[6:56] It's 5. Oops. It is 5 o'clock and we are

[6:59] going to call the meeting to order with

[7:02] first a roll call.

[7:05] Paula Whitford

[7:06] >> here.

[7:06] >> Michelle Brusso

[7:08] >> here.

[7:09] >> Kate Masinati

[7:10] >> here.

[7:11] >> James Dustivo

[7:12] >> here.

[7:12] >> And I Carol Veter I mean here.

[7:16] This the school committee committee may

[7:19] speak to recess to executive session for

[7:21] discussion and or action regarding those

[7:23] items of business exempt from open

[7:26] meetings under general uh Rhode Island

[7:28] general law 42464

[7:30] and a discussion action personnel job

[7:33] performance interim chief financial

[7:35] officer contract Rhode Island general

[7:37] law 42465A1

[7:40] and B discussion action personnel job

[7:44] performance superintendent out annual

[7:46] UAL evaluation Rhode Island General Law

[7:49] 42465A1

[7:51] individuals have been notified including

[7:53] the right to have any discussion held in

[7:55] open session.

[7:57] >> I'll make a motion to resess to

[7:59] executive session.

[8:00] >> Second.

[8:01] >> All those in favor?

[8:02] >> I. Motion passes.

[1:08:41] Good evening.

[1:08:43] We're going to call the open session of

[1:08:45] the meeting to order at 6:02.

[1:08:50] We're going to start with a roll call.

[1:08:55] » Paula Whitford

[1:08:57] >> here.

[1:08:58] >> Michelle Brusso

[1:09:00] >> here.

[1:09:00] >> Kate Masinady

[1:09:01] >> here.

[1:09:02] >> James Divo

[1:09:03] >> here. and I Carol better am here.

[1:09:07] Please join me in the pledge of

[1:09:08] allegiance.

[1:09:32] Do I have a motion to seal the minutes

[1:09:33] of the executive session?

[1:09:35] >> I'll make a motion to seal the minutes

[1:09:36] of the executive session.

[1:09:39] >> All those in favor?

[1:09:40] >> I.

[1:09:40] >> That motion carries. There were no votes

[1:09:43] taken in executive session. Next up,

[1:09:45] comments from the community.

[1:09:49] » Nothing.

[1:09:52] All right. Does anybody want to come to

[1:09:53] the podium? Anybody?

[1:09:58] All right. Seeing none, we will close

[1:10:00] public comment.

[1:10:04] That will bring us to the consent

[1:10:05] agenda.

[1:10:07] >> I'll make a motion to approve the

[1:10:09] consent agenda.

[1:10:11] >> All those in favor?

[1:10:13] >> I.

[1:10:14] >> That motion passes.

[1:10:16] All right. Now we have the

[1:10:17] superintendent report. I'll turn it over

[1:10:20] to the superintendent.

[1:10:22] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Good evening,

[1:10:23] everyone. Um

[1:10:30] sent posted.

[1:10:40] So we have uh three items on the

[1:10:43] personnel report or excuse me on the

[1:10:45] superintendent report report. The first

[1:10:47] is the personnel report which

[1:10:48] isformational information only. uh would

[1:10:51] like to formally welcome our new

[1:10:53] faculty, staff, and administration. Uh

[1:10:56] as well as uh just let the committee

[1:10:59] know about the most recent memo uh that

[1:11:02] was received by the district uh that

[1:11:04] will affect FY27 moving and uh moving

[1:11:08] forward uh and that is the CTE tuition

[1:11:11] calculation and the guidance that RIDE

[1:11:13] is being given. Next slide, please.

[1:11:17] So we have a uh slew of personnel

[1:11:21] actions uh lots of hiring uh going on.

[1:11:25] Our principles, HR, um interview

[1:11:29] committees have done a fantastic job uh

[1:11:32] bringing in people to the district.

[1:11:34] Additionally, uh we've had some folks uh

[1:11:36] who have let us know about a leave of

[1:11:38] absence or who have also let us know uh

[1:11:40] about an upcoming retirement that is

[1:11:43] occurring in this school year. um and

[1:11:46] which is while we don't like to see them

[1:11:49] go, it uh is appreciated when we have

[1:11:51] that so we can get it uh get coverage in

[1:11:54] advance or start planning for that uh

[1:11:56] months in advance. So um

[1:12:00] next slide.

[1:12:04] So this was as of uh last week. So to

[1:12:08] put some names with some of those

[1:12:10] positions that uh have that are joining

[1:12:13] us this coming school year and in many

[1:12:16] cases beyond. Uh we welcome Greg

[1:12:18] Shereest. We welcome Jennifer Sappy,

[1:12:21] Alyssa Edsanti, Emily Raymond Griffin,

[1:12:24] Jonathan Kenny, Alen Texera, Sarah

[1:12:27] Ellie, Benjamin Hamill, Cody Pod

[1:12:30] Podaworni, Jennifer Gilbert, Monica

[1:12:32] Andrews, and Elias Benson. uh those are

[1:12:35] just uh those members who are joining

[1:12:38] our uh our NEASK uh bargaining units. So

[1:12:44] uh we welcome them to the district. Uh

[1:12:47] actually new teacher orientation will be

[1:12:49] actually this Friday here uh in the

[1:12:52] South Kingtown High School library. Uh

[1:12:54] and then with orientation uh next

[1:12:57] Monday. Next slide.

[1:13:01] I'd also like to welcome for from SKSP

[1:13:04] we have Danielle Harris, Jessica Dh

[1:13:07] Duca, uh Lindseay Monteneeri, Andrea

[1:13:11] Dion, and also uh welcome to their newer

[1:13:15] roles even though these folks have been

[1:13:17] with us. uh Gina Habberlin as principal

[1:13:19] of Broad Rock Middle School, AJ Sherman

[1:13:22] welcoming back as athletic director,

[1:13:24] Brandon Pierce as assistant principal

[1:13:26] here at the high school, Mary Serber uh

[1:13:28] who served last year uh as an interim

[1:13:31] basis as our preschool coordinator, uh

[1:13:33] Corey Lennon uh most recently uh as the

[1:13:36] appointed Broadck uh middle school

[1:13:38] assistant principal. Uh and I left off

[1:13:41] here because he was actually appointed

[1:13:43] pretty early on at the end of last

[1:13:45] school year. U but Mr. Joe Adams also

[1:13:47] I'd like to to welcome to the district

[1:13:49] and welcome uh to those folks the vast

[1:13:52] majority of whom in terms of

[1:13:54] administration um are depending on who

[1:13:57] you ask moving up or moving down through

[1:13:59] the ranks to join the administration. Um

[1:14:02] so we welcome them and look forward to

[1:14:04] supporting them uh everyone this

[1:14:06] upcoming school year. Next slide please.

[1:14:11] So on the new ride guidance um

[1:14:15] previously this now this applies just to

[1:14:18] CTE.

[1:14:20] Um,

[1:14:22] previously Ry

[1:14:24] stated that

[1:14:26] for CTE calculations, each district gave

[1:14:30] over their per pupil

[1:14:33] rate and in some cases depending on the

[1:14:36] students if they uh were from if they

[1:14:40] were student in poverty or experiencing

[1:14:43] poverty there was a bump up on that

[1:14:46] calculation. Um, but they basically

[1:14:49] would give us a chart based off of what

[1:14:52] we spent locally and as the saying used

[1:14:57] to be known as the money follows then

[1:14:59] the child.

[1:15:01] However, um this is being challenged. Um

[1:15:06] Warwick public schools has asked Ry for

[1:15:10] a uh a judgment about uh not only this

[1:15:15] upcoming school year but previous school

[1:15:17] years. Um and it is because of that uh

[1:15:21] decision which is also being appealed at

[1:15:23] this time that RIDE has given guidance

[1:15:26] um for this upcoming school year that

[1:15:29] differs significantly from previous

[1:15:32] years. Um, and I put that in quotes. So

[1:15:36] ultimately, I won't read it to you, um,

[1:15:39] but essentially when it used to be a

[1:15:41] flat rate that would go over there or on

[1:15:42] a a quarterly basis, now it is the

[1:15:46] average of both the sending and

[1:15:50] receiving district.

[1:15:52] It is based off of a formula that ride

[1:15:56] now calculates that is different than

[1:15:58] what it previously calculated in that it

[1:16:01] takes out the tu it doesn't calculate

[1:16:04] the the tuition coming into the

[1:16:06] district. It removes that. Additionally,

[1:16:09] it does not take into account uh student

[1:16:12] demographics

[1:16:14] uh factors such as again students

[1:16:17] experiencing poverty. So the potential,

[1:16:21] you know, I uh the potential for this

[1:16:24] depending on where our students go to

[1:16:28] CTE as well as our students who are

[1:16:30] coming to us from CTE. So not only on

[1:16:33] the expense side, I'm highlighting the

[1:16:34] expense because currently our expense

[1:16:37] far outweighs our revenue for CTE

[1:16:39] currently. However, uh that it's going

[1:16:43] to affect that as well. So next slide,

[1:16:45] please.

[1:16:48] So, I did link every uh district's CTE

[1:16:52] rate as promulgated by RIDE. South

[1:16:54] Kingtown's next year is 27,260.

[1:17:00] If we were to just take that in previous

[1:17:02] years, well, that would have been the

[1:17:03] publish late rate that followed a child

[1:17:06] wherever they went.

[1:17:08] However, when we now start averaging,

[1:17:11] Naragansit's per pupil rate as uh

[1:17:16] promulgated by ride is 34,352.

[1:17:22] So, we then have to take the 45 students

[1:17:26] that as of the 19th were slated to go to

[1:17:30] Naragansit.

[1:17:31] Again, previously that would be

[1:17:33] approximately $1.2 million. the new

[1:17:37] because we're now averaging there's

[1:17:39] approximately oh there's over a $3,000

[1:17:43] bump and so we are looking at again a

[1:17:46] difference of $159,000

[1:17:49] 570

[1:17:50] for cheroo that is our next largest CTE

[1:17:53] expense again here because the average

[1:17:57] is lower pre this the formula works in

[1:18:00] our benefit rather than just

[1:18:02] distributing the 27260

[1:18:04] previously it now breaks down to the new

[1:18:08] of being 255 and again uh I put North

[1:18:12] Kingtown and Cranston. So there are some

[1:18:14] circumstances where we benefit uh from

[1:18:17] this formula. Uh however uh due to the

[1:18:21] per pupil of Naragansit and the sheer

[1:18:23] number of students that we currently

[1:18:25] send there um we do not break even

[1:18:28] currently if this were to to go through.

[1:18:32] >> Can I ask a couple questions please? Um,

[1:18:36] so this formula is I know Warwick was

[1:18:41] actually looking to recoup money from

[1:18:43] prior years. Is there is this only going

[1:18:46] forward or is there any

[1:18:47] >> this is only RID's guidance for this

[1:18:49] school year moving forward how they

[1:18:52] expect every district in the state to

[1:18:54] now calculate their CTE tuition rates

[1:18:58] going back? That is still under appeal.

[1:19:00] >> Okay. Um do we know how many students

[1:19:04] yet are enrolling in the these other

[1:19:07] high schools for the coming year? Do you

[1:19:10] have an idea?

[1:19:10] >> Um so those uh those students that are

[1:19:13] listed there are as of last week. So I

[1:19:16] I've downloaded that data. So that is

[1:19:18] our current um as of last week the

[1:19:21] number of students who are enrolled in

[1:19:22] out of district CTE. I don't have the

[1:19:25] number that are coming that are

[1:19:26] guaranteed coming into us yet. Do we

[1:19:29] know if these those numbers are going up

[1:19:30] or down?

[1:19:32] >> I I did not do a comparison versus last

[1:19:34] year that

[1:19:35] >> Could you Could you get that to us

[1:19:37] because that's I really want to know. I

[1:19:40] mean it we're all hopeful that we're

[1:19:42] stemming the tide. So I just really

[1:19:44] would like to see that.

[1:19:45] >> Absolutely. Thank you.

[1:19:47] >> Absolutely. Is this does this account

[1:19:49] for all students going to other

[1:19:51] districts or these are just for

[1:19:52] examples? um as of right now this so

[1:19:55] this the only other uh would be charter

[1:19:59] schools that again aren't under this

[1:20:02] formula

[1:20:08] » miss better thank you for your question

[1:20:10] that clarified one question that I had

[1:20:13] um however I I would like to know if any

[1:20:18] of these students

[1:20:21] um

[1:20:23] uh experiencing

[1:20:25] homelessness and how would that impact

[1:20:29] the

[1:20:32] program?

[1:20:33] >> So, in terms of if a student were

[1:20:36] experiencing homelessness, um in terms

[1:20:39] of the funding formula that RIDE is

[1:20:42] using, there is no bump up or bump down.

[1:20:44] The their ability to stay in this

[1:20:47] program would fall under McKenna Vento.

[1:20:51] um that few few months ago that we

[1:20:54] updated that policy uh extensively. So,

[1:20:57] uh, if a student were, uh, a South

[1:21:00] Kingtown student experiencing

[1:21:02] homelessness and going to a CTE, um,

[1:21:06] assuming that the best interest

[1:21:07] determination is to stay in these, uh,

[1:21:10] school of origin, even though we are the

[1:21:12] school of origin and they were attending

[1:21:14] a CTE, that would we would continue to

[1:21:18] uh, incur that tuition cost.

[1:21:22] You're welcome.

[1:21:24] >> So, you said this is being um healed. Is

[1:21:29] that correct?

[1:21:30] >> The formal Yes. The formal the final

[1:21:33] rule the ruling that the commissioner

[1:21:35] came out with because what they what

[1:21:37] ride did and I will ask um in a future

[1:21:41] meeting for attorney SOA to come on in

[1:21:43] who can speak to it uh more eloquently

[1:21:45] as well as we're paying him to represent

[1:21:47] us. Um my understanding is is that uh in

[1:21:52] RID's ruling they were asking everybody

[1:21:55] to ple let's just move forward.

[1:21:57] Everybody w everybody was doing this

[1:21:59] formula wrong. So there was one portion

[1:22:01] of the law that said do it this way. And

[1:22:04] actually you have some districts that

[1:22:06] got together made regional agreements

[1:22:09] and based on this ruling it was no you

[1:22:12] can't do that. And hey guys we're all in

[1:22:15] this together. We're all making the same

[1:22:17] mistakes moving forward. We're going to

[1:22:19] use this portion of the law and ride

[1:22:22] will promulgate this and this is how

[1:22:24] we're going to do it based on that

[1:22:26] section of the law. That piece is being

[1:22:28] appealed. So in terms of the the

[1:22:32] look back and the potential fiscal

[1:22:35] impact of that appeal, uh I can't say

[1:22:37] right now.

[1:22:41] It just strikes me as a it strikes me

[1:22:44] like initially, yeah, if we were if we

[1:22:46] were navigating only three of these four

[1:22:48] districts like, oh wow, this is this is

[1:22:50] good for us, but it's clearly not. Um

[1:22:54] with a with a higher cost

[1:22:57] uh district that we that we are sending

[1:22:59] to. Um, it just strikes me that the

[1:23:04] sending school district is fiscally

[1:23:08] penalized for sending a student to a

[1:23:13] lower enrollment school district because

[1:23:16] by having lower enrollment, the per

[1:23:18] pupil expenditure is increased. So, um,

[1:23:22] it's easy for me to just sit here and

[1:23:23] say that's not fair, but it doesn't feel

[1:23:25] fair.

[1:23:26] >> Yes.

[1:23:28] >> I just want to say that out loud. Not

[1:23:29] that we need to do anything about it,

[1:23:31] but I'm just saying that it's like it's it's

[1:23:35] um be it's like we're being again we're

[1:23:37] being penalized because one of the our receiving districts um have low

[1:23:43] lower enrollment and so it just seems

[1:23:45] like an odd calculation.

