It's 5. Oops. It is 5 o'clock and we are
going to call the meeting to order with
first a roll call.
Paula Whitford
>> here.
>> Michelle Brusso
>> here.
>> Kate Masinati
>> here.
>> James Dustivo
>> here.
>> And I Carol Veter I mean here.
This the school committee committee may
speak to recess to executive session for
discussion and or action regarding those
items of business exempt from open
meetings under general uh Rhode Island
general law 42464
and a discussion action personnel job
performance interim chief financial
officer contract Rhode Island general
law 42465A1
and B discussion action personnel job
performance superintendent out annual
UAL evaluation Rhode Island General Law
42465A1
individuals have been notified including
the right to have any discussion held in
open session.
>> I'll make a motion to resess to
executive session.
>> Second.
>> All those in favor?
>> I. Motion passes.
Good evening.
We're going to call the open session of
the meeting to order at 6:02.
We're going to start with a roll call.
» Paula Whitford
>> here.
>> Michelle Brusso
>> here.
>> Kate Masinady
>> here.
>> James Divo
>> here. and I Carol better am here.
Please join me in the pledge of
allegiance.
Do I have a motion to seal the minutes
of the executive session?
>> I'll make a motion to seal the minutes
of the executive session.
>> All those in favor?
>> I.
>> That motion carries. There were no votes
taken in executive session. Next up,
comments from the community.
» Nothing.
All right. Does anybody want to come to
the podium? Anybody?
All right. Seeing none, we will close
public comment.
That will bring us to the consent
agenda.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the
consent agenda.
>> All those in favor?
>> I.
>> That motion passes.
All right. Now we have the
superintendent report. I'll turn it over
to the superintendent.
>> Thank you, Madam Chair. Good evening,
everyone. Um
sent posted.
So we have uh three items on the
personnel report or excuse me on the
superintendent report report. The first
is the personnel report which
isformational information only. uh would
like to formally welcome our new
faculty, staff, and administration. Uh
as well as uh just let the committee
know about the most recent memo uh that
was received by the district uh that
will affect FY27 moving and uh moving
forward uh and that is the CTE tuition
calculation and the guidance that RIDE
is being given. Next slide, please.
So we have a uh slew of personnel
actions uh lots of hiring uh going on.
Our principles, HR, um interview
committees have done a fantastic job uh
bringing in people to the district.
Additionally, uh we've had some folks uh
who have let us know about a leave of
absence or who have also let us know uh
about an upcoming retirement that is
occurring in this school year. um and
which is while we don't like to see them
go, it uh is appreciated when we have
that so we can get it uh get coverage in
advance or start planning for that uh
months in advance. So um
next slide.
So this was as of uh last week. So to
put some names with some of those
positions that uh have that are joining
us this coming school year and in many
cases beyond. Uh we welcome Greg
Shereest. We welcome Jennifer Sappy,
Alyssa Edsanti, Emily Raymond Griffin,
Jonathan Kenny, Alen Texera, Sarah
Ellie, Benjamin Hamill, Cody Pod
Podaworni, Jennifer Gilbert, Monica
Andrews, and Elias Benson. uh those are
just uh those members who are joining
our uh our NEASK uh bargaining units. So
uh we welcome them to the district. Uh
actually new teacher orientation will be
actually this Friday here uh in the
South Kingtown High School library. Uh
and then with orientation uh next
Monday. Next slide.
I'd also like to welcome for from SKSP
we have Danielle Harris, Jessica Dh
Duca, uh Lindseay Monteneeri, Andrea
Dion, and also uh welcome to their newer
roles even though these folks have been
with us. uh Gina Habberlin as principal
of Broad Rock Middle School, AJ Sherman
welcoming back as athletic director,
Brandon Pierce as assistant principal
here at the high school, Mary Serber uh
who served last year uh as an interim
basis as our preschool coordinator, uh
Corey Lennon uh most recently uh as the
appointed Broadck uh middle school
assistant principal. Uh and I left off
here because he was actually appointed
pretty early on at the end of last
school year. U but Mr. Joe Adams also
I'd like to to welcome to the district
and welcome uh to those folks the vast
majority of whom in terms of
administration um are depending on who
you ask moving up or moving down through
the ranks to join the administration. Um
so we welcome them and look forward to
supporting them uh everyone this
upcoming school year. Next slide please.
So on the new ride guidance um
previously this now this applies just to
CTE.
