March 5, 2025
Dear Families,
I hope you all had a fabulous February Vacation! I am ready for warmer days and daylight savings to begin! Don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead this weekend. I would like to think we are done with snow but there always seems to be one last storm, just when we think spring has arrived. Please continue to send your children with snow clothes and boots as we go outside unless it’s too cold or rainy. The playground will soon be muddy and wet and they will need their boots even when the weather warms up. Many kids are going home with very wet snow clothes today as it was a wet recess!
There is no school on Tuesday, March 11th as it is voting day. The polls are open from 11-7 and voting will be here at the school. On the 11th you will be voting on the school budget, warrant articles, and school board members. We have worked to keep the budget increase below 1% coming in at .16% higher than last year’s budget. We ask for your support on our budget (article 3) so that we can continue to provide the children of Mason with a high quality education. Article 4 will allow us to access monies that we have in the capital reserve to help offset the tuition increase due to larger classes attending Milford Middle and High School. Article 5 will allow us to add money that we have left over at the end of this school year to the tuition capital reserve so we can use that money next year towards tuition increases. Neither of these two articles will increase your tax rate.
Our default budget is $109,000 less than the proposed budget. If the default budget passes we will have to find the money somewhere in the budget to meet the mandatory obligations of running the school. We have already made many cuts, so having to make more would be very challenging. $109,000 is a lot of money for us to cut when the majority of our budget is made up of fixed costs that we have no control over (contracts, tuition costs, special education costs). Please come out on March 11th and exercise your right to vote.
If you have a child that will be turning 5 before September 30th or know someone who has a child that will be turning 5 please encourage them to register their child for kindergarten. They can register by calling the school or the registration paperwork can be found on the school’s website under the Mason Elementary tab. We also have a few openings in the preschool for children that will be 3 by September 30th. We will offer a morning and afternoon session again next year.
Your child will be coming home with a book today. This is the book our entire school will be reading for our One School, One Book initiative. There will be directions included on what needs to be done at home with this book. On Thursday, April 24th from 5:30 – 6:30 all MES families are invited to join us for our Family Night event where we partake in culminating activities around our One School, One Book program.
We are going to be fancy this trimester and send report cards out via email through Alma for all Kindergarten through 5th grade students. Report cards will be emailed home on Friday, March 14th. If you need a hard copy please reach out to your child’s teacher and we can print one for you as well.
Other important dates to remember are:
Tuesday, March 11th No School and Voting Day
Saturday, March 15th Town Meeting at MES Multipurpose Room – 9am
Monday, March 27th School Board Meeting
Thursday, April 24th Family Night 5:30 – 6:30
April 28th – May 2nd Vacation
Think warm thoughts!
Kristen