Maynard School Committee Votes to Seek $1 Million Override, Backs ESP Bill of Rights

MAYNARD -- March 13, 2025, Maynard School Committee recommends a $1 million Proposition 2½ override and unanimously endorses a statewide paraprofessional pay bill. The five-member board voted 5-0 Thursday on both measures, directing Chair Natasha Rivera to inform the Select Board that the committee strongly prefers a single ballot question at $1 million, drawing roughly $200,000 from revolving accounts, but would accept a two-tiered question of $1 million and $1.2 million if the Select Board insists. Melissa Ryan, president of the 52-member Maynard Education Support Association, told the committee that starting paraprofessional pay is $17.58 an hour and that the district's para headcount has fallen 24 percent, from 71 to 54, over the past decade. "None of us should have to make the choice between our strong beliefs in the Maynard School District and the challenges of figuring out how to pay the bills," Ryan said. The committee also approved the district's quadrennial Washington, D.C. music trip for 55 students, April 26-29, at a per-student cost of approximately $1,000 after fundraising, with all financial-aid requests fully covered by the Pay It Forward scholarship fund. A public budget hearing is set for April 16.