Um,
previously Ry
stated that
for CTE calculations, each district gave
over their per pupil
rate and in some cases depending on the
students if they uh were from if they
were student in poverty or experiencing
poverty there was a bump up on that
calculation. Um, but they basically
would give us a chart based off of what
we spent locally and as the saying used
to be known as the money follows then
the child.
However, um this is being challenged. Um
Warwick public schools has asked Ry for
a uh a judgment about uh not only this
upcoming school year but previous school
years. Um and it is because of that uh
decision which is also being appealed at
this time that RIDE has given guidance
um for this upcoming school year that
differs significantly from previous
years. Um, and I put that in quotes. So
ultimately, I won't read it to you, um,
but essentially when it used to be a
flat rate that would go over there or on
a a quarterly basis, now it is the
average of both the sending and
receiving district.
It is based off of a formula that ride
now calculates that is different than
what it previously calculated in that it
takes out the tu it doesn't calculate
the the tuition coming into the
district. It removes that. Additionally,
it does not take into account uh student
demographics
uh factors such as again students
experiencing poverty. So the potential,
you know, I uh the potential for this
depending on where our students go to
CTE as well as our students who are
coming to us from CTE. So not only on
the expense side, I'm highlighting the
expense because currently our expense
far outweighs our revenue for CTE
currently. However, uh that it's going
to affect that as well. So next slide,
please.
So, I did link every uh district's CTE
rate as promulgated by RIDE. South
Kingtown's next year is 27,260.
If we were to just take that in previous
years, well, that would have been the
publish late rate that followed a child
wherever they went.
However, when we now start averaging,
Naragansit's per pupil rate as uh
promulgated by ride is 34,352.
So, we then have to take the 45 students
that as of the 19th were slated to go to
Naragansit.
Again, previously that would be
approximately $1.2 million. the new
because we're now averaging there's
approximately oh there's over a $3,000
bump and so we are looking at again a
difference of $159,000
570
for cheroo that is our next largest CTE
expense again here because the average
is lower pre this the formula works in
our benefit rather than just
distributing the 27260
previously it now breaks down to the new
of being 255 and again uh I put North
Kingtown and Cranston. So there are some
circumstances where we benefit uh from
this formula. Uh however uh due to the
per pupil of Naragansit and the sheer
number of students that we currently
send there um we do not break even
currently if this were to to go through.
>> Can I ask a couple questions please? Um,
so this formula is I know Warwick was
actually looking to recoup money from
prior years. Is there is this only going
forward or is there any
>> this is only RID's guidance for this
school year moving forward how they
expect every district in the state to
now calculate their CTE tuition rates
going back? That is still under appeal.
>> Okay. Um do we know how many students
yet are enrolling in the these other
high schools for the coming year? Do you
have an idea?
>> Um so those uh those students that are
listed there are as of last week. So I
I've downloaded that data. So that is
our current um as of last week the
number of students who are enrolled in
out of district CTE. I don't have the
number that are coming that are
guaranteed coming into us yet. Do we
know if these those numbers are going up
or down?
>> I I did not do a comparison versus last
year that
>> Could you Could you get that to us
because that's I really want to know. I
mean it we're all hopeful that we're
stemming the tide. So I just really
would like to see that.
>> Absolutely. Thank you.
>> Absolutely. Is this does this account
for all students going to other
districts or these are just for
examples? um as of right now this so
this the only other uh would be charter
schools that again aren't under this
formula
» miss better thank you for your question
that clarified one question that I had
um however I I would like to know if any
of these students
um
uh experiencing
homelessness and how would that impact
the
program?
>> So, in terms of if a student were
experiencing homelessness, um in terms
of the funding formula that RIDE is
using, there is no bump up or bump down.
The their ability to stay in this
program would fall under McKenna Vento.
um that few few months ago that we
updated that policy uh extensively. So,
uh, if a student were, uh, a South
Kingtown student experiencing
homelessness and going to a CTE, um,
assuming that the best interest
determination is to stay in these, uh,
school of origin, even though we are the
school of origin and they were attending
a CTE, that would we would continue to
uh, incur that tuition cost.
You're welcome.
>> So, you said this is being um healed. Is
that correct?
>> The formal Yes. The formal the final
rule the ruling that the commissioner
came out with because what they what
ride did and I will ask um in a future
meeting for attorney SOA to come on in
who can speak to it uh more eloquently
as well as we're paying him to represent
us. Um my understanding is is that uh in
RID's ruling they were asking everybody
to ple let's just move forward.