[1:23:47] >> I mean I think this speaks to broader

[1:23:50] needs around the funding formula

[1:23:51] changing and and how how we fund

[1:23:53] education in the state from the from

[1:23:55] this from the top level down. Um, and I think it's, you know, important as as

[1:24:00] committee to continue to have those

[1:24:02] conversations, continue to maybe even

[1:24:04] look at resolutions that could help move

[1:24:06] the need at the state house. Um, so I

[1:24:08] think things to come into the future to

[1:24:10] talk about, but as far as this goes, I

[1:24:12] agree with you. It's not really fair

[1:24:15] given this breakdown. Um, it is

[1:24:17] unfortunate.

[1:24:20] Um, I think

[1:24:23] um I I agree with what Miss Massing and

[1:24:27] Mr. Steo said about like, yeah, it's

[1:24:30] going to cost us $60,000 more. Um, but

[1:24:35] if you recall, and I am not going to be

[1:24:39] able to pull these numbers off the top

[1:24:41] of my head, my brain is not that good.

[1:24:46] But when I went to the Rhode Island

[1:24:48] Association of School Committees annual

[1:24:50] meeting, we had that um presenter from

[1:24:57] um can't remember who she represented,

[1:25:01] but they worked together with the Rhode

[1:25:03] Island Foundation and um did some moving

[1:25:08] around of the funding formula

[1:25:12] um whereby they were

[1:25:15] going to begin to include

[1:25:18] transportation. And they were calling it

[1:25:23] um

[1:25:25] not

[1:25:27] they they changed the wording of what

[1:25:29] they were calling it so that

[1:25:32] transportation became an integral part

[1:25:34] of educating a child.

[1:25:37] And the ultimate goal was to get

[1:25:42] um like a flat percentage across the

[1:25:47] state.

[1:25:50] Um

[1:25:52] and the the city or town, the

[1:25:55] municipality would pay a certain

[1:25:57] percentage and the state would pay

[1:26:00] another percentage and that would be the

[1:26:04] you know the same across the state. So

[1:26:07] we would get that same percentage as

[1:26:10] narrow dancer. Um

[1:26:13] and what I have heard

[1:26:16] um is that the general assembly is

[1:26:18] looking at this and thinking in terms of

[1:26:23] phasing that in but they are definitely

[1:26:26] looking at that seriously. Now is that

[1:26:28] going to help us next year with this

[1:26:30] extra $67,000?

[1:26:32] No. And Mr. for jobs told me that the

[1:26:35] money tree didn't grow any money because

[1:26:37] they're coming from the back of the

[1:26:39] admin. So, I mean, that's at least

[1:26:42] something we we can look forward to

[1:26:45] things um getting a little better.

[1:26:53] » It highlights the other goal of um

[1:26:56] keeping our students.

[1:26:58] So instead of having 45 students choose

[1:27:00] to go here and 19 students choose to go

[1:27:03] there, we would have them stay here. So

[1:27:14] » did did you have anything else?

[1:27:15] >> Nope. just once again that this is

[1:27:17] something that we will be navigating

[1:27:19] both in terms of moving forward the ride

[1:27:22] rulings as well as as we get into FY27

[1:27:26] and talk about both revenue, expenses,

[1:27:28] enrollment. This is going to be an

[1:27:30] ongoing uh conversation and some

[1:27:33] significantly different calculations

[1:27:35] than we're used to in the past.

[1:27:38] >> I do like your suggestion of bringing

[1:27:41] Mr. SOA in. I just wanted I'm a little

[1:27:43] concerned about the exposure if they go

[1:27:47] back in time because in prior years we

[1:27:50] sent even more children to narance it.

[1:27:53] So there could be exposure there. So I

[1:27:56] think that is a good idea to talk to Mr.

[1:27:59] SOA and just maybe see where thing what

[1:28:02] maybe he feels like the outcome might

[1:28:03] be. So anyway um thank you for

[1:28:06] explaining that.

[1:28:07] >> Thank you.

[1:28:09] Do I have a motion to accept the

[1:28:10] superintendent report?

[1:28:13] >> I make a motion to accept the

[1:28:16] superintendent report as presented.

[1:28:19] >> Second.

[1:28:19] >> All those in favor? I

[1:28:21] >> That motion passes.

[1:28:24] That will bring us to school committee

[1:28:26] business a discussion action approval of

[1:28:29] interim chief financial officer

[1:28:31] contract.

[1:28:35] We have a motion to accept the contract

[1:28:36] as presented by the superintendent.

[1:28:38] >> I'll make a motion to approve the

[1:28:40] interim chief financial officer contract

[1:28:42] as presented uh by the superintendent.

[1:28:44] >> Second.

[1:28:45] >> All those in favor?

[1:28:47] >> I.

[1:28:48] >> That motion passes.

[1:28:51] We want to welcome Mr. Tony Fucci as our

[1:28:54] interim which will lead us uh right into

[1:28:57] our next one. B discussion action fiscal

[1:29:00] year 2027 recommended plan to meet state

[1:29:04] financial reporting requirements.

[1:29:07] >> Welcome back.

[1:29:11] >> It's like a revolving door around here.

[1:29:15] >> Hopefully not. Um good evening, Madam

[1:29:18] Chair, members of the committee. Mr.

[1:29:20] Superintendent, um I'm I'm proud to

[1:29:22] become a temporary member of the

[1:29:25] community. Um I think you've come

[1:29:28] strides ahead from where we first

[1:29:31] started a couple of years back. Um so

[1:29:33] while we have a slight setback in

[1:29:35] personnel um I think we've got an

[1:29:37] opportunity to engage and reset the

[1:29:39] district for further gains. So I'm very

[1:29:41] excited about however I can assist uh

[1:29:43] with that process. So thank you for not

[1:29:45] confidence in that. Thank you. Um I do

[1:29:49] have a number of items this evening for

[1:29:50] you. I'll try and get through relatively

[1:29:53] quickly and happy to answer any

[1:29:54] questions. First up is the uh the state

[1:29:58] has issued um further clarity and most

[1:30:02] importantly

[1:30:04] um the requirement of communities to

[1:30:08] report consistently on a monthly basis

[1:30:10] and these regs that have been in place

[1:30:12] for a number of years now but it's been

[1:30:14] kind of more along the lines of how

[1:30:16] communities have communicated with the

[1:30:18] public. So, they're looking for more

[1:30:20] consistency. And so, um, with my

[1:30:23] arrival, I was introduced to a letter

[1:30:25] that was dated August 5th, 2026

[1:30:29] from the auditor general's office

[1:30:31] highlighting, um, the necessity to start

[1:30:34] reporting in a standardized basis on a

[1:30:36] monthly basis. And so, we've been in

[1:30:38] meetings with the town and they've

[1:30:40] making some modifications to accommodate

[1:30:43] all the requirements that are

[1:30:44] articulated in your document. Um, we're

[1:30:48] aligning ourselves with the town and

[1:30:51] what I have before you this evening is a

[1:30:53] recommendation that we've got a temp

[1:30:55] particular template that will show those

[1:30:59] um operations for the school, the

[1:31:01] general fund, the capital fund, and a

[1:31:03] school lunch fund in particular. And

[1:31:06] what we should be doing is looking at

[1:31:07] those monthly on a year-to- date budget

[1:31:10] versus year-to- date actual. and then

[1:31:12] any comments coming from administration

[1:31:15] as to anything that they're aware of

[1:31:17] that is potentially impacting the

[1:31:19] budget. And so that's the highlight of

[1:31:22] what they're trying to uh propose. If

[1:31:26] districts get into a position where

[1:31:28] they're projecting the possibility of

[1:31:30] incurring deficits, uh the state does

[1:31:33] require an action plan to be submitted

[1:31:35] as to what the district is attempting to

[1:31:37] do. And that also applicable at the

[1:31:39] municipal level, but I'll say targeted

[1:31:40] on the impact of the schools. So the

[1:31:44] simplicity of what we're doing this

[1:31:46] evening is the next report, which is

[1:31:48] your monthly financial statement for

[1:31:51] FY27. Now that we're almost two months

[1:31:54] into the school year from a financial

[1:31:56] perspective because it starts July 1st,

[1:31:58] there's a new cover letter that will be

[1:32:01] produced by the CFO myself until a new

[1:32:04] person is appointed and it's broken down

[1:32:06] with the the categorizations that I just

[1:32:08] mentioned. And so that will become the

[1:32:10] template I believe that you should

[1:32:12] sustain. Most importantly, it's the

[1:32:16] requirement of maintaining the comments

[1:32:20] on the three issues of general fund

[1:32:24] budget, your capital fund budget and

[1:32:26] your operational budget for the school

[1:32:29] lunch because the school lunch if it

[1:32:31] operates in deficit of course the the

[1:32:33] fund balance of the general fund would

[1:32:35] also be applied to cover that that

[1:32:37] operation. So that's why those three are

[1:32:40] to be highlighted in spotlight. There's

[1:32:42] some internal workings that have to take

[1:32:44] place to do it on a regular basis. Um,

[1:32:46] as you'll notice, some of the budgets

[1:32:47] are not in um with regards to either the

[1:32:51] capital fund or the school lunch fund.

[1:32:53] Those will be caught off. But by having

[1:32:54] a template in place and expectation in

[1:32:57] place, then the compliance will follow.

[1:33:00] So we've been very clear with the town

[1:33:03] that the school committee will receive

[1:33:05] these documents first and that way there

[1:33:08] you can go through the details and

[1:33:10] answer any questions etc. And at the

[1:33:13] conclusion of your meetings and the

[1:33:14] reports are accepted we would then send

[1:33:17] over a copy of that report to the town

[1:33:20] and that would be effective tomorrow. Um

[1:33:23] and in turn they're required to post all

[1:33:25] the town municipal reports for the

[1:33:27] public for those folks to be able to

[1:33:29] reference these reports on an as on an

[1:33:31] ongoing basis going forward. And so your

[1:33:34] reads wherever we're storing them now

[1:33:36] for public access could be sustained.

[1:33:39] But clearly the community will say we've

[1:33:41] got them all. We've got the schools and

[1:33:42] we've got the municipal budgets etc. um

[1:33:45] and they comply with state law so that

[1:33:47] they can be um compared and referenced

[1:33:50] by the community down the road. Um there

[1:33:53] are two or three other benchmarks with

[1:33:55] regards to um annual budgets. Those two

[1:33:58] would be then released on on the routine

[1:34:01] basis and also a five-year projection. I

[1:34:03] know we've been doing those types of

[1:34:05] work, but this just codifies that it

[1:34:07] will come before the school committee

[1:34:08] before it's released for public

[1:34:10] presentation through the town council, I

[1:34:13] mean a town uh fiscal office uh process

[1:34:15] they have in place. And I understand

[1:34:18] that the finance director for the town

[1:34:20] will be presenting something similar to

[1:34:22] the town council um soon and so

[1:34:26] everybody should be on board about

[1:34:27] having these documents uh readily

[1:34:29] available and um my office if I ask

[1:34:32] questions about the public documents as

[1:34:34] long as it's already been vetted by the

[1:34:36] school committee we you would know what

[1:34:38] would be the answers we would be driving

[1:34:40] based on the documents that you have in

[1:34:42] front of you and if something is missing

[1:34:44] in your comments in the future I think

[1:34:46] it behooves to make sure those kinds of

[1:34:48] items get identified early in the

[1:34:50] process and you have a format in which

[1:34:53] that communication can take place and

[1:34:54] just make sure those items come before

[1:34:57] you on a regular basis. So it's a check

[1:34:59] and balance for the system. So happy to

[1:35:02] answer any questions um with regards to

[1:35:05] our roll out.

[1:35:07] So in regard to the templates,

[1:35:11] um is this something each town is

[1:35:14] developing their own template or is

[1:35:16] there guide from the state?

[1:35:18] >> This the town's basically the actual

[1:35:21] format of the template that we have is

[1:35:22] what the town is working on. And when I

[1:35:25] reviewed how they were setting theirs

[1:35:27] up, I just align what we're doing,

[1:35:29] what's operationally is um consistent

[1:35:32] for what they're viewing. And you'll

[1:35:34] notice that there is a subsection for

[1:35:36] our grants. Um, and that will be just in

[1:35:38] totality because we all know grants

[1:35:40] can't go over, they can't be overspent,

[1:35:42] etc. Um, they're pretty tightly uh

[1:35:45] managed. Um, so that's really should not

[1:35:48] present a deficit style issue like your

[1:35:52] operating budgets will potentially do.

[1:35:55] So that's why the separation from our

[1:35:57] perspective and what we're going to keep

[1:35:58] our eye on. We want to acknowledge those

[1:36:00] resources. If each town is developing

[1:36:02] their own way of reporting, it still may

[1:36:07] lead to not being able to directly

[1:36:09] compare with other school districts. So,

[1:36:11] it doesn't really shore up that

[1:36:14] >> that may be the next part to see how

[1:36:16] much they actually deviate, if they

[1:36:18] actually do deviate or if everybody is

[1:36:20] going to this style model of um what

[1:36:24] types of funds are being highlighted um

[1:36:26] across the state.

[1:36:28] >> All right, great. Thanks. Other

[1:36:30] questions?

[1:36:32] an interesting question. Um because and

[1:36:36] to piggyback on that, the three

[1:36:38] categories that making up the template

[1:36:41] is that those are the three categories

[1:36:43] dictated by the state or is that what

[1:36:46] the town is requesting?

[1:36:49] the about my my read of the information

[1:36:52] that you have in front of you is the

[1:36:55] identification of those funds that may

[1:36:59] potentially generate deficits and so

[1:37:01] that you're on top of those. So the

[1:37:04] definition of that type of fund is what

[1:37:06] I personally and professionally brought

[1:37:08] forward for your consideration. they're

[1:37:10] the only three major funds that have

[1:37:11] that opportunity that if there's a big

[1:37:14] expenditure and you have to do it or

[1:37:16] revenue is off significantly, it could

[1:37:18] structurally undermine your um financial

[1:37:22] position in the in the community. So

[1:37:24] that's why I'm recommending those three

[1:37:26] particular targets to be on your table.

[1:37:29] >> And these uh reports are being generated

[1:37:31] monthly. Um, I know and I may be um like

[1:37:37] totally off base with my question here.

[1:37:40] Um, or you can say that's not relevant

[1:37:42] if if that's the case. But so I know

[1:37:44] monthto-month

[1:37:46] um there we have often had conversations

[1:37:48] around certain expenditures that are

[1:37:51] embargoed um or we don't have that

[1:37:54] information yet. Um we'll know at the

[1:37:56] end of you know June 31st or whatever it

[1:37:59] is. um will that be clear in the report

[1:38:03] or is that not a factor?

