Melrose High Students Will Decide How To Spend $5K On City Budget

The following was submitted by the City of Melrose:

MELROSE, MA – In an effort to encourage students to recognize their value and actively participate in their community, Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur has announced that Melrose High School (MHS) students will decide how to spend $5,000 of the City’s Money this spring through a process called Participatory budgeting.

“Your ideas and voices matter; you deserve a say when it comes to decision making in your community. At the end of the day, no one knows how to spend this money better than you do,” Mayor Brodeur said in a message to students on the City’s website. To read the full message, visit www.cityofmelrose.org/mayor/5kourway-participatory-budgeting.

Last year, Mayor Brodeur set aside $5,000 and this spring MHS students will decide through the Participatory Budgeting process – a democratic process that originated in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1989, as an anti-poverty measure that decreased Porto Alegre’s infant mortality rates by 20%.

MHS students have already watched Mayor Brodeur’s Participatory Budget promo video, www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNt0jZq2oos, and today, March 30, at 2 p.m., Mayor Brodeur will visit Melrose High School students on their turf - Melrose High School - to explain the process, and let them know the rules, including that number one rule that all ideas must be legal.

The Mayor’s Participatory Budget process consists of students coming up with ideas on how to spend that money and submitting proposals highlighting their ideas. Then, Mayor Brodeur will review all proposals to ensure they follow the rules before all students at MHS will get to vote on which idea is the best.

“I can’t wait to see what students come up with,” said Mayor Brodeur. “They can propose anything if it’s legal, costs $5,000, and is one thing. While I’ll get to decide which proposals move forward after the first round, after that, the decision is 100% in the hands of the students. I encourage students to come up with creative, out-of-the-box ideas.”

Students will be able to submit proposals to 5kOurWay@CityofMelrose.org by April 15, 2022. Last year, MHS students voted on two different proposals, including the winning proposal, an Amazing Grace basketball court, the development of which is currently in a planning stage.