Everybody w everybody was doing this
formula wrong. So there was one portion
of the law that said do it this way. And
actually you have some districts that
got together made regional agreements
and based on this ruling it was no you
can't do that. And hey guys we're all in
this together. We're all making the same
mistakes moving forward. We're going to
use this portion of the law and ride
will promulgate this and this is how
we're going to do it based on that
section of the law. That piece is being
appealed. So in terms of the the
look back and the potential fiscal
impact of that appeal, uh I can't say
right now.
It just strikes me as a it strikes me
like initially, yeah, if we were if we
were navigating only three of these four
districts like, oh wow, this is this is
good for us, but it's clearly not. Um
with a with a higher cost
uh district that we that we are sending
to. Um, it just strikes me that the
sending school district is fiscally
penalized for sending a student to a
lower enrollment school district because
by having lower enrollment, the per
pupil expenditure is increased. So, um,
it's easy for me to just sit here and
say that's not fair, but it doesn't feel
fair.
>> Yes.
>> I just want to say that out loud. Not
that we need to do anything about it,
but I'm just saying that it's like it's it's
um be it's like we're being again we're
being penalized because one of the our receiving districts um have low
lower enrollment and so it just seems
like an odd calculation.
>> I mean I think this speaks to broader
needs around the funding formula
changing and and how how we fund
education in the state from the from
this from the top level down. Um, and I think it's, you know, important as as
committee to continue to have those
conversations, continue to maybe even
look at resolutions that could help move
the need at the state house. Um, so I
think things to come into the future to
talk about, but as far as this goes, I
agree with you. It's not really fair
given this breakdown. Um, it is
unfortunate.
Um, I think
um I I agree with what Miss Massing and
Mr. Steo said about like, yeah, it's
going to cost us $60,000 more. Um, but
if you recall, and I am not going to be
able to pull these numbers off the top
of my head, my brain is not that good.
But when I went to the Rhode Island
Association of School Committees annual
meeting, we had that um presenter from
um can't remember who she represented,
but they worked together with the Rhode
Island Foundation and um did some moving
around of the funding formula
um whereby they were
going to begin to include
transportation. And they were calling it
um
not
they they changed the wording of what
they were calling it so that
transportation became an integral part
of educating a child.
And the ultimate goal was to get
um like a flat percentage across the
state.
Um
and the the city or town, the
municipality would pay a certain
percentage and the state would pay
another percentage and that would be the
you know the same across the state. So
we would get that same percentage as
narrow dancer. Um
and what I have heard
um is that the general assembly is
looking at this and thinking in terms of
phasing that in but they are definitely
looking at that seriously. Now is that
going to help us next year with this
extra $67,000?
No. And Mr. for jobs told me that the
money tree didn't grow any money because
they're coming from the back of the
admin. So, I mean, that's at least
something we we can look forward to
things um getting a little better.
» It highlights the other goal of um
keeping our students.
So instead of having 45 students choose
to go here and 19 students choose to go
there, we would have them stay here. So
» did did you have anything else?
>> Nope. just once again that this is
something that we will be navigating
both in terms of moving forward the ride
rulings as well as as we get into FY27
and talk about both revenue, expenses,
enrollment. This is going to be an
ongoing uh conversation and some
significantly different calculations
than we're used to in the past.
>> I do like your suggestion of bringing
Mr. SOA in. I just wanted I'm a little
concerned about the exposure if they go
back in time because in prior years we
sent even more children to narance it.
So there could be exposure there. So I
think that is a good idea to talk to Mr.
SOA and just maybe see where thing what
maybe he feels like the outcome might
be. So anyway um thank you for
explaining that.
>> Thank you.
Do I have a motion to accept the
superintendent report?
>> I make a motion to accept the
superintendent report as presented.
>> Second.
>> All those in favor? I
>> That motion passes.
That will bring us to school committee
business a discussion action approval of
interim chief financial officer
contract.
We have a motion to accept the contract
as presented by the superintendent.
>> I'll make a motion to approve the
interim chief financial officer contract
as presented uh by the superintendent.
>> Second.
>> All those in favor?
>> I.
>> That motion passes.
We want to welcome Mr. Tony Fucci as our
interim which will lead us uh right into
our next one. B discussion action fiscal
year 2027 recommended plan to meet state
financial reporting requirements.
>> Welcome back.
>> It's like a revolving door around here.
>> Hopefully not. Um good evening, Madam
Chair, members of the committee. Mr.
