Weston School Committee ratifies custodians' contract, approves esports club

WESTON — February 3, 2022 — Weston School Committee ratifies custodians' contract as principals defend permanent building subs. The committee on Feb. 3 unanimously approved a three-year Local 690 buildings and grounds agreement providing 2 percent, 2 percent and 1.75 percent annual COLAs, a deal led by member Danielle Black and Vice Chair Ken Newberg. The bulk of the four-hour session was an FY23 budget review in which Country School Principal Aaron McGuire told members that recent postings have drawn "zero people" for some positions, justifying the three permanent building substitutes carried over from pandemic grant funding. Black pushed back, calculating roughly one adult per eight or nine students across the elementaries and warning that new hires "would have to come at the expense of something else." Finance Committee budget member Lisa Reitano said the elementary submission is "not level funded" once subs and Title I reading specialists are absorbed into the operating budget. Federal ESSER revenue will fall from roughly $5.2 million in FY22 to about $2.3 million in FY23.