[1:38:06] >> I think the month-to-month

[1:38:08] um is an opportunity to hear things

[1:38:11] targeted. Um as a side recommendation

[1:38:15] from my personal experience in the

[1:38:17] districts I I was involved with and I've

[1:38:19] been speaking the superintendent about

[1:38:20] it and maybe a presentation in the

[1:38:22] future with regard to this item. Um, but

[1:38:26] I always made it a practice in the

[1:38:27] districts that I served was to actually

[1:38:30] have a yearend rejection prepared

[1:38:35] specifically for the month of November

[1:38:37] and again for the month of February. And

[1:38:40] what that would in fact be is a uh

[1:38:44] indepth analysis of expenses. And the

[1:38:48] target of November and February

[1:38:51] is along the lines of when school opens

[1:38:54] and you have too many students and you

[1:38:57] need a kindergarten teacher, you have to

[1:38:58] hire the teacher. There's no getting

[1:39:00] around it and that always creates

[1:39:02] anxiety. And who retires in August that

[1:39:05] we didn't know about and what do we got

[1:39:07] to hire and did if we had retirements

[1:39:09] and we planned on they'd be hiring

[1:39:11] teachers at second step did that

[1:39:12] actually take place all those kinds of

[1:39:14] things which have dramatic impact on

[1:39:15] budgets. I was a firm believer that for

[1:39:19] the most part the operational expenses

[1:39:21] should be relatively

[1:39:23] aligned with budget if you do your

[1:39:25] budget properly going into your each

[1:39:28] year but your staffing is the the b

[1:39:31] biggest significant expense. So give us

[1:39:34] a report that says from July 1st through

[1:39:37] October 1st how much did you actually

[1:39:39] spend in staff expenses

[1:39:42] in the middle of October or early

[1:39:44] November. Now that the staff has settled

[1:39:46] down, your teachers are in, your

[1:39:48] administration is in, etc., and you've

[1:39:51] got 22 payrolls between now and the end

[1:39:54] of the school year, use physical

[1:39:56] evidence times numbers of people in that

[1:40:00] times the dollars paid on a typical

[1:40:02] salary. Come up with what those expenses

[1:40:05] will be added to each line in your

[1:40:07] budget. It's an in-depth analysis, but

[1:40:10] it's real. You really then at that point

[1:40:13] in November may have one or two openings

[1:40:15] or you may know somebody's retiring in

[1:40:18] December and you can make minor slight

[1:40:20] adjustments but it's not going to be the

[1:40:22] magnitude of over hundreds of thousands.

[1:40:24] It'll be 20,000 here, 50,000 there, but

[1:40:26] you tweak it and I used to stand my

[1:40:29] reputation on how accurate we were in

[1:40:33] November and then again in February.

[1:40:36] That provides you two things. one,

[1:40:39] you're on target and maintaining a

[1:40:41] balanced budget. Two, if you have an

[1:40:44] issue, you've got time in front of you

[1:40:45] to make necessary adjustments so that

[1:40:47] you can come in on budget. And three, it

[1:40:51] answers the question, what's our

[1:40:52] financial position as you go into the

[1:40:55] discussion of next year's budget? and not knowing those elements I think

[1:41:01] sets up well if we're not sure and we're

[1:41:03] not sure it just it undermines the

[1:41:06] credibility of what you need when it

[1:41:08] comes time to talk about next year. So I

[1:41:11] highly be happy to create a

[1:41:14] recommendation documenting this if

[1:41:16] community thinks it's worthwhile

[1:41:17] considering um for another time and

[1:41:20] place.

[1:41:20] it kind it will definitely align with um

[1:41:24] what we're currently doing and once you

[1:41:26] receive that I would say release that

[1:41:29] publicly. This this is something where

[1:41:30] you're building credibility by doing

[1:41:32] this process. And in the $90 million a

[1:41:35] year budget that I was managing, if I

[1:41:38] was off by two or $300,000, I would get

[1:41:41] upset. But the community is like, well,

[1:41:43] this is much better than where we were

[1:41:44] two and three years ago out of 90

[1:41:46] million $50 million of salary alone. And

[1:41:50] the wildness of what the projections

[1:41:53] were that we were hearing is markedly

[1:41:55] improved. And so I offer that as a

[1:41:58] potential consideration in the future.

[1:42:00] >> Thank you for for sharing that because I

[1:42:02] also think that aligns with the

[1:42:04] direction that this particular body is

[1:42:06] has been kind of demanding we go forward

[1:42:10] with starting this year already. So

[1:42:13] thank you for that.

[1:42:16] >> I'd be interested in other

[1:42:18] recommendations as well.

[1:42:21] I agree with Miss Masani and um Mr. Fury

[1:42:27] if you wouldn't mind like setting that

[1:42:30] plan in motion so that it can be

[1:42:36] um like organized

[1:42:40] um going forward. Um I would greatly

[1:42:43] appreciate it and I think probably have

[1:42:45] agreement here at the table. Um, so this

[1:42:50] I I want to make sure that I I have this

[1:42:53] straight. This monthly report, you're

[1:42:57] going to use you and the town are going

[1:42:59] to use the same template.

[1:43:02] >> That's correct.

[1:43:03] >> And and their report is going to be

[1:43:06] separate. Correct. Ours is go Okay. and

[1:43:09] we're going to send that report to the

[1:43:13] town and they will take care of sending

[1:43:16] it to the auditor general. I think

[1:43:18] that's where it's gone.

[1:43:20] >> The auditor general is requiring

[1:43:22] communication whenever there is a um a

[1:43:26] potential issue. So, if we've identified

[1:43:28] a potential issue, then you're sending

[1:43:29] the report with potential issue. And

[1:43:32] what they're also expecting is an action

[1:43:35] plan to address whatever that issue is.

[1:43:37] And so that's when it would have to go.

[1:43:39] I would recommend that the district make

[1:43:42] sure it gets to the auditor general, be

[1:43:44] it the district can send it up or the

[1:43:46] town could. The town's really more

[1:43:49] organizing and providing that public

[1:43:52] access to all the town records in one

[1:43:54] spot. So if somebody's interested in

[1:43:55] town finance and school finance, they

[1:43:57] can look in one spot rather than going

[1:43:58] over to the website for the school

[1:44:00] department and then go find something

[1:44:01] and how it might be set up differently.

[1:44:03] But I think they're going to do

[1:44:04] something at the town to have it at the

[1:44:06] top of their website pile so it'll be an

[1:44:08] easy find for the public in the near

[1:44:10] future.

[1:44:11] >> And is that monthly report going to come

[1:44:14] to this body also?

[1:44:16] >> I could request a copy if you wish or I wanted to get you folks instructions

[1:44:21] at least to where they're going to be

[1:44:23] found. So if you wanted to find it so I

[1:44:25] could bring one over as a template to

[1:44:27] show it and then give the direction if

[1:44:29] you want it monthly from them. I know

[1:44:31] where you could swap, but if you know

[1:44:32] where to find it and it's easy enough to

[1:44:34] find, we can have that conversation. I'm

[1:44:36] happy to follow up with the town of

[1:44:37] Finance Director on that particular

[1:44:38] question.

[1:44:39] >> Well, I don't know what the rest of the

[1:44:41] school committee thinks, but we kind of

[1:44:45] get a monthly

[1:44:48] um financial report. And if the

[1:44:51] superintendent

[1:44:53] um and the assistant superintendent

[1:44:55] think that this template would give us

[1:44:59] similar

[1:45:00] um information,

[1:45:02] then certainly we could have that report

[1:45:07] um instead. But I really like your

[1:45:11] November and February.

[1:45:15] » Thank you.

[1:45:15] Mr. Purch. Yeah, I I'm in

[1:45:18] total agreement on the November and

[1:45:20] February uh reporting of where we are

[1:45:22] kind of checkpoints on on overall budget

[1:45:24] and I would agree with Mr. Gau about the

[1:45:27] um this monthly report maybe being in

[1:45:30] addition to the monthly report we

[1:45:31] already got. I think it just it it's

[1:45:34] showing the thinking behind if there's

[1:45:36] going to be a a variance or or deficit

[1:45:39] of some kind, what's the plan to fix it?

[1:45:41] That's something we all need to know as

[1:45:42] well. Also, I think it'll be very

[1:45:43] important for us to to see that as well,

[1:45:46] even if it is in addition to the

[1:45:47] reporting we already got.

[1:45:56] » I just really think it's a great way a

[1:45:59] great a great way forward

[1:46:03] and rebuilding trust with the town and

[1:46:05] the community at large. Um, and I look

[1:46:10] forward to that.

[1:46:12] um November and February report to help

[1:46:17] us in our budget process which as Kate

[1:46:21] alluded to we all agreed that you know

[1:46:24] we needed to do something different so I

[1:46:26] think that's a great idea to move

[1:46:29] forward. Thank you.

[1:46:33] » Do you need us to vote to accept your

[1:46:37] recommendation?

[1:46:38] >> Yes.

[1:46:39] >> Okay. So we need a motion. I thought so.

[1:46:42] Just wanted to make sure.

[1:46:43] >> I'll make a motion to accept the

[1:46:46] recommendation from Mr. Furuchi to god

[1:46:49] to the monthly financial reporting.

[1:46:53] >> Second.

[1:46:54] >> All those in favor?

[1:46:56] >> I I that motion passes. That will bring

[1:46:59] us to the next one. C.

[1:47:02] This uh discussion action fiscal year

[1:47:04] 2027 memo from Anthony Ferushi,

[1:47:07] financial consultant regarding the

[1:47:09] fiscal year 2027 budget to actual

[1:47:12] monthly report.

[1:47:14] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um I do have a

[1:47:16] package that has the format that we've

[1:47:19] been speaking about just a moment ago.

[1:47:21] It's breaking down the operating funds,

[1:47:23] what we consider operating funds, where

[1:47:25] the district is responsible for the

[1:47:27] surplus and deficits, etc. Um it's

[1:47:30] broken down into four, excuse me, three

[1:47:34] categories. One being your general fund,

[1:47:36] which is your school operating account.

[1:47:37] That's where the tax community dollars

[1:47:40] to support schools flows through. The

[1:47:43] next is your capital reserve fund.

[1:47:45] Typically, that's the funding that the

[1:47:47] schools have patched through from um

[1:47:49] prior year surpluses and and coming up

[1:47:52] this year. um housing aid that state has

[1:47:55] paid to the town and expenses the school

[1:47:58] has paid historically um is going to

[1:48:00] start coming through to the schools and

[1:48:01] that's a whole another topic of

[1:48:03] conversation but those funds will flow

[1:48:05] through your capital reserve and then

[1:48:06] lastly the school lunch and so this just

[1:48:10] is setting the the temperature and the

[1:48:12] template of you've got the operating

[1:48:14] funds revenue and the operant I noticed

[1:48:16] I made a mistake total all school

[1:48:18] operating expenses is in the first

[1:48:20] cluster that should have been revenue my

[1:48:22] apologies ies. And then the second

[1:48:24] cluster is the expenses in totality. The

[1:48:27] total budget, your year-to- date actual

[1:48:30] incumbrances are your open purchase

[1:48:32] orders or in the case of staff salaries.

[1:48:34] And we know who's getting paid out of

[1:48:36] what particular line after so many

[1:48:38] payrolls, it goes down to what we expect

[1:48:40] to pay them the course of the rest of

[1:48:42] the school year. Um, that's what your

[1:48:44] incumbrances total. And then it talks

[1:48:46] about your availability. Um, the general

[1:48:50] fund comments. Um I'm just highlighting

[1:48:53] the fact that the current budget is um

[1:48:57] under review. There's a number of issues

[1:49:00] that have come up um identified as the

[1:49:03] labor contract negotiations. What the

[1:49:06] impact may be on that facility director

[1:49:08] coming on board and being involved with

[1:49:11] capital improvements. capital

[1:49:13] improvement um budget has not been

[1:49:17] brought forward to the school committee

[1:49:19] for the upcoming school year FY27.

[1:49:21] So that what type of potential impact

[1:49:23] that will have and as we had heard

[1:49:26] earlier about the CTE and the tuitions.

[1:49:29] So, we are taking another review of your

[1:49:33] school committee adopted budget for FY27

[1:49:37] and I am targeting the end of September,

[1:49:40] the last meeting in September to come be

[1:49:43] back before you either validating the

[1:49:45] budget that we have and what you've

[1:49:47] approved collectively

[1:49:50] um is is um adequate and there's no

[1:49:54] surprises um or if there's some items in

[1:49:57] there Um, and most importantly, I'll

[1:50:01] talk about it in a couple minutes, the

[1:50:03] end results of FY26

[1:50:06] and what those triggers were,

[1:50:10] they will be compared to your FY27

[1:50:14] budget and budget projections.

[1:50:16] And so I think those areas and we can

[1:50:19] get into the detail in a moment but

[1:50:21] those types of areas we will have a

[1:50:24] strong presentation as to whether it's

[1:50:26] sustainable or they were oneoffs etc. Um

[1:50:30] and when we're talking in excess of a

[1:50:32] million dollars on the table for

[1:50:33] conversation I think it behooves us to

[1:50:36] do a full FY27 review with FY26 as a

[1:50:40] backs stop as to how did we really do

[1:50:42] last year. So that piece is on the table

[1:50:45] for consideration down the road. Um I

[1:50:49] just alluded to the capital fund is its

[1:50:51] own on the second page. It's its own

[1:50:53] comments and this is your opportunity if

[1:50:56] anything is doesn't seem to be commented

[1:50:58] on when you get these in advance of in

[1:51:00] the future. Um that would be your

[1:51:02] opportunity to challenge the CFO as to

[1:51:05] is there an issue with something and

[1:51:06] those comments should be made and and

[1:51:08] document what's going on on a regular

[1:51:10] basis. Um, but with

[1:51:14] the arrival of the new F uh facilities

[1:51:16] director and my involvement with the

[1:51:20] whole 5-year capital plan last year and

[1:51:23] meeting with the town manager and the

[1:51:25] superintendent,

[1:51:27] um, we've gotten clarity as to what we

[1:51:30] need to do to go forward and not having

[1:51:32] a capital budget approved right now is

[1:51:37] actually working out fine because with

[1:51:38] the new facilities director, that person

[1:51:41] will be responsible to achieve the the activities that are going to be come

[1:51:45] before you by the end of September. And

[1:51:48] so there's another document in here that

[1:51:50] I'm talking about capital budget. So I'm

[1:51:52] kind of leading into that. So I'll back

[1:51:54] off. We can get into more detail, but

[1:51:55] I'm articulating that in your summary

[1:51:58] report for the community to know that it

[1:52:00] is under further review and with

[1:52:02] solidification of when to expect. And to

[1:52:04] me, that's the biggest thing when with

[1:52:06] putting a document that's going to be

[1:52:08] out in the public realm is we've

[1:52:11] identified something and then we're

[1:52:13] going to leave you with what's this next

[1:52:16] step is. Be it follow up a month from

[1:52:18] now or we got it resolved or we've got

[1:52:22] to come up with another plan. But at

[1:52:23] least here we hopefully it comes across

[1:52:25] that yes we've identified something but

[1:52:28] we also have the action plan that's

[1:52:30] working on between now and a certain

[1:52:32] date and we're going to follow up on it

[1:52:33] and it becomes a target and everybody

[1:52:35] will be on board what the school is

[1:52:37] trying to achieve. So those are the

[1:52:39] pieces that are laid out in front of you

[1:52:42] and there's also the comment about the

[1:52:43] school lunch fund etc. It's just early

[1:52:46] the school doesn't open. We just have a

[1:52:48] small summer program so it's very

[1:52:49] minimal. There's really nothing to

[1:52:51] report out over the summer. There's

[1:52:52] nothing extraordinary to be concerned

[1:52:54] about at this time. And then the all the

[1:52:57] grants um the state just started

[1:53:00] approving grants. So we will be starting

[1:53:01] the post actually approved budgets and

[1:53:03] we'll get up to speed with that. So this

[1:53:05] is just a very minimal amount of impact

[1:53:08] on the community at this point. But the

[1:53:11] d total budget will be probably

[1:53:12] something of the interest for the

[1:53:14] community down the road when we get all

[1:53:15] the grant budgets approved and into the

[1:53:17] system. you'll see what kind of

[1:53:19] resources we have supporting our school

[1:53:21] system through that process.

[1:53:23] And then lastly is the attachment of the

[1:53:26] line item reports showing them

[1:53:30] collectively by what we consider object

[1:53:32] codes. So whether it be the salary line

[1:53:35] or a stipen line or the coaches and etc. um it's across all districts and I

[1:53:41] got to say kudos to your accounting team

[1:53:44] um from what they've been trying to

[1:53:45] achieve. Behind these four pages of

[1:53:48] reports for the general fund alone,

[1:53:51] there's over 7,000

[1:53:55] account codes in which to post the

[1:53:57] transaction. So, it's an incredibly

[1:53:59] tedious and focused effort to maintain

[1:54:03] the integrity um of the information

[1:54:06] that's going into the buckets uh

[1:54:08] appropriately. And this has to do with

[1:54:10] the Yukoa system. It's a 32digit account

[1:54:13] code which gives you opportunity to

[1:54:15] overanalyze a district in my opinion.