Superintendent, um I'm I'm proud to
become a temporary member of the
community. Um I think you've come
strides ahead from where we first
started a couple of years back. Um so
while we have a slight setback in
personnel um I think we've got an
opportunity to engage and reset the
district for further gains. So I'm very
excited about however I can assist uh
with that process. So thank you for not
confidence in that. Thank you. Um I do
have a number of items this evening for
you. I'll try and get through relatively
quickly and happy to answer any
questions. First up is the uh the state
has issued um further clarity and most
importantly
um the requirement of communities to
report consistently on a monthly basis
and these regs that have been in place
for a number of years now but it's been
kind of more along the lines of how
communities have communicated with the
public. So, they're looking for more
consistency. And so, um, with my
arrival, I was introduced to a letter
that was dated August 5th, 2026
from the auditor general's office
highlighting, um, the necessity to start
reporting in a standardized basis on a
monthly basis. And so, we've been in
meetings with the town and they've
making some modifications to accommodate
all the requirements that are
articulated in your document. Um, we're
aligning ourselves with the town and
what I have before you this evening is a
recommendation that we've got a temp
particular template that will show those
um operations for the school, the
general fund, the capital fund, and a
school lunch fund in particular. And
what we should be doing is looking at
those monthly on a year-to- date budget
versus year-to- date actual. and then
any comments coming from administration
as to anything that they're aware of
that is potentially impacting the
budget. And so that's the highlight of
what they're trying to uh propose. If
districts get into a position where
they're projecting the possibility of
incurring deficits, uh the state does
require an action plan to be submitted
as to what the district is attempting to
do. And that also applicable at the
municipal level, but I'll say targeted
on the impact of the schools. So the
simplicity of what we're doing this
evening is the next report, which is
your monthly financial statement for
FY27. Now that we're almost two months
into the school year from a financial
perspective because it starts July 1st,
there's a new cover letter that will be
produced by the CFO myself until a new
person is appointed and it's broken down
with the the categorizations that I just
mentioned. And so that will become the
template I believe that you should
sustain. Most importantly, it's the
requirement of maintaining the comments
on the three issues of general fund
budget, your capital fund budget and
your operational budget for the school
lunch because the school lunch if it
operates in deficit of course the the
fund balance of the general fund would
also be applied to cover that that
operation. So that's why those three are
to be highlighted in spotlight. There's
some internal workings that have to take
place to do it on a regular basis. Um,
as you'll notice, some of the budgets
are not in um with regards to either the
capital fund or the school lunch fund.
Those will be caught off. But by having
a template in place and expectation in
place, then the compliance will follow.
So we've been very clear with the town
that the school committee will receive
these documents first and that way there
you can go through the details and
answer any questions etc. And at the
conclusion of your meetings and the
reports are accepted we would then send
over a copy of that report to the town
and that would be effective tomorrow. Um
and in turn they're required to post all
the town municipal reports for the
public for those folks to be able to
reference these reports on an as on an
ongoing basis going forward. And so your
reads wherever we're storing them now
for public access could be sustained.
But clearly the community will say we've
got them all. We've got the schools and
we've got the municipal budgets etc. um
and they comply with state law so that
they can be um compared and referenced
by the community down the road. Um there
are two or three other benchmarks with
regards to um annual budgets. Those two
would be then released on on the routine
basis and also a five-year projection. I
know we've been doing those types of
work, but this just codifies that it
will come before the school committee
before it's released for public
presentation through the town council, I
mean a town uh fiscal office uh process
they have in place. And I understand
that the finance director for the town
will be presenting something similar to
the town council um soon and so
everybody should be on board about
having these documents uh readily
available and um my office if I ask
questions about the public documents as
long as it's already been vetted by the
school committee we you would know what
would be the answers we would be driving
based on the documents that you have in
front of you and if something is missing
in your comments in the future I think
it behooves to make sure those kinds of
items get identified early in the
process and you have a format in which
that communication can take place and
just make sure those items come before
you on a regular basis. So it's a check
and balance for the system. So happy to
answer any questions um with regards to
our roll out.
So in regard to the templates,
um is this something each town is
developing their own template or is
there guide from the state?
>> This the town's basically the actual
format of the template that we have is
what the town is working on. And when I
reviewed how they were setting theirs
up, I just align what we're doing,
what's operationally is um consistent
for what they're viewing. And you'll
notice that there is a subsection for
our grants. Um, and that will be just in
totality because we all know grants
can't go over, they can't be overspent,
etc. Um, they're pretty tightly uh
managed. Um, so that's really should not
present a deficit style issue like your
operating budgets will potentially do.
