the electoral college and everyone got a state and we voted between, I think it was Michael Jackson versus Taylor Swift. and Taylor Swift lost the popular vote but then won the electoral college because she got New York and California and it was an amazing and so I just, you know, my support for Ms. Billy is there as well. I will say apropos of this, she texted me today about speed bumps on her street and for spending on street safety improvements. I know that's something that my colleagues and I will be advocating for. Just a couple more letters here. I will read the next one, but I think the other two, I believe I'll explain them. No, I'm not going to read them. So just one more letter, and then we'll get back to in-person testimony. My name is Matthew Ruggiero.

I am a resident of Jamaica Plain, a graduate of Boston Public Schools, and elected member of the BTU Executive Board for the last 10 years. I've worked as an ESL teacher in the Boston Public Schools. I am concerned that budget cuts will impact the most vulnerable students and school populations in our city. which should be given the most investment and most stability. One reason given for the decline in Boston Public Schools enrollment and the necessity of staffing cuts is the decrease in newcomer students in Boston. As an ESL teacher who has spent his entire career working with recent immigrants to Boston, it is heartbreaking to me that our federal government is sending the message to my students and families that they are not wanted when I witness every day how special and valuable they are to our community.

There might appear to be logic that fewer students should lead to a reduction in staffing for multilingual programs and services, but I want to be clear that reductions in staffing and services have made a real impact on student learning and experiences. I urge BPS, the City Council, and the Mayor to look beyond the spreadsheets and formulas and recognize what these cuts look like to a student, a classroom, and a school. In a lot of ways, I'm having my most successful year as a teacher in BPS. In my classes, we have strong class participation, math growth and achievement. and in the positivity of our classroom community we have built together this year, my multilingual students with disabilities are receiving more services and are making more progress than they have in previous years. In the midst of the many ongoing challenges in the world, I am grateful to my students every day for the learning we do together. I have a special group of students this year who I get to laugh and learn with.

But part of what has allowed me to support my students this year is that I have the smallest class size I've had as a teacher. I'm able to check with every student to give informal and formal feedback and build positive relationships. Again, I'm going to have to skip forward. I urge you instead of reducing student services, invest in schools to maintain and promote the best conditions possible for the students who need and deserve them most. Small class sizes and caseloads, well-rounded electives, and extracurricular opportunities and the stability that students and communities need in order to thrive. So we have two more letters, I believe they're both Yes, from Kevin Bott. These dealt with, Kevin Bott spoke publicly in our education meeting this afternoon. And I believe these letters were intended for that hearing there about

Spending of Title I federal dollars for English language learners and BPS and, you know, I think, and also on Slife. So he spoke, we'll enter his letters into the record for this hearing. Worrell. Just before we get to the last few people in public testimony, we've been joined by Councilor Worrell. Councilor Worrell, everyone got a minute to address folks who showed up today.

Thank you, Chair, and just thank you to the public for being here. Very important conversation before we dive into or receive the budget from the Mayor. to hear from the residents who the budget is created for. So just here to listen. I want to thank everyone who testified. I was listening in and just want to just make sure that we Thank you very much, Councilor Worrell.

Peggy? and then Khalil and then Michael, Andrea and then Kat.

Hi, my name is Peggy Wang. I'm a member of the Independent Socialist Group. I am a resident of Boston. I live in Alston. I work at MassArt downtown. I'm in the Massachusetts Teachers Association. and I'm speaking against these cuts. They're completely unacceptable and unnecessary. I'm in support of the members of the Boston Teachers Union and also in support of the students who should not have to shoulder cuts. We have on deck 265 classroom teachers who are set to lose their jobs, 161 paraeducators. It's totally not okay for us to be cutting people's livelihoods off. So many people in Boston can't afford to get by already. And our paraeducators, just a year ago, were only making $30,000 a year starting wages. That's now changed to $40,000. That is not a living wage in Boston. So many teachers have to work multiple jobs. It's completely unacceptable.