[1:54:18] But you see them from the macro level.

[1:54:20] Office supplies is one line,

[1:54:22] instructional textbooks is another line,

[1:54:25] but it's collective. Our report doesn't

[1:54:27] break it down by so by high school,

[1:54:30] middle school or or subject, but in your

[1:54:32] system it is. And so if you want that

[1:54:34] level of detail, it's available, but the

[1:54:36] summary level is what um is our standard

[1:54:39] report. You know, we should be fine with

[1:54:40] that. Any questions?

[1:54:44] >> I have a question. Um so I I think for

[1:54:48] me it's just a clarifying question. So

[1:54:51] when you talk about fringe benefits and

[1:54:54] or under budget, um do you mean that we

[1:55:00] didn't do that in our budget? So

[1:55:04] we didn't budget enough money for it and

[1:55:06] you had to go somewhere else to find it

[1:55:09] to be able to cover these amounts

[1:55:12] >> potentially. Yes. That that's the

[1:55:14] expectation. Yes. But the communication

[1:55:18] to you as a body and to the public and

[1:55:21] as a whole, I think is the critical link

[1:55:24] here. that if you're identifying a

[1:55:26] movement of something underneath the

[1:55:28] what I call underneath the hood out of

[1:55:30] those 7,000 lines and if it's not in the

[1:55:34] same object code we're moving something

[1:55:36] from salary because we have an open

[1:55:39] position but we had to cover an out of

[1:55:41] district tuition that can be

[1:55:43] communicated in the comment area. Um,

[1:55:47] but when you do your November

[1:55:50] projection, I always presented it as a

[1:55:52] revised budget. So that you would adopt

[1:55:54] a budget and then that would be where

[1:55:56] it's embedded that you took the salary

[1:55:58] and slid it budgetarily down there. So

[1:56:00] when you produce these reports in the

[1:56:01] future,

[1:56:03] they will align with one another, that

[1:56:05] the salaries is accurate and that

[1:56:08] purchase service is accurate. So if the

[1:56:11] subsystem isn't managed, it could look

[1:56:13] like it's out of balance and you may

[1:56:16] have a problem not realizing that

[1:56:18] there's a opportunity in other areas.

[1:56:20] And there's another half a step the

[1:56:22] district could consider. Um I've had two

[1:56:25] different experiences where this the

[1:56:28] administration was allowed to move money

[1:56:31] in the category supplies. And so the

[1:56:34] Yukoa County codes use the first two

[1:56:36] digits for category. So a 56 supply,

[1:56:40] there could be 500 56 accounts or a 55

[1:56:45] account or a 53 account or 51 account.

[1:56:49] The administration was allowed to move

[1:56:50] it over there because you approved total

[1:56:52] salaries, you've approved total purchase

[1:56:53] services, etc. But if you needed money

[1:56:56] from one of the categories to go to

[1:56:58] another category, the school committee

[1:57:00] got involved and said we want to be the

[1:57:02] one that authorizes that and approves

[1:57:04] that. And that allows you to know

[1:57:07] whether money was in supplies, it's

[1:57:09] over. Now we're going to put over in

[1:57:10] salaries and hire another body that the

[1:57:13] school committee may not be aware of at

[1:57:14] the time. So those cross categories was

[1:57:17] an opportunity. This wait a minute, I

[1:57:20] thought you needed these things to

[1:57:21] purchase services or salary and now

[1:57:23] you're telling me you're going to go buy

[1:57:24] equipment with it. You know, is it one

[1:57:26] of is it this is boutine, etc., etc. So

[1:57:29] those kinds of internal operational

[1:57:31] things will come to play because if you

[1:57:33] don't make the budget adjustments even

[1:57:35] though everybody knows about it, the

[1:57:37] report could look skewed when it's out

[1:57:39] in the public realm. So just be

[1:57:41] conscious of the timing of moving budget

[1:57:45] numbers and who knows what when. I've

[1:57:48] always been an advocate upfront first,

[1:57:50] make the adjustment and then we can move

[1:57:52] on. You've heard the reasons, you agree

[1:57:54] with the rationale, we're moving

[1:57:56] forward. this is appropriate for this

[1:57:58] year and then it'll be revisited next

[1:57:59] year and then the system could be

[1:58:01] >> just so I can think I'm understanding

[1:58:05] where you're going. So in here I'm

[1:58:08] reading that the retiring the retirees

[1:58:12] benefit

[1:58:14] and

[1:58:16] um

[1:58:20] so

[1:58:21] that's it. So with retirees, we don't

[1:58:24] know that they're going to retire.

[1:58:26] >> Correct.

[1:58:27] >> So is that what impacts that

[1:58:30] >> occasionally? Yes.

[1:58:32] >> The budget then?

[1:58:32] >> Yes.

[1:58:33] >> Okay. So that I'm correct.

[1:58:35] >> Yep. And and a lot of times if if it

[1:58:37] happens in December, um it'll impact the

[1:58:40] tail end of your year, but you don't

[1:58:41] know about it until sometimes they come

[1:58:43] back and say, "There's an opportunity

[1:58:45] for me to leave." Or like what just

[1:58:46] happened, if it happens in August, well,

[1:58:48] we're going to replace that person. And

[1:58:51] that could be a cost savings that will

[1:58:54] get calculated officially in your

[1:58:55] November calculations cuz

[1:58:57] >> but you can't really call it a a savings

[1:59:00] because now you have to pay retirement

[1:59:04] benefits and etc like that. Correct.

[1:59:07] Right.

[1:59:08] >> Yeah.

[1:59:08] >> Okay. That that should get factored in

[1:59:10] during that conversation when the

[1:59:12] triggers take place. And then it's

[1:59:14] material. I mean, if you miss one dental

[1:59:17] bill or two dental bill or even six

[1:59:19] month worth of dental bills, you're only

[1:59:20] talking three, four, $500, $1,000. You

[1:59:24] know, at least you're getting rid of big

[1:59:27] items that seem to be sometimes a

[1:59:29] surprise in some communities. And so

[1:59:31] that's what we're going to be trying to

[1:59:33] formalize while you go through this

[1:59:35] process. you're going to whittle down

[1:59:37] the uncertainties of what we're facing

[1:59:41] um as this thing progresses through the

[1:59:42] course of its uh function.

[1:59:45] >> So um I I am greatly appreciative of you

[1:59:50] bringing back the um need for budget

[1:59:55] amend amendments. We we definitely need

[1:59:58] to do that on a consistent basis. Along

[2:00:01] with budget amendments, I would like to

[2:00:04] also see a variance analysis of any any

[2:00:08] variance in any of the accounts that

[2:00:11] might be above some set number. And with the rationale, I mean, I'm going to

[2:00:16] use an example. The town was using

[2:00:19] energy credits, so we were way under the

[2:00:22] budget for electricity. We if we were

[2:00:25] looking at the at a variance analysis on

[2:00:27] an ongoing basis, we would have seen it.

[2:00:29] So, you know, it's great that it was

[2:00:31] under budgeted, but there was no

[2:00:34] visibility of it. Um, so I'm just going

[2:00:37] to ask Kate, do you think we should have

[2:00:40] a subcommittee meeting to talk about

[2:00:43] what reporting requirements we may need?

[2:00:48] >> I do. I think we I think we need um I

[2:00:50] think we actually need to start having a

[2:00:53] more frequent budget and and finance

[2:00:55] subcommittee meeting. And I think it

[2:00:57] also aligns with the monthly reports

[2:00:59] that we're generating. Do we have to

[2:01:01] have it monthly? Maybe not, but maybe

[2:01:03] you know by monthly or or you know so

[2:01:07] because we need um

[2:01:10] our number one our number one focus has

[2:01:13] been transparency

[2:01:16] and I think we lost some of that over

[2:01:19] the past year unfortunately and uh we

[2:01:23] need to regain it and um and so I think

[2:01:26] this sets that stage to to kind of

[2:01:30] reclaiming that. Um, I think we kind of

[2:01:32] took for granted that we had

[2:01:35] transparency. Um, and and it kind of fit

[2:01:39] us. So, I want to make sure we get back

[2:01:41] to it. Um, and I think this sets us up

[2:01:43] for that for sure. And having that type

[2:01:46] of visibility that you're referring to,

[2:01:48] it just it o it just cl it opens the

[2:01:50] door cl and clarifies everything for us.

[2:01:55] and and maybe as these monthly reports

[2:02:00] um start rolling out well they've

[2:02:02] already started but continue to roll out

[2:02:05] um maybe we should the budget

[2:02:08] subcommittee should meet monthly and

[2:02:11] then after we get you know both feet dug

[2:02:15] in um we may be able to make it um less

[2:02:19] often I'm not looking to add meetings to

[2:02:23] everybody's plate. Um,

[2:02:27] so um, Mr. Fury,

[2:02:31] I am the abstract math person here at

[2:02:33] the table, not the accounting person.

[2:02:36] >> Mhm.

[2:02:36] >> So, um, your notation,

[2:02:40] I always have to clarify this. You've

[2:02:43] got these things. Are those negative

[2:02:46] amounts?

[2:02:47] >> Yes. typically um

[2:02:50] >> use a negative sign like we do.

[2:02:53] >> It's it's sometimes it's difficult to

[2:02:54] see that little dash. I find the

[2:02:56] brackets to be um easier to read.

[2:03:01] >> They use something else different.

[2:03:05] I want a negative sign. Make it red.

[2:03:09] >> Yeah, we could make it red. I would have

[2:03:11] gotten it if it was red.

[2:03:15] Any

[2:03:24] other questions?

[2:03:28] All right.

[2:03:30] >> I don't I don't think we need to have a

[2:03:33] motion to accept your memo, though.

[2:03:34] Right. Good. Okay. Um

[2:03:36] >> I'm sorry, K, before we move on, I'm

[2:03:38] just curious. So this particular this is

[2:03:41] a this is um this is a different than

[2:03:44] what we went in front of the town with

[2:03:48] many times over the past year. I'm

[2:03:50] curious are we are we speaking to that

[2:03:53] with the town at all? Like what kind of

[2:03:55] where where do we stand with all that?

[2:04:00] I believe the next step once we've

[2:04:02] stopped this monthly process, we'll get

[2:04:05] clarity on

[2:04:07] um aligning communication with the town

[2:04:10] so that it makes sense. And so that

[2:04:13] would be probably the next level of

[2:04:15] activity associated with what we're

[2:04:17] talking about this evening.

[2:04:18] >> I can get back to you on that.

[2:04:20] >> Thank you.

[2:04:24] » All right. Thank you. That was a good

[2:04:25] question. Um all right that'll bring us

[2:04:28] to D discussion action fiscal year 2026

[2:04:31] district end of year revenue expenses

[2:04:33] and fund balance.

[2:04:35] >> Thank you madam chair. Um this one is

[2:04:39] going to be of every interest much

[2:04:41] interest clearly and there was lots of

[2:04:44] um data points and as you had mentioned

[2:04:47] the timeliness of what do we know when

[2:04:49] do we know etc etc. The bottom line is

[2:04:53] the expenses have been pushed through.

[2:04:55] There were a few items that I had to do

[2:04:57] additional research on

[2:05:00] and one of them as the school committee

[2:05:02] chair me uh chair had mentioned happened

[2:05:05] to be electricity.

[2:05:08] And so the unique item of electricity

[2:05:10] was with net metering. There was a

[2:05:12] change of practice in the business

[2:05:14] office this past school year. And so in

[2:05:17] meeting with the town,

[2:05:20] the electric bills we received show

[2:05:22] credits coming off and having net zero

[2:05:25] numbers owed to the electric company.

[2:05:27] But historically, we were recording the

[2:05:30] expense as if we pay the bill. It just

[2:05:32] happens to get paid in another manner.

[2:05:34] And so that was the bookkeeping to

[2:05:36] sustain how much it actually would cost

[2:05:38] us for electricity.

[2:05:41] By making the change, it made the

[2:05:43] expense go down, which created confusion

[2:05:46] through the course of the whole year.

[2:05:48] There was a worksheet that had all of

[2:05:50] the open bills and what the charges

[2:05:52] would have been. And so those charges

[2:05:55] have in fact been posted to the school's

[2:05:58] expenditure account. So you don't lose

[2:06:00] the history of how much our electric

[2:06:02] actually cost without the net metering.

[2:06:05] What's a question that's on further

[2:06:07] research

[2:06:09] is that payment that the electric

[2:06:13] company was recognizing as take it off

[2:06:15] your bill, you don't have to send us a

[2:06:17] check.

[2:06:19] Where were those funds? Typically, we

[2:06:20] were accounting with the town for that

[2:06:22] and it was a separate. There's no

[2:06:24] revenue aligned in our operating budget.

[2:06:27] if there was checks coming in,

[2:06:30] which is typical of comparing this

[2:06:31] budget versus historical budgets. I'm

[2:06:34] still resolving the whole piece of where

[2:06:37] was the credit offered because we don't

[2:06:40] want to lose the sight that if all of a

[2:06:42] sudden net metering goes away and that

[2:06:45] financial support goes away, we're still

[2:06:47] going to have electrical expenses. So

[2:06:50] that's why it was important to restate

[2:06:52] the expenses in our operating budget

[2:06:54] because that's what it would really cost

[2:06:55] us. and offset is the question of where

[2:06:59] is that recognized in any of our

[2:07:02] operating statements. So right now I'm

[2:07:04] not aware of any recognition of the

[2:07:07] revenue coming in affecting our revenue

[2:07:10] for the last year that just closed. But

[2:07:12] we did elevate the expense. So, in round

[2:07:15] numbers, I was able to demonstrate that

[2:07:18] we've actually had income in excess of

[2:07:22] $898,000

[2:07:25] when comparing budget to what actually

[2:07:27] came in. Okay? And in my comments below,

[2:07:32] I break down what the major contributors

[2:07:36] were that gave us that $898,000

[2:07:40] income level. All right. First and

[2:07:43] foremost, your Medicaid building billing

[2:07:46] for student services, what was Medicaid

[2:07:48] eligible, exceeded budget by over 100%.

[2:07:52] You had a budget somewhere in the

[2:07:54] neighborhood of half a million dollar

[2:07:56] and it came in at a million50,000.

[2:08:00] So $550,000

[2:08:02] of additional billing. I know the

[2:08:04] special ed department put in uh

[2:08:07] procedures to make sure we build for the

[2:08:09] activities that were available for

[2:08:12] billing for our students and the

[2:08:13] services being provided. So that was one

[2:08:15] initiative I understand helped

[2:08:17] contribute to this. Second initiative is

[2:08:20] there was some sunsetting of Medicare

[2:08:23] activities where they were paying bills

[2:08:26] um and so that got taken care of but

[2:08:29] they may not exist coming into this

[2:08:32] year. And so there was an economic

[2:08:34] opportunity and a windfall. So the

[2:08:36] dollars are real today. And what I

[2:08:39] mentioned in my document is part of our

[2:08:42] research for the FY27 budget.

[2:08:46] This is one of those. Can the Medicaid

[2:08:50] Medicare Medicaid uh billing be

[2:08:53] sustained for FY27?

[2:08:56] because you have a budget that's roughly

[2:08:58] the same budget you had in FY26, about

[2:09:01] $600,000.

[2:09:03] So, can we continue to bill activities

[2:09:06] and reach a million dollars in billing?

[2:09:08] That's a big number for conversation. I

[2:09:10] hope to have an answer by the end of

[2:09:12] September. I'm meeting with the director

[2:09:14] of special ed to find out the billing

[2:09:16] opportunities. If we had a two or three

[2:09:19] students that came into district last

[2:09:20] year and had very unique issues and that

[2:09:24] triggered the billing according to their

[2:09:26] unique issues and those students now are

[2:09:29] not enrolled or they no longer need

[2:09:31] those unique services, then it's it's

[2:09:35] very possible the building can go down

[2:09:37] substantially. So that we got to get

[2:09:38] clarity on as to what those triggers

[2:09:41] were and that's what we're working on

[2:09:43] now and we'll have answers by the end of

[2:09:45] September.