So that's why the separation from our
perspective and what we're going to keep
our eye on. We want to acknowledge those
resources. If each town is developing
their own way of reporting, it still may
lead to not being able to directly
compare with other school districts. So,
it doesn't really shore up that
>> that may be the next part to see how
much they actually deviate, if they
actually do deviate or if everybody is
going to this style model of um what
types of funds are being highlighted um
across the state.
>> All right, great. Thanks. Other
questions?
an interesting question. Um because and
to piggyback on that, the three
categories that making up the template
is that those are the three categories
dictated by the state or is that what
the town is requesting?
the about my my read of the information
that you have in front of you is the
identification of those funds that may
potentially generate deficits and so
that you're on top of those. So the
definition of that type of fund is what
I personally and professionally brought
forward for your consideration. they're
the only three major funds that have
that opportunity that if there's a big
expenditure and you have to do it or
revenue is off significantly, it could
structurally undermine your um financial
position in the in the community. So
that's why I'm recommending those three
particular targets to be on your table.
>> And these uh reports are being generated
monthly. Um, I know and I may be um like
totally off base with my question here.
Um, or you can say that's not relevant
if if that's the case. But so I know
monthto-month
um there we have often had conversations
around certain expenditures that are
embargoed um or we don't have that
information yet. Um we'll know at the
end of you know June 31st or whatever it
is. um will that be clear in the report
or is that not a factor?
>> I think the month-to-month
um is an opportunity to hear things
targeted. Um as a side recommendation
from my personal experience in the
districts I I was involved with and I've
been speaking the superintendent about
it and maybe a presentation in the
future with regard to this item. Um, but
I always made it a practice in the
districts that I served was to actually
have a yearend rejection prepared
specifically for the month of November
and again for the month of February. And
what that would in fact be is a uh
indepth analysis of expenses. And the
target of November and February
is along the lines of when school opens
and you have too many students and you
need a kindergarten teacher, you have to
hire the teacher. There's no getting
around it and that always creates
anxiety. And who retires in August that
we didn't know about and what do we got
to hire and did if we had retirements
and we planned on they'd be hiring
teachers at second step did that
actually take place all those kinds of
things which have dramatic impact on
budgets. I was a firm believer that for
the most part the operational expenses
should be relatively
aligned with budget if you do your
budget properly going into your each
year but your staffing is the the b
biggest significant expense. So give us
a report that says from July 1st through
October 1st how much did you actually
spend in staff expenses
in the middle of October or early
November. Now that the staff has settled
down, your teachers are in, your
administration is in, etc., and you've
got 22 payrolls between now and the end
of the school year, use physical
evidence times numbers of people in that
times the dollars paid on a typical
salary. Come up with what those expenses
will be added to each line in your
budget. It's an in-depth analysis, but
it's real. You really then at that point
in November may have one or two openings
or you may know somebody's retiring in
December and you can make minor slight
adjustments but it's not going to be the
magnitude of over hundreds of thousands.
It'll be 20,000 here, 50,000 there, but
you tweak it and I used to stand my
reputation on how accurate we were in
November and then again in February.
That provides you two things. one,
you're on target and maintaining a
balanced budget. Two, if you have an
issue, you've got time in front of you
to make necessary adjustments so that
you can come in on budget. And three, it
answers the question, what's our
financial position as you go into the
discussion of next year's budget? and not knowing those elements I think
sets up well if we're not sure and we're
not sure it just it undermines the
credibility of what you need when it
comes time to talk about next year. So I
highly be happy to create a
recommendation documenting this if
community thinks it's worthwhile
considering um for another time and
place.
it kind it will definitely align with um
what we're currently doing and once you
receive that I would say release that
publicly. This this is something where
you're building credibility by doing
this process. And in the $90 million a
year budget that I was managing, if I
was off by two or $300,000, I would get
upset. But the community is like, well,
this is much better than where we were
two and three years ago out of 90
million $50 million of salary alone. And
the wildness of what the projections
were that we were hearing is markedly
improved. And so I offer that as a
potential consideration in the future.
>> Thank you for for sharing that because I
also think that aligns with the
direction that this particular body is
has been kind of demanding we go forward
with starting this year already. So
thank you for that.
>> I'd be interested in other
recommendations as well.