We also need a much higher minimum wage in Boston and in Massachusetts. Yeah, we absolutely, there is the money to stop these cuts. There is money in free cash, you know, reserves that the city has. We have a rainy day fund in Massachusetts of eight to nine billion dollars. I know that there's 29 teachers set to possibly lose their jobs in Middleborough. Eight to nine billion dollars, that's 40,000 times the amount of money that it would It takes to save those people's livelihoods, their ability to pay rent and food. We should not be cutting anyone's jobs in our Boston public schools. We need actually more funding, more resources to fully fund and fully staff our school systems. and especially here in Boston. It's unfair that property taxes are how we fund our schools in Massachusetts. We need to be taxing corporations and the Richmore. Our union, MTA, fought for the fair share amendment that taxes billionaires an extra 4%.

That money needs to go into our contracts, into our teacher contracts, into our students' to make sure they have good programs, small classroom sizes that our teachers and anyone who are working in the Boston Public Schools can get by and have a good quality of living, be able to support our students and give them all the services that they need. So yes, here standing in support, no cuts, fund our schools, staff our schools well. We need equitable education. Quality education should not be a privilege. It should be a right for everyone.

Okay, thank you very much. Khalil? and then Michael Caine and Andrea James and then Kat Zick, I believe.

Hello?

Yep, whenever you're ready.

Hi, my name is Khalil Howell. I'm a community organizer with the Youth Justice and Power Union and currently residing in District 7 at this point. First off, I want to thank everybody who came before, talking about public restrooms, I'm talking about schools and teachers needing more money. I've seen a solidarity with all that, with the youth talking about youth jobs. And I just want to say, that I'm here because year after year, I've been coming to the city council meetings since I was, since like 2020. Year after year, the City Council has struggled to fund what community members have been asking for, and I know that this new budget process is new. And since y'all have had the opportunity to You know, counteract the mayor's budget or make amendments to it.

There's been easier years and there's been harder years, but You know, I would say that the last couple years that you all struggled to fund what community members have been asking for. For example, youth jobs, housing, immigration, food support, and so many other things. And the answer is in the budget clearly. While housing gets around $50 million, youth jobs gets about $22 million, and the police budget is $477 million. 420 million of those dollars go directly to supporting permanent employees. And I did some research and found out that Boston Police has about 124% the officers per capita. as the state average, 133% the officers per capita as the national average, and 117% the officers per capita as similar sized cities across the country.

The BPD has 2,143 officers, and to match state, national, and peer department sizes, the Boston Police Department should have between 16 Um 1600 to 1800 total officers and we would need to reduce the officers by at least 306 to be at the The average salary per officer is $90,000 and if we were to cut 300 of those officers, that would immediately give us $27 million in the budget for us to use. We don't need more policing. It's evident that the amount of officers that have been decreasing over the past five years and the amount of youth jobs money we've been getting, as well as the crime rate dropping, all of those So youth jobs going up, police officers going down, and crime rate is going down, if that was confusing. People need to get the things they need to thrive and be comfortable.

And uploaded police budget doesn't allow that. And lastly, I'll say, Councilor Durkan, Councilor Pepén, you hold the power to cut the police. I attended the working sessions last year and I was able to see how you and some other councillors have been voting and that you've been apprehensive to cut the police budget. And I just want to ask You know, obviously rhetorically, because you can't answer now, but I would love an answer. Why are you so reluctant to listen to the people that you serve? We've done the work. We've talked to the people. We've collected surveys in Boston from Boston residents. The police budget needs cuts. And what are you going to do about it? Thank you. OK, thank you.

So, Michael, you're up.

Thank you, Councilor. I'm Michael Caine. I'm the director of the Mass Alliance of Tenants. We're a tenant union for tenants in privately-owned subsidized housing. And years ago we advocated to get a city-funded rent subsidy program to meet the needs of the homeless and extremely low-income people that are rent burdened in our city. and the Mayor created it as a pilot program in, what was it, 2020? And the Council has since increased the amount Last year, under Councilor Worrell's brilliant leadership, the Council actually added more money, so it's now funded at $13.9 million a year. up from the initial five. The year before that, the council overrode the mayor's veto. Added another million last year.