[2:09:47] Next category was tuitions of students

[2:09:49] coming to South Kingston

[2:09:52] in excess of 180,000. Again, your budget

[2:09:55] was only about 150,000. So, we made up

[2:09:57] over 100% on that category as well. And

[2:10:00] it's the same issue. The numbers of

[2:10:03] students coming going to be sustained

[2:10:05] was next year's budget FY27 built on

[2:10:08] what we were actually receiving. So, it

[2:10:11] would be um absolutely critical to know

[2:10:14] that we're going to be able to sustain

[2:10:15] it or was the budget built based on last

[2:10:18] year's budget and is there an

[2:10:20] opportunity that that revenue may also

[2:10:22] go up. I'll have those answers come

[2:10:24] September.

[2:10:27] And then there's earnings on investments

[2:10:28] and I'll be working with the town that

[2:10:31] um we went up close to 60% of plus

[2:10:35] $113,000

[2:10:37] for that category alone. And again, was

[2:10:40] it because of where investments were?

[2:10:42] How did that investment get generated?

[2:10:45] What were the interest rates? Are

[2:10:46] interest rates coming down? We need to

[2:10:48] validate whether what we received was

[2:10:52] better benchmark for the upcoming year

[2:10:54] or we got to roll it back. But I'll have

[2:10:55] an answer as to why we won't match it or

[2:10:58] we will match it when we do the 27. So

[2:11:00] these are all baselines for us to talk

[2:11:02] about going into 27, but it's real as of

[2:11:06] June 30th. And so that helped the

[2:11:09] district immensely.

[2:11:12] The next item on the general fund is

[2:11:14] expenditures. And as I had noted that we

[2:11:17] came in under budget on expenditures by

[2:11:20] $840,000

[2:11:23] and they were categories

[2:11:26] fringe benefits was $290,000

[2:11:29] under spent in the categories in

[2:11:32] particular our retiree paid benefits by

[2:11:34] over 240,000 of it. Staff life insurance

[2:11:38] and medical buyback attributed for the

[2:11:40] other 54,000. So that became the 290.

[2:11:44] The question to be had is the retiree

[2:11:46] benefits. Um, is that just a oneoff? Why

[2:11:51] was there such a significant savings?

[2:11:52] What is it compared to for 27? And is

[2:11:54] that sustainable? And so again, it's a

[2:11:57] good problem to have, but what you do

[2:12:00] with the information becomes critical

[2:12:02] about how valid is it. And so, um, that

[2:12:05] is further research. Fringe benefits

[2:12:09] contributions to contractual pension

[2:12:11] plans was under by 194,000.

[2:12:14] Still saying I feel like it's redundant.

[2:12:17] Our salaries came in relatively close to

[2:12:19] budget somewhere in the neighborhood of

[2:12:21] about $30,000 out of $29 million salary.

[2:12:25] What prompted the pension contribution?

[2:12:28] Whether there was a projection of an

[2:12:30] increase in contribution rate or there

[2:12:33] was periods where we had folks with open

[2:12:35] positions. I'm not sure what triggered

[2:12:36] those pieces, but that's what the

[2:12:38] research is going to drive. And then how

[2:12:40] does next year's 2027's pension

[2:12:44] contributions line up budgetarily with

[2:12:47] the salaries that are appropriate to

[2:12:48] those categories is going to be. So

[2:12:50] these be this is becoming the outline

[2:12:53] for our accounting manager to have

[2:12:55] answers for me. how we created the

[2:12:58] budget, is it sustainable and then have

[2:13:01] a better stronger budget presentation

[2:13:04] for you for 27.

[2:13:07] And then other purchase services is

[2:13:09] primarily the out of district tuitions

[2:13:11] for for vocational and special ed had

[2:13:14] gone down. Um and is that sustainable

[2:13:16] becomes another question.

[2:13:19] The side pieces I wanted to highlight is

[2:13:21] there was a claim settlement of 150,000.

[2:13:24] you didn't have a budget for that

[2:13:26] particular item, but because of the

[2:13:28] savings and in and other categories and

[2:13:30] the revenue, it did not have a a

[2:13:33] negative impact on our bottom line for

[2:13:35] the school year. So, that's a good

[2:13:37] thing. And last but not least is the

[2:13:41] summary report attached has broken out

[2:13:44] for you the whole general fund. But in

[2:13:48] order to have the recognition of the

[2:13:51] funds that the school committee adopted

[2:13:54] in a budget for the capital program for

[2:13:57] FY26 which was done back in August of

[2:14:00] 2025 last year I came before you with a

[2:14:03] recommended budget.

[2:14:05] This the school committee approved a

[2:14:08] recommended budget of $2.1 million

[2:14:11] and $780,000 was going to be capital

[2:14:14] fund dollars that was still left in the

[2:14:16] 0429 account.

[2:14:18] And the difference of the 1.4 million

[2:14:21] school committee authorized

[2:14:22] administration to transfer 1.4 for from

[2:14:25] the general fund fund balance carryover

[2:14:29] from prior years to the capital account

[2:14:32] to pay for the building activities that

[2:14:35] were in the budget.

[2:14:37] The school district only achieved

[2:14:39] $1,95,000

[2:14:42] of need for the projects that got

[2:14:44] completed. So some of the projects came

[2:14:46] in under budget and so we didn't need

[2:14:47] the money etc. the 1951

[2:14:51] 1,95,000

[2:14:53] was transferred over so that the capital

[2:14:57] fund budget 0429 will show expenses and

[2:15:00] revenue balance. So those revenue

[2:15:02] figures came in just as had pl been

[2:15:04] planned and authorized.

[2:15:08] If the budget did not have the extra

[2:15:10] revenue for FY26 and did not come in

[2:15:14] under budget

[2:15:15] by the $800,000,

[2:15:18] those two items provided about a $1.6

[2:15:22] million

[2:15:24] value left over for the operating school

[2:15:26] year. The million is being deducted from

[2:15:29] the 1.6 six because that's the

[2:15:31] bookkeeping entry. We have to show the

[2:15:33] community what money is being

[2:15:34] transferred from general fund.

[2:15:37] If the whole budget and the revenue came

[2:15:40] in as planned,

[2:15:42] then the school department would have

[2:15:44] had a balanced operational budget and a

[2:15:48] million 95 transfer and it would have

[2:15:50] showed a deficit of a million 95. But

[2:15:52] that million95 would have been taken out

[2:15:54] of the fund balance that we authorized

[2:15:57] last year because everybody knows we got

[2:15:59] over $3 million in fund balance that's

[2:16:01] not targeted and that was the source of

[2:16:04] dollars we were using. So the good side

[2:16:06] is we're now in a position to just slide

[2:16:10] over the net number that's remaining

[2:16:12] which is $600,000. So we have our

[2:16:14] homework on very specific targets of

[2:16:17] what drove the differences.

[2:16:19] We have an understanding of the impact

[2:16:21] of the transfer and how it was covered.

[2:16:25] And we also end up with my final piece

[2:16:27] is the 1.7 was the surplus deficit for

[2:16:31] the year before taking into account the

[2:16:34] transfer to make the capital program be

[2:16:36] balanced. By subtracting the million 95,

[2:16:40] we're going to have 643,000

[2:16:43] remaining. That 643 will get added to

[2:16:46] last year's fund balance because there's

[2:16:48] been no change in that over the school

[2:16:50] year. It waits till the very end after

[2:16:51] the operating is determined plus or

[2:16:54] minus goes into that account. Under

[2:16:56] school committee policy at 2% of the

[2:16:58] general fund budget is set aside for the

[2:17:02] potential if there's ever um any

[2:17:04] emergencies and shortcomings etc. That

[2:17:07] should be defined as restricted fund

[2:17:10] balance for those activities. And so on

[2:17:13] our audit reports, we had a a fund

[2:17:15] balance of over $4 million.

[2:17:19] So subtracting the 1.26

[2:17:22] from the 4 million

[2:17:25] gives us the uh I mean from the from the

[2:17:28] beginning gives us the 4 million. Um, by

[2:17:32] adding in the $643,000,

[2:17:36] our endofear total fund balance that

[2:17:38] you'll see on your order reports later

[2:17:40] this fall is going to be 5.3 million of

[2:17:44] which 1.266 is restricted per school

[2:17:48] committee policy, which would leave us

[2:17:50] approximately $3 million

[2:17:54] for consideration

[2:17:56] of paper projects. And I'm setting this

[2:18:00] stage for when we come before you with

[2:18:02] the capital program. If we need the use

[2:18:04] of fund balance, it's available and it's

[2:18:06] there. I'm also analyzing FY27 because

[2:18:10] my understanding is that there was an

[2:18:11] allocation of $1.3 million of fund

[2:18:14] balance use to make the FY27 budget

[2:18:17] balance for this coming school year. So

[2:18:20] simultaneously I will be looking at the

[2:18:22] potential need for that 1.3

[2:18:25] whether the sustained income that we're

[2:18:28] talking about is achievable then you may

[2:18:30] not need it and we can have those

[2:18:32] conversations once I have 27 completed.

[2:18:36] So just setting the stage that if this

[2:18:38] makes sense audit report last year

[2:18:40] anybody who has the audit report you're

[2:18:42] going to see fund balance broken into a

[2:18:44] couple of categories but it totals about

[2:18:46] $4.1 million. you take our 1.2 out,

[2:18:50] that's where we come in with that $4

[2:18:52] million number and then we're gonna

[2:18:55] because if you add those two, that's

[2:18:56] what's out there publicly.

[2:18:59] Does that make sense? I hope I didn't

[2:19:00] confuse you too much. I know it's deep,

[2:19:03] but it has such impact.

[2:19:07] I think what you presented to us was

[2:19:09] very clear and I understand this report

[2:19:12] very well. Um, I think where

[2:19:17] I'm I'm not confused by it, but I am

[2:19:20] just want to call out that this is

[2:19:24] distinctly different from what we acted

[2:19:27] on

[2:19:29] with the town. And I want to make sure

[2:19:31] that that piece is clear. That's not a

[2:19:33] you thing. That's a us thing. And I I am

[2:19:37] feeling and and maybe someone at the

[2:19:38] table can make me feel better, but I am

[2:19:41] feeling like we kind of glossed over

[2:19:44] that

[2:19:45] at the moment. Um, and I just may be

[2:19:48] missing something, but I just want us to

[2:19:50] be clear that this is very different

[2:19:53] from the budget we passed and presented

[2:19:56] and acted on the end of last year and

[2:20:01] where this is um

[2:20:06] this is what we should trust to be

[2:20:09] accurate. Now, um I just want to make

[2:20:12] sure we're not glossing over anything

[2:20:14] because I I just am feeling a little bit

[2:20:17] like we are.

[2:20:19] >> Can I ask a clarifying question?

[2:20:24] What was the beginning of fund balance

[2:20:26] at the beginning of of this fiscal year?

[2:20:29] >> 4.1 uh $4.1 million.

[2:20:35] >> Okay. So,

[2:20:37] we we had 4.1 million in fund balance.

[2:20:42] We spent 1.1 million on capital

[2:20:45] improvements, bringing us down to three,

[2:20:48] and we're ending with five.

[2:20:51] >> Well, the the inclusion of your

[2:20:54] restricted fund is is what I'm

[2:20:57] targeting. There's the separation when

[2:20:59] you say three and four where we had the million dollars of targeted fund on

[2:21:05] the 2%.

[2:21:07] So what was available for use came in at

[2:21:10] 3.8 I mean um 2.8.

[2:21:13] >> Okay. I and I know there's there's a

[2:21:16] restricted fund balance and the

[2:21:18] unrestricted fund balance and the

[2:21:20] 600,000 of the surplus that we just will

[2:21:24] transfer the fund balance that goes to

[2:21:26] the unrestricted fund balance. Correct.

[2:21:28] >> Correct.

[2:21:29] >> When we move money into the capital fund

[2:21:33] balance, that's going into the

[2:21:35] restricted fund balance. Correct.

[2:21:37] >> That's out of the Yes, that's correct.

[2:21:39] >> Okay. So I guess my question really is

[2:21:42] what were the numbers in the just the

[2:21:44] unrestricted

[2:21:47] fund balance and if you don't know I'm

[2:21:50] not I I I know you can't come here and

[2:21:52] know everything in your head but if you

[2:21:54] could get this

[2:21:55] >> it's approximately um the total on your

[2:21:58] order report when I remember is

[2:22:00] $1,100,000

[2:22:02] was your June 30th 2025 end of fund

[2:22:05] balance which was inclusive of both 2%

[2:22:09] set aside and the restricted. So if your

[2:22:12] 2% was 1.2 million, subtract that off of

[2:22:15] the 4.1 that gets you down to the 2.8

[2:22:20] is what was in restricted I mean

[2:22:23] unrestricted fund balance last year.

[2:22:25] Okay.

[2:22:26] >> Okay.

[2:22:26] >> And from that amount is what we were

[2:22:28] expecting to draw over to pay for the

[2:22:31] capital program 1.4 million of that. I

[2:22:35] guess my real question is

[2:22:38] to see in the unrestricted fund balance

[2:22:42] what actually

[2:22:45] was the difference in the over the year

[2:22:47] because I think that's going to be clear

[2:22:51] what the true surplus is because if

[2:22:58] whatever amount it's increasing by

[2:23:02] it because that's where it lands the tr

[2:23:04] the true surplus and and I know there's

[2:23:07] a lot of moving parts and I think you've

[2:23:09] done an excellent job of laying out

[2:23:11] because you've got things that are over

[2:23:12] budget, things that are under budget,

[2:23:14] some are revenue, some are expenses. So,

[2:23:17] um so I think you've done a I I follow

[2:23:19] it really well. I just want to see that

[2:23:22] fund balance piece a bit more clear.

[2:23:25] Based on that uh request, I understand

[2:23:28] fully, I will make a photocopy of the

[2:23:31] actual audit report, which would give us

[2:23:32] the specific dollar value of the fund

[2:23:34] balance as of June 30th. What we will be

[2:23:38] able to then do is take clearly the

[2:23:40] $643,000

[2:23:43] is going to be the dollar value that's

[2:23:45] going to get transferred into the fund

[2:23:47] balance when the auditors do their work.

[2:23:50] Mhm.

[2:23:51] >> And I'll be able to show you from what

[2:23:52] their last year number ended plus the

[2:23:55] 643. That would be the total. And then

[2:23:59] from there, once we have that total

[2:24:00] number in front of us, we know the 2%

[2:24:02] set aside, we can make that deduction

[2:24:04] off of that recalculated balance. And

[2:24:07] that will become what's restricted for

[2:24:10] by the school policy. And then that

[2:24:12] whole conversation, that's the remaining

[2:24:14] balance. Absolutely. I can pull that

[2:24:15] piece together pretty quickly and I

[2:24:17] think it'll clarify exactly the question

[2:24:19] that you're asking.

[2:24:20] >> That would be great because I I just

[2:24:22] would like to understand the fund

[2:24:23] balance piece a bit more. Um and I do

[2:24:26] have one more question.

[2:24:29] >> Um so if I'm looking at this and this is

[2:24:32] a great summary of the general funds net

[2:24:34] position. I I do appreciate that. Um it says surplus deficit for school year

[2:24:42] and it shows a surplus of approximately

[2:24:45] 1.7 million. So if people are looking at

[2:24:48] this report, would you say yes, that's

[2:24:50] the surplus we have at the end of this

[2:24:52] fiscal year?

[2:24:54] >> Operationally, yes.

[2:24:56] >> Okay.