I agree with Miss Masani and um Mr. Fury
if you wouldn't mind like setting that
plan in motion so that it can be
um like organized
um going forward. Um I would greatly
appreciate it and I think probably have
agreement here at the table. Um, so this
I I want to make sure that I I have this
straight. This monthly report, you're
going to use you and the town are going
to use the same template.
>> That's correct.
>> And and their report is going to be
separate. Correct. Ours is go Okay. and
we're going to send that report to the
town and they will take care of sending
it to the auditor general. I think
that's where it's gone.
>> The auditor general is requiring
communication whenever there is a um a
potential issue. So, if we've identified
a potential issue, then you're sending
the report with potential issue. And
what they're also expecting is an action
plan to address whatever that issue is.
And so that's when it would have to go.
I would recommend that the district make
sure it gets to the auditor general, be
it the district can send it up or the
town could. The town's really more
organizing and providing that public
access to all the town records in one
spot. So if somebody's interested in
town finance and school finance, they
can look in one spot rather than going
over to the website for the school
department and then go find something
and how it might be set up differently.
But I think they're going to do
something at the town to have it at the
top of their website pile so it'll be an
easy find for the public in the near
future.
>> And is that monthly report going to come
to this body also?
>> I could request a copy if you wish or I wanted to get you folks instructions
at least to where they're going to be
found. So if you wanted to find it so I
could bring one over as a template to
show it and then give the direction if
you want it monthly from them. I know
where you could swap, but if you know
where to find it and it's easy enough to
find, we can have that conversation. I'm
happy to follow up with the town of
Finance Director on that particular
question.
>> Well, I don't know what the rest of the
school committee thinks, but we kind of
get a monthly
um financial report. And if the
superintendent
um and the assistant superintendent
think that this template would give us
similar
um information,
then certainly we could have that report
um instead. But I really like your
November and February.
» Thank you.
Mr. Purch. Yeah, I I'm in
total agreement on the November and
February uh reporting of where we are
kind of checkpoints on on overall budget
and I would agree with Mr. Gau about the
um this monthly report maybe being in
addition to the monthly report we
already got. I think it just it it's
showing the thinking behind if there's
going to be a a variance or or deficit
of some kind, what's the plan to fix it?
That's something we all need to know as
well. Also, I think it'll be very
important for us to to see that as well,
even if it is in addition to the
reporting we already got.
» I just really think it's a great way a
great a great way forward
and rebuilding trust with the town and
the community at large. Um, and I look
forward to that.
um November and February report to help
us in our budget process which as Kate
alluded to we all agreed that you know
we needed to do something different so I
think that's a great idea to move
forward. Thank you.
» Do you need us to vote to accept your
recommendation?
>> Yes.
>> Okay. So we need a motion. I thought so.
Just wanted to make sure.
>> I'll make a motion to accept the
recommendation from Mr. Furuchi to god
to the monthly financial reporting.
>> Second.
>> All those in favor?
>> I I that motion passes. That will bring
us to the next one. C.
This uh discussion action fiscal year
2027 memo from Anthony Ferushi,
financial consultant regarding the
fiscal year 2027 budget to actual
monthly report.
>> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um I do have a
package that has the format that we've
been speaking about just a moment ago.
It's breaking down the operating funds,
what we consider operating funds, where
the district is responsible for the
surplus and deficits, etc. Um it's
broken down into four, excuse me, three
categories. One being your general fund,
which is your school operating account.
That's where the tax community dollars
to support schools flows through. The
next is your capital reserve fund.
Typically, that's the funding that the
schools have patched through from um
prior year surpluses and and coming up
this year. um housing aid that state has
paid to the town and expenses the school
has paid historically um is going to
start coming through to the schools and
that's a whole another topic of
conversation but those funds will flow
through your capital reserve and then
lastly the school lunch and so this just
is setting the the temperature and the
template of you've got the operating
funds revenue and the operant I noticed
I made a mistake total all school
operating expenses is in the first
cluster that should have been revenue my
apologies ies. And then the second
cluster is the expenses in totality. The
total budget, your year-to- date actual
incumbrances are your open purchase
orders or in the case of staff salaries.
And we know who's getting paid out of
what particular line after so many
payrolls, it goes down to what we expect
to pay them the course of the rest of
the school year. Um, that's what your
incumbrances total. And then it talks
about your availability. Um, the general
fund comments. Um I'm just highlighting
the fact that the current budget is um
under review. There's a number of issues
that have come up um identified as the
labor contract negotiations. What the
impact may be on that facility director
coming on board and being involved with
capital improvements. capital
improvement um budget has not been
brought forward to the school committee
for the upcoming school year FY27.