So currently there are about 600 people that were homeless, formerly homeless, who are now housed permanently in our city. The priority to families with children in the Boston public schools that were homeless. They got the priority and there's other categories of People coming out of prison, other priority groups, homeless youth is another priority to get those subsidies. So the need is 21,000 low-income people in the city who need a subsidy to stay in the city between now and 2030. So the need is not in dispute. And whenever you see a homeless person on the sidewalk, that's another person that could be aided if we could expand the program.

So we would like the council to add at least $3 million a year in the budget this year to reach another 130 homeless people, get them off the street. Where will the money come from? I really want to second all the youth that have spoken so eloquently about the waste, fraud, and abuse in the Boston Police budget. How is it that Boston is paying 33 police officers more money than the President of the United States? $400,000 a year. What the heck is that? There's no reason why, in my view, anybody in the city of Boston should be paid more than the mayor, which is $200,000 a year. So if you just cut that waste, fraud, and abuse, which is caused by things like phony overtime,

You should take a leadership to do You could save 100 million a year pretty easily if you just cap everybody at 200,000 a year, right? They're not going to be hurting. And that money could be used to do a lot of things. So that's my pitch to you today, Councillor. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you.

Andrea, and then Kat.

Thank you very much. Thank you this evening. I want to commend first the students here today and their commitment to stay and advocate for their future, for the future of the students. My name's Andrea James. My family has made our home in Massachusetts for seven generations, and I can honestly say our family would not be here today without the public education system in this Commonwealth and this city. My older children attended BPS and I am currently a mother of a high school student at BPS. I'm also running for governor and fully funded education is a priority for me. I came today as a mother to add my voice to the call for a fully funded Boston public school system. as every other parent like I was horrified to see my son's school on the list of cuts.

So to every parent and teacher that is staying up late worrying about the future, I know what that's like. My son's school needs investment, not cuts. Shrinking class sizes shouldn't be used as an excuse to lay off teachers, but as an opportunity to address a long simmering crisis in our school system, our class sizes. Instead of cutting teachers, we should cut class sizes. I'm proud to stand with our teachers and our teachers union. We live in one of the wealthiest states in the country and we can tax the ultra rich and the corporations so that they pay their fair share. We can find the money to fully fund our public schools. We just need the will. As a parent and a community organizer, I want to end by saying thank you. To our teachers, your work secures the future of our next generation and it's so important. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Ms. Catt?

Good evening all and thank you. My name is Kat Zick and I'm here with the Boston DSA to ask for more accessible public restrooms. Good public transit infrastructure is a necessity of a city like Boston, and it is a necessity for a livable, equitable city like Boston should strive to be. This includes not just the transit itself, but also amenities such as nearby public restrooms. Transit riders, workers, cyclists, people with disabilities, people experiencing homelessness, and even tourists and visitors could benefit from increased access to this public amenity. I am here with Boston DSA to request Boston open new public restrooms in high-traffic areas, particularly near T stations, to ensure as many Boston residents and visitors as many public residents and visitors as possible have access to these critical public infrastructure. And to improve the experience of using existing public restrooms,

I believe that, looking forward, the City of Boston should be doing all that it can to improve the experience of being a pedestrian, encourage car-free living, and encourage public transit usage. This would benefit local air quality, aid in meeting Boston's climate goals, and most importantly, improve the quality of life of all who choose to spend their time here. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. We still have two people online. Again, if anybody is in the room and wants to testify, you can sign up on the sign-up sheet. And so we're gonna go online. I'm not sure, is Zaperna there? Oh, Giovanni, okay, we're gonna go with Giovanni first. Okay, Giovanni, I think you have to accept being a panelist.

Maybe not. I don't know. Ethan, have any instructions? If you want, should we go? Okay, yeah. Perna? Okay, Perna?

Hi, Councilor Weber. Congrats on running an extremely timely session. Thank you so much. Here we go.

Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Aparna Lakshmi. I am a history teacher at the John D. O'Brien. I've been teaching for more than 15 years here in BPS. These current cuts to BPS are devastating, and they directly impact students and families. At our school, the O'Brien, we are cutting five positions, including a history teacher, I already teach 120 students with the loss of a history position. I can only assume that I will be teaching even more students next year. I'd like to point out that our enrollment is going from 1519 to 1502. That's a difference of 17 students. And yet our new budget for next year is forcing our principal to cut five staff positions, all of which are student facing. So we're not losing students, but we are losing staff. Again, I already teach 120 students. Part of what we need to look at here is the larger context of the city's fiscal cliff.