[2:24:57] >> Um because we were expecting to take the

[2:25:00] $1,95,000

[2:25:01] out of last year's $4 million,

[2:25:04] >> right? that piece kind of gets lost in

[2:25:06] the conversation.

[2:25:08] >> Okay. But if we took it out of that fund

[2:25:11] balance, then we would be adding a

[2:25:14] million7 into the fund balance,

[2:25:16] replenishing what was taken out. This is

[2:25:18] the same position, just showing it

[2:25:20] differently that we had a million7

[2:25:22] operationally,

[2:25:24] but we used a million5 for the capital,

[2:25:27] which allowed us to only put 600, but we

[2:25:29] took nothing out. So, it just increased

[2:25:31] the fund balance. So yes, you're

[2:25:32] absolutely right on that

[2:25:33] >> because what I want to do is separate

[2:25:35] the two because I don't want people to

[2:25:37] look at this and say, "Oh,

[2:25:40] our net surplus was 644,000

[2:25:44] when really operationally

[2:25:46] the surplus was 1.7."

[2:25:48] >> Correct.

[2:25:49] >> So, okay, thank you for clarifying. I

[2:25:51] want to be as transparent as we can with

[2:25:53] people so that when they see this

[2:25:55] report, they they can understand exactly

[2:25:58] what the numbers mean. And I think when

[2:25:59] people say surplus, they mean the out of

[2:26:01] the operating budget, the surplus. Thank

[2:26:04] you.

[2:26:04] >> And I think your prom my promise to the

[2:26:06] you and the community runs along the

[2:26:08] lines of looking back, we've identified

[2:26:12] the two major pockets which created the

[2:26:14] million7. The best we can do today is

[2:26:17] take that and validate how that's

[2:26:20] presented in FY27. If we can come back

[2:26:23] to you and say the the Medicaid billing

[2:26:25] is going to be sustained

[2:26:27] and we make adjustment on FY27 budget,

[2:26:31] the million3 you currently have targeted

[2:26:34] to take out of your restricted fund to

[2:26:36] make the operating budget for the

[2:26:37] upcoming year could be relieved of that

[2:26:40] pressure.

[2:26:42] But if we can't sustain it, I think most

[2:26:45] importantly

[2:26:47] is you'll have the reason why it's not

[2:26:50] sustainable.

[2:26:52] >> And people a year from now when asked

[2:26:54] the question, wait a minute, last year

[2:26:56] you you had this much and now you don't.

[2:26:58] The question has already been answered.

[2:27:00] We went through the process. Here's why

[2:27:03] we don't achieve the 800,000.

[2:27:06] Here's why the expenses and what

[2:27:08] happened aren't going to be achieved. We

[2:27:11] are now down to that level of

[2:27:13] understanding because we started at the

[2:27:15] top of what's the two drivers validate

[2:27:19] how successful those drivers are going

[2:27:21] forward. And if it and if we choose to

[2:27:23] not include it for some reason then

[2:27:25] that's a that's a bat on us for doing

[2:27:27] that and that's the conversation that

[2:27:29] will take place in September. To me, the

[2:27:31] real work and the real validation and

[2:27:33] where we're going to stand will be on

[2:27:35] that analysis of whether we add that

[2:27:38] into the budget or not. Because, god

[2:27:40] forbid, you add it in and make another

[2:27:42] decision and all of a sudden the feds

[2:27:45] pulled the Medicaid billing process and

[2:27:47] dropped threequarters of a million

[2:27:49] dollars on us. And it's like, well, I

[2:27:50] added the 500 we thought we were going

[2:27:52] to make and now we're 800,000 in the

[2:27:53] hole. How'd you allow that to happen? We

[2:27:55] didn't allow. So, all of those things

[2:27:57] will come to rise. We're trying to get

[2:27:59] in front of that. That just brings up a

[2:28:01] couple things. First of all, thank you

[2:28:02] for your analysis that you've done on um

[2:28:05] the 2026 budget. I I think you're

[2:28:09] very perceptive. It It's not just the

[2:28:11] number, it's the why. How did we get to

[2:28:13] that number? What's causing the you

[2:28:16] know, what caused the surplus? I mean,

[2:28:18] it's good to have a surplus, but we were

[2:28:20] not expecting it and not being able to

[2:28:23] know what the real numbers were is, you

[2:28:26] know, we don't want to be in that

[2:28:27] position again. and and this analysis is

[2:28:30] wonderful and I know you're going to now

[2:28:32] look at the 20 do that analysis on the

[2:28:35] 2027 budget. So, um but that risk in

[2:28:42] Medicaid reimbursement knowing I mean we

[2:28:44] can't predict what the federal

[2:28:46] government's going to do, right? Um it

[2:28:49] goes to how much is really needed in

[2:28:52] fund balance because that's our safety

[2:28:55] net for those shocks uh financial

[2:28:58] shocks. So yes, we have a policies that

[2:29:01] says 1 to 2% but it really should be 1

[2:29:03] to 2% plus known risks should also

[2:29:07] increase that amount cap so that we have

[2:29:11] funds available for the any of those

[2:29:13] risks. So anyways, um thank you for

[2:29:17] answering all of those questions and I'm

[2:29:19] going to ask others if they have more

[2:29:21] questions.

[2:29:22] >> Yeah, I um so my question is this fund

[2:29:26] balance

[2:29:28] at the end of 2026

[2:29:33] has a total of 5,358

[2:29:38] 911.

[2:29:39] >> Correct.

[2:29:41] Are you telling us that was there

[2:29:44] >> with with the current 600,000 getting

[2:29:47] added to it? Yes.

[2:29:48] >> We right now today.

[2:29:49] >> Yes.

[2:29:52] >> I have a I I

[2:29:55] have a hard time understanding how we

[2:29:58] got to that. Right. Because our budget

[2:30:02] session

[2:30:05] was horrific in my opinion, right? And if we're if we have these fund

[2:30:14] balances,

[2:30:17] I need to understand

[2:30:19] if within that $5 million,

[2:30:24] is it being

[2:30:27] divided into a restricted fund?

[2:30:31] Is it being a general fund? Is that one

[2:30:36] amount being divided into these other

[2:30:38] buckets?

[2:30:39] >> The

[2:30:41] fund balance is for your general fund

[2:30:44] and then within

[2:30:46] your general fund

[2:30:49] you have different allowances of that

[2:30:51] fund balance. And so when the school

[2:30:53] committee has a policy that from their

[2:30:55] general fund they want have money set

[2:30:58] aside in case there's an emergency need

[2:31:02] that becomes what they consider

[2:31:05] restricted. You're putting it aside out

[2:31:08] of the 5 million specifically for this

[2:31:10] purpose.

[2:31:11] >> Okay.

[2:31:12] >> I just I just want to interject real

[2:31:13] quick because I don't think and correct

[2:31:14] me if I'm wrong. Look, I'm I'm not done

[2:31:18] because I'm still trying to understand

[2:31:21] if we had a 2%

[2:31:25] in our fund balance.

[2:31:30] Why were we like why weren't we able to

[2:31:33] use that to help us stay our home that

[2:31:38] our budget? I don't understand. Like I I

[2:31:41] just think

[2:31:43] >> I mean and I'm not blaming you. Not at

[2:31:45] all. I just don't understand how

[2:31:49] you could find it.

[2:31:52] But the person that was working on it

[2:31:54] couldn't find it. And if and also

[2:32:00] just to help me understand a little bit

[2:32:02] more

[2:32:04] you were consulting during the last

[2:32:09] couple of months or no

[2:32:11] >> the last couple of month I came on board

[2:32:13] I believe it was u end of May early June

[2:32:17] >> okay that was right after all of this

[2:32:20] you've started to dig this

[2:32:22] >> yes okay but I still have a hard time.

[2:32:26] >> Yeah. So, so

[2:32:28] >> so Paul, I think to your point that is

[2:32:30] part of the the the problem is that we

[2:32:32] were not aware we were not made fully

[2:32:35] aware of what we had available to us and

[2:32:37] we were not given good information

[2:32:39] during the budget process. Uh so that is

[2:32:43] I I share your frustrations. I think I I

[2:32:45] understand where you're coming from.

[2:32:46] It's it's it's frustrating.

[2:32:55] Yeah, I I just want I just want to

[2:32:57] clarify one thing because I've not seen

[2:32:59] this and correct me if I'm wrong if

[2:33:00] we've seen this before.

[2:33:02] >> I've not seen that 1.2 million referred

[2:33:04] to as a restricted fund. I don't think

[2:33:06] I've ever have Have we seen that on

[2:33:08] previous budgets and I just missed it

[2:33:10] because I know we had that like 1 to 2%

[2:33:12] rule

[2:33:13] >> and now you know Tonyy's kind of

[2:33:15] itemizing it out into that 1.2 million

[2:33:17] but I just want to clarify have we seen

[2:33:19] that on previous budgets? It has not

[2:33:21] been listed as a restricted fund. It's

[2:33:23] been listed as that 2% um recommended,

[2:33:26] >> but there was never a dollar amount

[2:33:28] associated with it because that because

[2:33:29] that's a new

[2:33:32] Okay. So, I was I just want to make sure

[2:33:34] I wasn't like losing my mind.

[2:33:37] It's been referred to as restricted in

[2:33:40] the past, but policy says that we have

[2:33:45] that 2%

[2:33:49] >> in in our um

[2:33:54] » policy only can a surplus

[2:33:58] because surplus the 2% is on any surplus

[2:34:03] that you have that would then ate that

[2:34:07] fund balance. Am I correct?

[2:34:10] >> That's my understanding of your policy

[2:34:12] which is the reason why it's not

[2:34:15] probably not been well communicated

[2:34:18] along the lines of those funds are for

[2:34:20] your operating budget after it gets

[2:34:22] approved if something big happens. So

[2:34:25] during budget conversations about what

[2:34:27] our school operation looks like

[2:34:30] >> is the first $2 million or million2 is a

[2:34:34] set aside out of the again I'm referring

[2:34:36] to the audit report and they actually

[2:34:38] have three classifications

[2:34:41] of dollars what they consider the

[2:34:44] unrestricted restricted and committed

[2:34:46] and so all of those cluster together

[2:34:49] generate you $4 million but it's all for

[2:34:52] the general fund and the underlying is

[2:34:54] what is it targeted why it's there and

[2:34:56] then bottom line is what's the remaining

[2:34:59] piece that's available conversation to

[2:35:01] include and that conversation had to

[2:35:03] have taken place because you have a line

[2:35:07] using a million3 to balance FY27 so that

[2:35:10] piece came forward at some point in time

[2:35:14] um and and it's interesting that the

[2:35:19] capital budget not getting presented

[2:35:22] andor adopted which relied on fund

[2:35:26] balance in prior years to go over into

[2:35:28] that general fund fund balance. Well, if

[2:35:31] you committed a million three, you may

[2:35:33] not have had enough to even have that

[2:35:34] conversation. So, that's why I'm trying

[2:35:36] to make it clearer. And I I think having

[2:35:38] last year's audit report is going to be

[2:35:39] really helpful because you'll know what

[2:35:41] our beginning is, how you got there,

[2:35:43] what happened over the years. You had

[2:35:45] good years where the expenses were down

[2:35:47] and the revenue was not as high. I mean,

[2:35:49] it was higher than what was budgeted.

[2:35:50] Maybe not as high as this current year,

[2:35:53] but those accumulations of dollars

[2:35:55] validated by the auditors. That's

[2:35:58] available. So, that's that's that's a

[2:35:59] given. We know that to be true. We know

[2:36:02] right now I can stand on these numbers.

[2:36:04] I know where these numbers came from. We

[2:36:05] know that 640 is going to it. So, I have

[2:36:07] a lot hard number to talk about. And

[2:36:10] then we can have that conversation about

[2:36:13] if 27 doesn't need a million3 because

[2:36:15] there's other revenue or expense cuts,

[2:36:17] then we'll get there. If it does need

[2:36:19] the 13 and you still need another

[2:36:20] million million and a half to do your

[2:36:22] capital projects for 27,

[2:36:25] we'll know what that number is that's

[2:36:26] available. So there won't be

[2:36:28] uncertainty. There'll be certainty of

[2:36:30] where it's coming from. And I'll make

[2:36:32] sure that's very well communicated.

[2:36:35] >> The main reason why the capital fund was

[2:36:36] not being acted on is because when we

[2:36:39] were going through the budget process

[2:36:41] last

[2:36:44] March, April, it feels like a year ago.

[2:36:46] It feels like yesterday we were we were

[2:36:49] operating as a board with the

[2:36:52] understanding that we were in a deficit.

[2:36:55] We were not operating in the

[2:36:56] understanding that we had a $1.7 million

[2:37:00] surplus. So when we were navigating with

[2:37:03] our town and working out over how much

[2:37:06] property tax transfer was going to come

[2:37:08] in and scrambling and having students

[2:37:13] lives disrupted significantly. And I

[2:37:15] want to acknowledge all of this because

[2:37:16] I feel like not you, but we are seem to

[2:37:19] be glossing over that this is a good

[2:37:21] problem to have now, but it also is a

[2:37:25] problem that we had that we are now

[2:37:27] addressing. But I also want to make sure

[2:37:30] that we're be excuse me, we're being

[2:37:31] transparent about that, that we're not

[2:37:33] trying to like pretend that didn't

[2:37:35] happen because that's what I feel like

[2:37:36] the moment, not you us. And I want to

[2:37:39] make sure that we are acknowledging that

[2:37:42] or I am at least acknowledging that and that we there it's a a bigger

[2:37:48] conversation in my opinion that we have

[2:37:50] to have with the town because this is

[2:37:52] not our money. This is our taxpayers

[2:37:54] money and we need to make sure that

[2:37:56] we're being forthcoming about where this

[2:37:59] surplus came from because in our last

[2:38:01] public meetings we did not have a

[2:38:02] surplus.

[2:38:04] We were working off a deficit. We ended

[2:38:06] up having some sort of a surplus. were

[2:38:08] able to make some things work, but there

[2:38:10] was a lot of turmoil and upheaval around

[2:38:13] it. And so, I think that's where a

[2:38:15] couple of us are a little confused why

[2:38:17] it was being presented as though

[2:38:21] that didn't happen. So, I just want to

[2:38:23] make sure that I get that clear for

[2:38:25] myself. And I just want to state for the

[2:38:27] record, I I am in agreement with you on that this is this we we did put the

[2:38:32] town through a a difficult budget

[2:38:33] process based on information that was

[2:38:36] unclear at the time that we had it and I

[2:38:40] know Mr. Crui is presenting to us as

[2:38:42] fact now since it's you know this is

[2:38:45] what it is but I don't think we can uh

[2:38:47] or nor should we ignore the fact that happened. We had that we had those

[2:38:52] contentious meetings and very uh

[2:38:54] difficult budget process. So we are

[2:38:58] where we are now and we do need to move

[2:38:59] forward but I don't think we can move

[2:39:00] forward without acknowledging that. So I

[2:39:03] don't I don't want to gloss over it

[2:39:04] either.

[2:39:05] >> And also you know just being

[2:39:09] with the public right now that we are

[2:39:13] acknowledging this information as you

[2:39:16] receive it. um

[2:39:20] you know to inv

[2:39:24] like Kate did. I agree with her when she

[2:39:27] says um we kind of lost sight of that

[2:39:31] and it may not have been it wasn't

[2:39:34] intentional at all. Not on our part

[2:39:37] anyway, but it happened. And so being

[2:39:41] aware of it now, uh we just need to make

[2:39:45] sure that while at this table when we're

[2:39:48] receiving this information that we are

[2:39:51] acknowledging it so that the people in

[2:39:54] the community, our town know that we're

[2:39:58] holding ourselves accountable,

[2:40:01] right?