So that what type of potential impact
that will have and as we had heard
earlier about the CTE and the tuitions.
So, we are taking another review of your
school committee adopted budget for FY27
and I am targeting the end of September,
the last meeting in September to come be
back before you either validating the
budget that we have and what you've
approved collectively
um is is um adequate and there's no
surprises um or if there's some items in
there Um, and most importantly, I'll
talk about it in a couple minutes, the
end results of FY26
and what those triggers were,
they will be compared to your FY27
budget and budget projections.
And so I think those areas and we can
get into the detail in a moment but
those types of areas we will have a
strong presentation as to whether it's
sustainable or they were oneoffs etc. Um
and when we're talking in excess of a
million dollars on the table for
conversation I think it behooves us to
do a full FY27 review with FY26 as a
backs stop as to how did we really do
last year. So that piece is on the table
for consideration down the road. Um I
just alluded to the capital fund is its
own on the second page. It's its own
comments and this is your opportunity if
anything is doesn't seem to be commented
on when you get these in advance of in
the future. Um that would be your
opportunity to challenge the CFO as to
is there an issue with something and
those comments should be made and and
document what's going on on a regular
basis. Um, but with
the arrival of the new F uh facilities
director and my involvement with the
whole 5-year capital plan last year and
meeting with the town manager and the
superintendent,
um, we've gotten clarity as to what we
need to do to go forward and not having
a capital budget approved right now is
actually working out fine because with
the new facilities director, that person
will be responsible to achieve the the activities that are going to be come
before you by the end of September. And
so there's another document in here that
I'm talking about capital budget. So I'm
kind of leading into that. So I'll back
off. We can get into more detail, but
I'm articulating that in your summary
report for the community to know that it
is under further review and with
solidification of when to expect. And to
me, that's the biggest thing when with
putting a document that's going to be
out in the public realm is we've
identified something and then we're
going to leave you with what's this next
step is. Be it follow up a month from
now or we got it resolved or we've got
to come up with another plan. But at
least here we hopefully it comes across
that yes we've identified something but
we also have the action plan that's
working on between now and a certain
date and we're going to follow up on it
and it becomes a target and everybody
will be on board what the school is
trying to achieve. So those are the
pieces that are laid out in front of you
and there's also the comment about the
school lunch fund etc. It's just early
the school doesn't open. We just have a
small summer program so it's very
minimal. There's really nothing to
report out over the summer. There's
nothing extraordinary to be concerned
about at this time. And then the all the
grants um the state just started
approving grants. So we will be starting
the post actually approved budgets and
we'll get up to speed with that. So this
is just a very minimal amount of impact
on the community at this point. But the
d total budget will be probably
something of the interest for the
community down the road when we get all
the grant budgets approved and into the
system. you'll see what kind of
resources we have supporting our school
system through that process.
And then lastly is the attachment of the
line item reports showing them
collectively by what we consider object
codes. So whether it be the salary line
or a stipen line or the coaches and etc. um it's across all districts and I
got to say kudos to your accounting team
um from what they've been trying to
achieve. Behind these four pages of
reports for the general fund alone,
there's over 7,000
account codes in which to post the
transaction. So, it's an incredibly
tedious and focused effort to maintain
the integrity um of the information
that's going into the buckets uh
appropriately. And this has to do with
the Yukoa system. It's a 32digit account
code which gives you opportunity to
overanalyze a district in my opinion.
But you see them from the macro level.
Office supplies is one line,
instructional textbooks is another line,
but it's collective. Our report doesn't
break it down by so by high school,
middle school or or subject, but in your
system it is. And so if you want that
level of detail, it's available, but the
summary level is what um is our standard
report. You know, we should be fine with
that. Any questions?
>> I have a question. Um so I I think for
me it's just a clarifying question. So
when you talk about fringe benefits and
or under budget, um do you mean that we
didn't do that in our budget? So
we didn't budget enough money for it and
you had to go somewhere else to find it
to be able to cover these amounts
>> potentially. Yes. That that's the
expectation. Yes. But the communication
to you as a body and to the public and
as a whole, I think is the critical link
here. that if you're identifying a
movement of something underneath the
what I call underneath the hood out of
those 7,000 lines and if it's not in the
same object code we're moving something
from salary because we have an open
position but we had to cover an out of
district tuition that can be
communicated in the comment area. Um,
but when you do your November
projection, I always presented it as a
revised budget. So that you would adopt
a budget and then that would be where
it's embedded that you took the salary
and slid it budgetarily down there. So
when you produce these reports in the
future,
they will align with one another, that
the salaries is accurate and that
purchase service is accurate. So if the
subsystem isn't managed, it could look
like it's out of balance and you may
have a problem not realizing that
there's a opportunity in other areas.