Boston, like many other cities, faces declining commercial and industrial activity, static or declining local aid from the state, and the loss of federal funding. Mayor Wu has attempted to shield residents from the worst of this fiscal cliff by asking the state to raise taxes on commercial properties. However, one state senator has repeatedly blocked this proposal, and that is Nick Collins. According to WBUR, South Boston State Senator Nick Collins' campaign committee collected $17,200 in contributions from real estate executives, developers, and related industry groups in November of 2025. which represents more than three quarters of the total donations he received. Coincidence? I think not. Nick Collins is directly responsible for exacerbating our city's budget situation and I call on South Boston voters to vote him out. Finally, we need statewide tax reform. It is hard, but we are counting on the mayor and city council to advocate for us with the governor and state legislature. We really appreciate that advocacy.

Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you. Okay, so I don't, is there anyone else on there? Okay, Rachel, you're up. And then for my colleagues who are here, I'll give you a chance to speak, but not that infinite amount of time. Okay, Rachel.

Thank you, Councilor Weber and the other councillors. Thank you so much for being present. I actually wasn't going to speak because I I like to first listen and observe, but I do feel compelled to say a few words, and I'll try to be as brief as possible. I don't want any kind of discussion about the budget relative to the BPS to turn into us versus them. I don't want it to be an occasion to attack the police. I actually went to school with several people who went on to become police officers and they passionately loved this city. Nor do I want it to be an occasion to talk about taxing the ultra wealthy.

I think that people of all income brackets care and what I'm hoping is that we can all come together and have a very sober discussion about this very serious issue. instead suggest is that we kind of remember what education means to the city of Boston. Boston is known as the Athens of the New World, and it really is very much our currency. I wear different hats but education is very near and dear to my heart and I see firsthand what the teachers in BPS what they do to make sure that the next generation of Bostonians are grounded and educated and prepared to be the next leaders. But not just the teachers, but the paraprofessionals. The therapists, the psychologists, the administrators.

And so what I'm hoping is that we can have a budget Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I feel that that's very much a one-sided conversation. And we have schools like the Dever, for instance, which did a remarkable job in turning things around and now it's facing closure at the end of this academic year. We're looking at schools like maybe say the Snowden that is not facing closure but it's a very unique school and that it offers a baccalaureate

and yet we have cuts to languages, to the language programs yet that's a critical part of being able to obtain a baccalaureate. So instead of looking at the schools and saying, well, we have a declining population, let's make cuts. I would like to talk about making smart investments and using the resources that we do have a lot more intelligently. and I would also like to once again underline what our currency is and that's education. Thank you for your time.

Okay, thank you for coming and testifying. Thank you. Has anyone still want to testify who hasn't signed up? No. Well, I want to thank everyone. for being here. I'm going to give my fellow councillors one minute. Councillor Culpepper multiplies every number by five, so just imagine I've just given you... like 10 seconds. So I'm trying to remember the order for me. Okay, so Councilor Durkan, you're here first. Bring us home.

Thanks, Chair Weber. And sorry, I will go back and watch the few testimonies that I missed. I was just chatting with Khalil who testified. So just really grateful to be here. I did take some notes, and I will potentially follow up with any of you if I have additional questions. I didn't see anyone from my district testify tonight, so I'm hoping in two weeks we I have some District 8 testimony, but I do know that we get to take votes on behalf of the whole city, so we should care about the entire city and we should really dig in. grateful to those who stepped forward today on the most beautiful night in Boston and grateful that you spent your night here and I'm excited to continue to work with all of you to make Boston better.

Okay, thank you very much. Councilor Culpepper.

Thank you, Chair Weber. And I think these public testimonies are important and critical. I just heard from a teacher from John O'Brien talk about Thank you. Thank you. This kind of testimony I think helps correct the record. I looked at Kevin Bath and I looked at his request for Title I checklist. I think we need to follow up on that. And I did want to state for the record that Keel was here Between 2.30 and 3 o'clock before he testified. He had been here all that time. So, look, thank you for coming out. And it's good to hear your testimony because it helps us correct the record from what we hear and other... Sessions. Thank you.