[2:40:02] And I'll just And I'll say I think as a

[2:40:05] committee we we trusted

[2:40:08] our administration and certain

[2:40:10] individuals too. I I I think I think we

[2:40:13] need to take a look at ourselves and say

[2:40:15] we need to be more critical and more

[2:40:18] you know more aggressive in pushing for

[2:40:20] information going forward. Uh whether we

[2:40:22] trust the person or not I I I think you

[2:40:25] know to Mr. Gucci's point from earlier

[2:40:27] talking having November and February

[2:40:30] updates having this monthly where are we

[2:40:32] spending things where are things going

[2:40:34] those are going to really make

[2:40:36] everything a lot more transparent for us

[2:40:38] uh not only for the community at large

[2:40:40] but for us at the table I think that is

[2:40:42] something we we absolutely need to

[2:40:45] commit to going forward um to make sure

[2:40:47] we don't end up in a similar situation

[2:40:49] in the future. We want to make sure

[2:40:50] we're being as transparent as possible

[2:40:53] with the taxpayer dollars that we are

[2:40:55] stewards of and prevent things like

[2:40:58] this. You know, I I don't I don't want

[2:41:00] to go through this.

[2:41:01] >> I just want to say that I I want to

[2:41:04] piggy back on what Paula said. We were

[2:41:06] operating with the information we had as

[2:41:10] we obtained it. And even as late as July

[2:41:14] 28th,

[2:41:16] I specifically asked if we knew what the

[2:41:20] number was for the end of the year. And

[2:41:21] we were told told we had a small

[2:41:24] approximately $300,000

[2:41:26] surplus. And to find out just weeks

[2:41:29] later that it was 1.7 was

[2:41:33] astonishing.

[2:41:35] And and it's also very frustrating

[2:41:39] because we had put our community through

[2:41:42] a terrible budget

[2:41:44] season that we just didn't have to have

[2:41:47] if we had known the right numbers. So,

[2:41:50] we need to put reporting in place so

[2:41:54] that we do know the numbers are real

[2:41:57] that I mean, we trust what people tell

[2:41:59] us and we'll continue to trust people,

[2:42:01] but we need the reporting um to to

[2:42:04] actually see it and be on top of it

[2:42:06] ourselves. And I think that's why I I

[2:42:08] agree. We need to start meeting with the

[2:42:11] sub subcommittee. Um, and I do want to

[2:42:14] apologize

[2:42:16] to the town, our community for having

[2:42:20] this horrible budget cycle that wasn't

[2:42:23] needed, but we just didn't know, but we need to do better and have better

[2:42:30] information going forward.

[2:42:33] >> Agreed. and and I'm sorry I I would just

[2:42:36] want to make sure that you know it's not

[2:42:37] targeted at you because I think the

[2:42:39] pieces that you're putting into place

[2:42:40] and the information that you've been

[2:42:42] able to pull forward and these templates

[2:42:44] that you're putting forward for us to

[2:42:46] review on a monthly basis make sure that

[2:42:48] we have full knowledge um on a very

[2:42:53] granular level what we're navigating and

[2:42:56] then also we the town also will have it.

[2:42:59] So when we are having these budget

[2:43:01] conversations, everybody has the

[2:43:03] information, the actual information in

[2:43:05] front of them instead of just sort of

[2:43:08] hoping that what's being presented to us

[2:43:10] is accurate. So thank you. If I could

[2:43:13] just make one small comment, I know I've

[2:43:16] been speaking quite a bit. Um um

[2:43:20] starting what you just discussed and

[2:43:22] acknowledging it from your levels, I

[2:43:26] think provides a lot of credibility to

[2:43:28] the community.

[2:43:29] But also concurrent with that is a small

[2:43:34] example.

[2:43:35] Okay, if I have uh a purchase order for

[2:43:40] so many students going out of district

[2:43:42] that I put in in October and kids come

[2:43:44] and go and all of a sudden there's 15

[2:43:46] kids who are no longer going out of

[2:43:47] district because they decide to stay in

[2:43:50] town,

[2:43:51] the folks in the field who have the

[2:43:54] purchase order in the system

[2:43:57] have no real reason to call up the

[2:44:01] business office and say disencumber a

[2:44:04] half a million dollars in tuition

[2:44:05] because the students left. Okay. So, I

[2:44:09] get it. The the the leadership in your

[2:44:12] fiscal office is the is the primary

[2:44:14] cheerleader for everybody. It's not just

[2:44:17] the system breakdown of how they didn't

[2:44:19] know. If you've got we just put it in at

[2:44:22] the end of the year like in July, we can

[2:44:24] just close it because now we know we

[2:44:26] don't need it. Well, even when I got on

[2:44:29] board and I ran some early preliminary

[2:44:31] numbers because I was working on

[2:44:33] maintenance of effort for the community

[2:44:35] and I needed some of that data,

[2:44:38] I saw purchase orders on July 10th

[2:44:41] exceeding $1.2 million. And I'm like,

[2:44:44] could there be that many bills out in

[2:44:45] the system?

[2:44:47] So, if I'm reading the system reports

[2:44:50] and I'm seeing incumbrances owed for

[2:44:52] $1.2 2 million. Yes, I could come

[2:44:56] quickly to the same conclusion unless I

[2:44:58] do the detailed extraction of what line

[2:45:03] items are these impacting and who do I

[2:45:05] got to talk to to validate whether they

[2:45:07] need transportation busing, whether they

[2:45:09] have out of district students, is there

[2:45:11] some capital project that hasn't got to

[2:45:13] completion, um has it been delayed and

[2:45:16] it's going to happen next year. None of

[2:45:18] that's happening in the fields because

[2:45:20] there's not really a sense of urgency.

[2:45:24] Okay. By creating the year end process

[2:45:28] of November and February, the business

[2:45:31] office will be working with principles

[2:45:33] and leaders in the schools and the

[2:45:35] clerks in the schools. They'll start to

[2:45:37] understand

[2:45:38] how important it is if there's some

[2:45:41] material change in some of the purchase

[2:45:43] orders. Something as simple as

[2:45:45] facilities.

[2:45:47] The guy's got to go to the hardware

[2:45:48] store to pick up some pipe or a fixture

[2:45:51] to fix a sink. So, we got an open

[2:45:53] purchase order for that hardware store.

[2:45:55] Well, if we don't fix anything because

[2:45:57] nothing broke and there's a $25,000 one

[2:46:00] purchase order at one store times five

[2:46:03] stores, there's $125,000. We're all

[2:46:06] going to assume this bill's coming in

[2:46:07] and all of a sudden it evaporates

[2:46:09] because oh, we're not going and now

[2:46:11] we're buying the stuff in July and

[2:46:12] that's next fiscal year. So, give me a

[2:46:14] new PO for $25,000.

[2:46:16] only spent three and I've been telling

[2:46:17] everybody we're going to spend 25. So,

[2:46:19] you're setting the table is helping the

[2:46:23] rest of the district realize how

[2:46:25] important those nickels and dimes and

[2:46:28] tens of thousands of dollars that may be

[2:46:30] in the system that makes it more

[2:46:31] difficult. So, that when you have things

[2:46:34] that are outside of the scope, they'll

[2:46:36] pop to the top because we're always down

[2:46:39] to $50,000 at this time of the year and

[2:46:41] I got 275 still in there. How come? Oh,

[2:46:44] I got one purchase order for this

[2:46:46] particular issue. Yay or nay. Got a

[2:46:50] problem or it's going to happen in

[2:46:51] August. That's next year. Get rid of it

[2:46:53] out of the system. So really, thank you

[2:46:55] for providing that support to get how

[2:46:59] critical folks contribution is for those

[2:47:02] activities because that is what your

[2:47:04] cheerleader is going to do when they go

[2:47:05] on like here's what's going on. I got to

[2:47:07] do this. It's not just us. I mean me.

[2:47:10] It's us. It's a picture of us. we need

[2:47:12] to work together to create the right

[2:47:14] picture. So, thank you for your support

[2:47:15] for that.

[2:47:17] So, um, like my, um, colleagues at the

[2:47:22] table said, I'm very grateful for these

[2:47:25] figures that, um,

[2:47:29] that we're seeing now, but, um, as other

[2:47:34] members of the committee have said, we

[2:47:36] created a budget

[2:47:39] based on incorrect numbers

[2:47:43] and

[2:47:46] In my opinion,

[2:47:49] we created a lot of angst in the

[2:47:51] community with students, with families,

[2:47:55] with the town council, and that was

[2:47:58] unnecessary.

[2:48:00] So now we are presenting numbers

[2:48:07] that are accurate and um moving forward

[2:48:13] um we can we can see

[2:48:17] um how I mean we we've got to see some

[2:48:21] way how we can

[2:48:24] fix this. we, you know, I mean, other

[2:48:27] than apologizing to the community

[2:48:30] for based on the false figures,

[2:48:34] um, you know, I don't see what we can do, but the community needs

[2:48:41] to know that we're trying to write the

[2:48:45] ship.

[2:48:49] if if I may, um, for what it's worth, as

[2:48:52] superintendent of of the district and

[2:48:55] who, uh, put forward the budget

[2:48:57] proposals given the numbers there, um,

[2:49:02] and from day one talking about

[2:49:05] transparency, from day one talking about

[2:49:08] students first and that what we put

[2:49:12] forward was done with that with that in

[2:49:16] mind. We came here to build things, not

[2:49:19] take them apart. We're fully com

[2:49:23] committed to that. Um, and that apology

[2:49:27] to the the committee, to the students,

[2:49:30] to the town council, to the public whose

[2:49:33] budget meetings got turned upside down.

[2:49:38] on behalf of as superintendent, I

[2:49:41] apologize to the committee, apologize to

[2:49:43] the town council, and we'll look to do

[2:49:46] so in part next time uh that I'm there.

[2:49:49] Um I'd also though, you know, apologize

[2:49:53] not only to the students and the

[2:49:55] families who showed up, but every person

[2:49:59] for the past two years who is not with

[2:50:02] the organization anymore or was getting

[2:50:05] pinklip. I met with each and every one

[2:50:07] of those people. I looked at them. I

[2:50:10] said, "Family, I mean, this is your

[2:50:13] livelihood." And so, mo most importantly

[2:50:18] to me for people who are no longer with

[2:50:21] the district, um, there's an apology

[2:50:24] there.

[2:50:26] The most well, not the most, that is the

[2:50:29] most unfortunate part. Another

[2:50:31] unfortunate part here is that there are

[2:50:33] great things in here to celebrate.

[2:50:36] that had we been updating accurately and

[2:50:42] regularly, we could be celebrating an

[2:50:45] increase of revenue from students

[2:50:47] wanting to come to South Kingtown and

[2:50:49] coming to South Kingtown.

[2:50:51] that we have an amazing director of

[2:50:55] student services student and team there

[2:50:57] student service director of the year

[2:50:59] who's doing Medicaid billing and getting

[2:51:02] reimbursement and to make those

[2:51:04] adjustments and ultimately

[2:51:08] know ultimately to be here now I'm you

[2:51:11] know again I would be remiss if as the

[2:51:14] superintendent that I did not apologize

[2:51:18] um and promise to the community that it

[2:51:20] will not happen again. These things will

[2:51:23] be vetted. We will do better and we will

[2:51:26] uh keep building moving forward. Uh and

[2:51:31] by the I believe at our second meeting

[2:51:33] in September, I'm extremely confident in

[2:51:37] what Mr. Fucci will be able to present

[2:51:40] as a accurate, researched and validated

[2:51:45] FY27

[2:51:47] that and plan moving forward that this

[2:51:50] committee and the community uh will be

[2:51:53] proud of.

[2:51:55] >> Thank you.

[2:51:57] >> I think I think Oh,

[2:52:00] one thing I want to say is just you're

[2:52:03] right. There are things to celebrate in

[2:52:04] here and having increased revenue for

[2:52:06] Medicaid reimbursements and having

[2:52:07] increased revenue from students. But we

[2:52:10] can all see and I think this is a lesson

[2:52:12] we can all take home is that having that

[2:52:14] lack of transparency has turned what

[2:52:16] should be an objectively good thing that

[2:52:18] we have funding for the schools. We

[2:52:20] probably will be in a position to have a good conversation around FY28.

[2:52:26] It is has put a Paul on on that. Uh so a

[2:52:31] simple thing just not having the right

[2:52:34] information at the right time has turned

[2:52:37] what should be something good into

[2:52:38] something that we have to apologize for.

[2:52:41] It's so I think it's a lesson we can all

[2:52:43] take home that transparency is vital and

[2:52:46] important and and communication is key.

[2:52:52] » Yeah. I just want to thank everybody

[2:52:53] here for um

[2:52:57] the questions they raised tonight, but

[2:53:02] being conscious of how important this

[2:53:04] all is to the community. And I want to

[2:53:06] thank the superintendent

[2:53:08] for the words that you just said and and

[2:53:12] actually for the apology to our

[2:53:14] community. Um, I thank you for that. And

[2:53:18] I know that

[2:53:21] we've got some really encouraging things

[2:53:25] that we've learned, some really great

[2:53:28] numbers that we can celebrate, and now

[2:53:31] we just need to look at the 2027 budget,

[2:53:33] continue to do that work, and then we'll

[2:53:36] have a final idea of really what we're

[2:53:39] dealing with because I still don't we

[2:53:41] still don't have that piece. So, we're still in the middle of this and um

[2:53:47] so we'll be back to revisit this again.

[2:53:50] So, but thank you also Tony.

[2:53:56] All right. Um that will bring us to the

[2:53:58] next one. Discussion action capital

[2:54:00] improvement plan update fiscal year 2027

[2:54:04] and the impact on the five-year plan.

[2:54:07] >> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, on a

[2:54:10] hopefully a a seriously uptick note, um,

[2:54:14] last year I got involved with the

[2:54:16] five-year capital plan. And last year I

[2:54:19] took over a document that had five years

[2:54:21] of information and kept getting rolled

[2:54:24] forward with comments about, well, we're

[2:54:26] not funding, you know, we got to be next

[2:54:28] year needing five or six million dollars

[2:54:29] worth of work and the funding's not

[2:54:31] there and we just roll it. That turned

[2:54:34] into what can we afford and how do we

[2:54:36] make presentations. And so we did that

[2:54:37] last year and the superintendent and I

[2:54:39] met with the town manager and the

[2:54:41] finance director and we went through it

[2:54:42] and we had some very good conversations

[2:54:44] about it. The critical element being

[2:54:47] that we have a maintenance of effort

[2:54:49] issue with the state and if we don't

[2:54:50] meet those objectives then that state

[2:54:52] aid that comes to the community will be

[2:54:54] held back. And so with that as a

[2:54:57] backdraft, we presented a two-year plan

[2:55:00] with the budgets being about $2 million

[2:55:02] because we thought that might be

[2:55:04] fundable and then everything was pushed

[2:55:06] off. But myself in the transition in

[2:55:09] your facilities area, your leadership

[2:55:11] there, your history, how these numbers

[2:55:14] came about, what is this project that

[2:55:16] really talking about? When I go in

[2:55:18] there, it doesn't look like it's maybe

[2:55:20] it's been done. So there was a lot of

[2:55:21] uncertainty of even the validity of the

[2:55:23] projects because of the history of it.

[2:55:26] I'm happy to announce tonight that we're

[2:55:29] going through the same process because

[2:55:30] you do this every year. We've got a

[2:55:32] facilities director that came on board

[2:55:34] and he's been impressive so far. I'm

[2:55:36] really enjoying working with him. I

[2:55:39] think he's going to take the bull by the

[2:55:40] horns and and really make this district

[2:55:42] elevate its uh performance building base

[2:55:45] wise etc. But systematically with that

[2:55:49] conversation came up, what's the

[2:55:50] validity of the dollars of the projects?

[2:55:53] And so I talked with the superintendent

[2:55:54] and he and he has supported the idea

[2:55:57] rather than the finance director and the

[2:55:59] facilities director getting together and

[2:56:01] trying to come up with a five-year plan

[2:56:03] and all the impacts on the community,

[2:56:04] what the building needs are, and then

[2:56:05] trying to get that communication out

[2:56:07] what the funding is and blah blah blah. We took it to the next level.

[2:56:12] We created a community I mean excuse me

[2:56:15] a capital improvements administrative

[2:56:18] team responsible for making a

[2:56:20] recommendation and that team consists of

[2:56:23] the fiscal person. It consists of the

[2:56:26] facilities director but it also

[2:56:28] consisted of we need somebody who's got

[2:56:30] the academic needs of students involved.

[2:56:33] They also needed somebody who had at

[2:56:34] least some history. And most important

[2:56:37] from my seat was the validity of the

[2:56:41] data and how it was generated.

[2:56:44] I wanted to have members of the

[2:56:47] community join us from the town and I'm

[2:56:49] happy to announce that we in fact did

[2:56:52] create this team. This team has been

[2:56:54] meeting for the last three weeks. We

[2:56:57] took the report that the school

[2:57:00] committee adopted last year as our

[2:57:01] kickoff. We have in our hands a report

[2:57:05] created by the state that was sent to

[2:57:07] the district back in July of 2025

[2:57:10] for our middle school and the three

[2:57:12] elementary schools because of course the

[2:57:14] high schools being brand built brand

[2:57:15] new. We expect nothing to meet to be

[2:57:17] done in that at least the first two

[2:57:19] years anyway.

[2:57:20] Um, but we took that report and this the school committee's approved

[2:57:29] five-year plan

[2:57:31] and we met with John Ghoul, who is your

[2:57:33] intram facilities director last year,

[2:57:35] who's got some historical knowledge of

[2:57:37] the district. The two community members

[2:57:39] who joined us happened to be Mr. Mark

[2:57:42] Russo, I believe he's the DPW director,

[2:57:45] or facilities director for the town and

[2:57:47] the town finance director. And everybody

[2:57:49] came to our meetings every meeting and

[2:57:52] we started with what are these reports

[2:57:55] and how they're used and where do the

[2:57:58] data come from. And then we took the

[2:57:59] next step. I introduced that the state

[2:58:02] is paying housing aid based on plans

[2:58:05] that they've approved that they're

[2:58:07] willing to pay. One plan expired this

[2:58:10] past June. So anything after July 1st

[2:58:13] this going forward won't be reimbursed

[2:58:16] from that particular approval. We have

[2:58:18] one approval left that goes through

[2:58:21] December 2028.

[2:58:24] Okay. In order to get an approval from

[2:58:26] RIDE for this what they call memorandum

[2:58:29] of agreement takes about 18 months. So

[2:58:33] an application that goes in in September

[2:58:36] if it's considered to be moved along in

[2:58:39] rise estimation documents need to be

[2:58:41] submitted by the following February or

[2:58:43] March. We call that a stage two. and

[2:58:47] then they have eight months to make a

[2:58:48] decision. So that'll put them someplace

[2:58:51] after the initial September date. So now

[2:58:55] as a backdraft we go 5 years. 5 years

[2:58:58] will put us out to 2032.

[2:59:01] Government approval ends December 2028.

[2:59:05] Two years it's all we have.

[2:59:08] Okay. What happens in those future

[2:59:10] years? Everybody understands it.

[2:59:14] the t that the team's effort was to do a

[2:59:17] host of things. We're going to focus in

[2:59:19] on what's going to get completed in the

[2:59:21] next two years. What makes economic

[2:59:23] sense and what can the community

[2:59:25] support?

[2:59:26] What are we going to do for the next

[2:59:28] three years? And if this pushes us past

[2:59:31] December 2028, how are we prepared to

[2:59:34] make that application process work? And

[2:59:37] what's the timetable? The timetable is

[2:59:40] December of 2027.

[2:59:43] The application has to go in if you want

[2:59:46] to have a housing aid reimbursement in

[2:59:48] place after the next memorandum of

[2:59:51] agreement goes away.

[2:59:53] The following February 2028, we have to

[2:59:56] put in the stage two documents they

[2:59:59] request. They'll make a decision

[3:00:01] sometime in September, October of 2028

[3:00:05] that they'll give us an award effective

[3:00:07] January 1st, 2029. That's two months

[3:00:10] before the last sunset. So taking all of

[3:00:13] this information in, our team has gone

[3:00:16] through and we said, "Oh, these are

[3:00:19] projects are completed. These projects

[3:00:20] are not needed. This doesn't seem

[3:00:22] budgetarily to be accurate. We're going

[3:00:24] to do more research. What does the state

[3:00:26] say?" We triaged all of these pieces.

[3:00:29] We've come up with a roster for each of

[3:00:31] the four schools, the middle school and

[3:00:33] the three elementary schools. I thought

[3:00:36] it was critical, superintendent

[3:00:37] supported it, that we actually do

[3:00:39] building walks. We want to meet with the

[3:00:41] principal. We want their input as to

[3:00:44] what they think they need for student

[3:00:45] needs in their buildings. We're going to

[3:00:47] share with them what we're looking at

[3:00:49] projectwise.

[3:00:51] That's beginning tomorrow. We are going

[3:00:53] to Matunic and then we're heading up to

[3:00:55] Broad Rock. Friday we're going I West

[3:01:00] Kingston and then Peaceale.

[3:01:03] The team will be reconvening next week.

[3:01:07] the facilities director and I are going

[3:01:09] to be working on a capital improvement

[3:01:11] plan budget, excuse me, capital budget

[3:01:14] for 2027,

[3:01:16] and I'll have that for you by the end of

[3:01:18] September.

[3:01:20] It will target the things we have to

[3:01:23] accomplish by the end of June. We need a

[3:01:25] million dollars of projects completed

[3:01:28] every year as a minimum on top of the

[3:01:31] investment we're making in maintenance

[3:01:33] people and maintenance supplies, etc.

[3:01:36] and the debt interest payments that the

[3:01:38] town makes. That all gets added

[3:01:39] together. We have to provide 2% uh is it

[3:01:43] 2% of our operating budget. No, it's

[3:01:46] more than that. It's over $2 million. So

[3:01:49] maybe 4%. My calc's off top my head

[3:01:52] getting tired. Um but it's a little over

[3:01:55] $2 million a year. So a million of it

[3:01:58] has to be capital improvements.

[3:02:00] We need to get things done this year and

[3:02:03] we'll have that roster done. Next year,

[3:02:08] 2027.

[3:02:11] Um, actually 28 because it'll be June

[3:02:13] the 28th. Okay. We have the summer of

[3:02:17] 2027 to do major construction if we want

[3:02:21] reimbursement

[3:02:23] from the currently approved document

[3:02:25] with ride. Okay. So we we are going to

[3:02:28] present a 28 recommendation as well.

[3:02:31] Okay. June 2028 fiscal year closes. July

[3:02:36] 1st 2028 we have six months to do any

[3:02:40] major construction where we need

[3:02:42] reimbursement. We will have a plan for

[3:02:44] the summer of 2028 which puts us into

[3:02:47] 2029.

[3:02:49] But we'll get it done before Christmas.

[3:02:51] We'll have recommendations how to fund

[3:02:53] it. Our conversations with the town

[3:02:55] manager will absolutely be critical on the summer work for 2027

[3:03:02] and the summer work for 2028 because if

[3:03:04] we're going to be doing $2 million worth

[3:03:06] of roofs or $2 or $3 million worth of

[3:03:09] HVAC systems or anything else of that

[3:03:11] critical need, the size and scope of

[3:03:13] those projects require bid documents.

[3:03:16] You need your vendor to be appointed by

[3:03:19] April, if not sooner,

[3:03:23] because then they will have their trucks

[3:03:25] in our parking lot on June 15th saying,

[3:03:28] "When can we go to work?" Because we got

[3:03:30] to get the work done over the summer.

[3:03:31] So, those are the objectives that we'll

[3:03:34] be working on. Um,

[3:03:37] but I hope and so far it's been

[3:03:40] extremely cooperative and productive.

[3:03:43] the team we put together to validate the

[3:03:46] dollars,

[3:03:48] identify the source of the projects, and

[3:03:51] then the prioritization of those

[3:03:54] projects to meet the objectives of the

[3:03:56] community. And so in the budget cycle,

[3:03:58] I'll talk about the housing aid again

[3:04:00] coming in and the rather revenues that

[3:04:02] we may have available to fund them. But

[3:04:05] I can't thank the committee or the

[3:04:07] superintendent enough to take it to this

[3:04:10] next level of sophistication

[3:04:13] and creating your new 5-year plan

[3:04:17] recommendation because it is aligned

[3:04:20] with what ride will need for a

[3:04:22] submission in September. They won't

[3:04:25] accept just the finance director and

[3:04:27] with facilities director with the

[3:04:28] superintendent having a plan. They want

[3:04:31] to see community participation. We've

[3:04:33] got that. we're keeping people apprised

[3:04:35] of what's going on and we'll be able to

[3:04:37] speak to that and we've engaged our

[3:04:40] local community uh officials to join us

[3:04:42] and it's been extremely productive. So,

[3:04:44] I'm just really proud of the work this

[3:04:46] team is doing and I think the outcome is

[3:04:48] going to drive a lot of really good

[3:04:51] conversations for the community and I

[3:04:53] look forward to going over and working

[3:04:55] with the town manager and the town

[3:04:57] finance director in October to say we

[3:05:00] can cover this year. What are we going

[3:05:02] to do the summer of 28 and what are we

[3:05:04] going to do in the summer of 29? How do

[3:05:06] we get there? And if we can do 90% of

[3:05:09] the work, maybe we won't need an OA for

[3:05:13] more capital projects. If we can get the

[3:05:15] bulk of the things that are being

[3:05:16] identified done in those two years, we

[3:05:18] could be way way ahead of the game. If

[3:05:20] not, we'll know what our next layers of

[3:05:22] work are. So, I'm happy to answer

[3:05:25] questions, but I'm very excited about

[3:05:26] how the table's getting set for that

[3:05:28] future conversation. So, thank you.

[3:05:34] I don't have a question. Just to thank

[3:05:35] you for your enthusiasm, your

[3:05:37] proactivity on this. We have not seen

[3:05:39] that in years when it comes to this

[3:05:41] particular topic. Um, and so I

[3:05:45] appreciate what you've put together, the

[3:05:47] folks you've gathered trust, very highly

[3:05:50] trusted in our community, both on the

[3:05:53] town side and the school side. So, thank

[3:05:55] you um for this and I look forward to um

[3:05:58] what you present to us in September

[3:06:01] 2026,

[3:06:03] so next month.

[3:06:08] » I agree with Kate. I think it's great to

[3:06:11] collaborate with the town and bring in

[3:06:12] those two people that actually work for

[3:06:14] the town to be on the committee. I think

[3:06:17] that is going to go a long way to

[3:06:19] helping us work together to make our

[3:06:21] buildings better and improved. So, um,

[3:06:24] it just thank you for all this work. I'm

[3:06:27] really excited to see the plan that they

[3:06:38] that was just an update. So, that it's

[3:06:40] not an action. Um, just so you know, we

[3:06:44] we've decided to put discussion action

[3:06:46] because if there's something else that

[3:06:49] comes up that we want to act on, it

[3:06:53] allows us to just out of an abundance of um caution that we might have

[3:06:58] something. Um, so is there any other

[3:07:02] comments on that item on the capital for

[3:07:04] that plan?

[3:07:07] Okay, then we're going to move on to our

[3:07:10] last item, the discussion, school

[3:07:13] building committee uh status update of

[3:07:15] the new high school and athletic field

[3:07:17] stadium complex at Chris Corner.

[3:07:20] So, it's a talk about an exciting

[3:07:23] item. Um lot lots of exciting work going

[3:07:27] on next door. As we can see, the uh

[3:07:30] brick has started to go on the academic

[3:07:32] tower, which is it's it's funny because

[3:07:35] you're like, "Oh, it's brick going on a

[3:07:36] building," but it is exciting when you

[3:07:38] come up to your like, "Oh, it's starting

[3:07:40] to look like a school building." Um,

[3:07:42] instead of just a big steel building.

[3:07:44] Um, so continuous progress keeping us on

[3:07:48] time, continuing to demonstrate that we

[3:07:51] are under budget. Um,

[3:07:55] as far as Curtis Corner goes, there's

[3:07:57] been a slight delay with the demo of the

[3:08:00] Curtis Corner um, school itself, um,

[3:08:03] completely out of all of our, uh,

[3:08:06] spheres of influence and, uh, areas of

[3:08:09] control. We're waiting on Rhode Island

[3:08:11] Energy to disconnect our utility. And

[3:08:14] so, we cannot start demo until Rhode

[3:08:16] Island Energy does that. So, Rhode

[3:08:18] Island Energy is listening. You're

[3:08:19] delaying us and we need you to move. um

[3:08:22] because we can't move forward with demo

[3:08:25] until that happens. Um we have made a a

[3:08:29] plea to the town, you know, if if um our

[3:08:33] town manager or deputy manager or the

[3:08:35] town council has any connections that

[3:08:37] can assist there, that would be uh very

[3:08:40] much uh helpful. I know that um and you

[3:08:44] know in Rhode Island Energy's defense,

[3:08:45] they have a lot going on and they do

[3:08:47] have a kind of their a pack schedule for

[3:08:49] themselves, but that is that is the only

[3:08:51] holdup. It's not delaying any part of

[3:08:53] the project because the demo once it

[3:08:56] starts it will be quick and and easy

[3:08:57] over there. Um so we continue right

[3:09:00] along um with all of our kind of all of

[3:09:03] our steps that we're moving through. No

[3:09:06] real we we had a very short meeting on

[3:09:08] Thursday. Um no no major developments outside of just

[3:09:15] work is continuing as planned. Um, we do

[3:09:19] have a small committee of folks that

[3:09:21] have been pulled together for to start

[3:09:24] now developing the traffic flow for next

[3:09:28] school year. So, not starting um in two

[3:09:31] weeks, but in uh September of 27 because

[3:09:35] what's going to happen is when we

[3:09:38] transfer everybody over to the new

[3:09:40] building, this building will still

[3:09:43] exist. And this is and this is where

[3:09:46] traffic flow is supposed to go and

[3:09:47] parking is supposed to go. So we do have

[3:09:50] a team that's being pulled together

[3:09:52] includes town manager, includes the

[3:09:54] chief of police and um includes our

[3:09:56] administrative team um as to what the

[3:09:59] temporary traffic flow will be for the

[3:10:03] 26 27 uh excuse me 27 28 school year

[3:10:06] while this building gets demolished and

[3:10:09] the new parking lot and roadway um gets developed. So um we're trying to

[3:10:15] forward think all those things because

[3:10:17] as we know this school year is starting

[3:10:21] like what as two weeks from now. So time

[3:10:23] is going by like this and so we don't

[3:10:25] want to delay any important decisions.

[3:10:28] So we're trying to stay on top of

[3:10:29] anything that will uh maybe sneak up on

[3:10:32] us. Um so as far as this school year we

[3:10:36] still have we'll have this parking lot.

[3:10:37] Nothing will change for the traffic

[3:10:40] patterns um that started last year.

[3:10:42] it'll be the same traffic globe for for

[3:10:44] this year, but we do want to be

[3:10:46] proactive for next year. So, um I don't

[3:10:49] have really any other significant

[3:10:52] milestone updates other than we're just

[3:10:54] cruising along um as planned. Um but

[3:10:57] unless somebody has any specific

[3:10:58] questions uh for me or even for Michael

[3:11:01] on the on the topic.

[3:11:08] » Thank you. And uh so if there's nothing

[3:11:10] else then I will be happy to make a

[3:11:12] motion to adjurnn.

[3:11:16] » All those in favor I

[3:11:18] >> that motion passes.

[3:11:22] We are adjourned at 8:05.

Aug. 25, 2026 - School Committee Mtg.

Transcript