Yeah, okay. Thanks. And I do think Kevin Bott said he did get the checklist like 5 o'clock yesterday, which we've been trying to get for him since January. We should look over that. My office will follow up with BPS about the staffing at the O'Brien. I think it's an important question.

Okay, Councilor Pepén. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So tonight, we heard it's BPS in public restrooms. And it's funny, I'm not saying that jokingly. Thank you very much. Thank you so much for my District 5 residents for always showing up. I'm very blessed with a very Engage the District. And I watch a transit YouTuber. And yes, I watch a lot of YouTube. He went to Tokyo and Japan has amazing public restrooms and it just it makes me think about like what we can do not just in our public facilities but even in our in our MBTA stations because I mean their bathrooms are

and many more. Thank you. A family member of mine also suffers from that. So we grew up like that, always searching for a bathroom to see which one was available. So that really resonated for me. So thank you. Public testimony is important because it puts things into perspective. Just thank you for that. I'll be talking to the chair ways and means to see how we can approach both of these issues. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay, thank you very much. I've never intentionally watched a transit YouTuber. You should. That'll be on my list.

Okay, Councilor Worrell. Thank you, Chair. Just want to thank everyone who came out today to advocate for their priorities in the budget. This is your budget. And today we heard your priorities. So I'm looking forward to just more listening sessions. And I do want to just make the request to the chair. I think I know we're going to have a hearing on revenue, but I would love to just have a working session on revenue with Councilor Cauley just to kind of dive in deeper. to get a better understanding of what our revenue projections look like compared to actuals in the past. Because it sounds like there's so many priorities in investments that the public wants us to make. So just want to kind of dive into that revenue conversation a little bit more. The budget, as has been heard, this is our value statement.

And I just want to encourage more residents to participate into this conversation. So if you know someone, please let them know. that this conversation is happening and this is one way or one of the biggest ways is to, this is one of the biggest ways on how to make sure that the things that you care about get invested in. So please participate in this conversation so we can hear directly from you. Thank you chair.

Okay, thank you very much, Councilor Worrell. I mean, for everyone here and everyone listening, this budget review process, Councilor Worrell laid out the blueprint for it. The last couple of years, and we were able to make amendments. We heard from Michael Caine about city housing vouchers. We invested in youth jobs. And that's because of the leadership of Councilor Worrell. and we're hoping to do the same this year. The circumstances are different. This budget is, you know, we've heard about a budget shortfall in BPS of $53 million. We've heard about, you know, just increases in costs and healthcare costs. And we're going to have to kind of, I think, work twice as hard to accomplish as much this time around. We also heard about police overtime. And it's something Councilor Worrell and I worked on the last couple of years. You know, you're talking about the police budget of 400, $470 million.

We end up spending more than that because we have to pay for overtime. and you know we don't know we can budget we can budget you know five dollars for it but we end up spending we're on pace I think for a hundred million dollars this fiscal year in police overtime and figuring out how to Really make changes to reduce that spending. I think it's a little bit more of a long-term thing, changing the collective bargaining agreement. But I know it's something we're all looking at. And we are having another listening session like this on March 24th at 6 PM. Tell your friends how much fun you had. at this one, come out, because really, you know, I'm just... I'm going to speak for all my colleagues. I'm pretty sure nobody has focused on public bathrooms in the budget process, but we will certainly be thinking about it now. Maybe Councilor Durkan. But come to us.

We're only as good as the information we get from people in Boston. So we want to hear what issues are out there. Come on March 24th. Testify. You'll have another opportunity. After we get the budget for public testimony. I just want to thank everyone who's here, everyone who showed up online, everyone who sent a letter. And I'd also like to thank our central staff. Megan, Candice, and Ethan for making this possible, for staying this late at City Hall. So I'm just going to close this there. I want to thank my colleagues for being here today or tonight. and the public for testifying and of course central staff wrote in to thank them which I've already thanked. We'll be here again two weeks, March 24th at 6 p.m. I hope to see everyone again. So this public testimony session on docket number dockets number 201 and 202 is now adjourned.