And there's another half a step the
district could consider. Um I've had two
different experiences where this the
administration was allowed to move money
in the category supplies. And so the
Yukoa County codes use the first two
digits for category. So a 56 supply,
there could be 500 56 accounts or a 55
account or a 53 account or 51 account.
The administration was allowed to move
it over there because you approved total
salaries, you've approved total purchase
services, etc. But if you needed money
from one of the categories to go to
another category, the school committee
got involved and said we want to be the
one that authorizes that and approves
that. And that allows you to know
whether money was in supplies, it's
over. Now we're going to put over in
salaries and hire another body that the
school committee may not be aware of at
the time. So those cross categories was
an opportunity. This wait a minute, I
thought you needed these things to
purchase services or salary and now
you're telling me you're going to go buy
equipment with it. You know, is it one
of is it this is boutine, etc., etc. So
those kinds of internal operational
things will come to play because if you
don't make the budget adjustments even
though everybody knows about it, the
report could look skewed when it's out
in the public realm. So just be
conscious of the timing of moving budget
numbers and who knows what when. I've
always been an advocate upfront first,
make the adjustment and then we can move
on. You've heard the reasons, you agree
with the rationale, we're moving
forward. this is appropriate for this
year and then it'll be revisited next
year and then the system could be
>> just so I can think I'm understanding
where you're going. So in here I'm
reading that the retiring the retirees
benefit
and
um
so
that's it. So with retirees, we don't
know that they're going to retire.
>> Correct.
>> So is that what impacts that
>> occasionally? Yes.
>> The budget then?
>> Yes.
>> Okay. So that I'm correct.
>> Yep. And and a lot of times if if it
happens in December, um it'll impact the
tail end of your year, but you don't
know about it until sometimes they come
back and say, "There's an opportunity
for me to leave." Or like what just
happened, if it happens in August, well,
we're going to replace that person. And
that could be a cost savings that will
get calculated officially in your
November calculations cuz
>> but you can't really call it a a savings
because now you have to pay retirement
benefits and etc like that. Correct.
Right.
>> Yeah.
>> Okay. That that should get factored in
during that conversation when the
triggers take place. And then it's
material. I mean, if you miss one dental
bill or two dental bill or even six
month worth of dental bills, you're only
talking three, four, $500, $1,000. You
know, at least you're getting rid of big
items that seem to be sometimes a
surprise in some communities. And so
that's what we're going to be trying to
formalize while you go through this
process. you're going to whittle down
the uncertainties of what we're facing
um as this thing progresses through the
course of its uh function.
>> So um I I am greatly appreciative of you
bringing back the um need for budget
amend amendments. We we definitely need
to do that on a consistent basis. Along
with budget amendments, I would like to
also see a variance analysis of any any
variance in any of the accounts that
might be above some set number. And with the rationale, I mean, I'm going to
use an example. The town was using
energy credits, so we were way under the
budget for electricity. We if we were
looking at the at a variance analysis on
an ongoing basis, we would have seen it.
So, you know, it's great that it was
under budgeted, but there was no
visibility of it. Um, so I'm just going
to ask Kate, do you think we should have
a subcommittee meeting to talk about
what reporting requirements we may need?
>> I do. I think we I think we need um I
think we actually need to start having a
more frequent budget and and finance
subcommittee meeting. And I think it
also aligns with the monthly reports
that we're generating. Do we have to
have it monthly? Maybe not, but maybe
you know by monthly or or you know so
because we need um
our number one our number one focus has
been transparency
and I think we lost some of that over
the past year unfortunately and uh we
need to regain it and um and so I think
this sets that stage to to kind of
reclaiming that. Um, I think we kind of
took for granted that we had
transparency. Um, and and it kind of fit
us. So, I want to make sure we get back
to it. Um, and I think this sets us up
for that for sure. And having that type
of visibility that you're referring to,
it just it o it just cl it opens the
door cl and clarifies everything for us.
and and maybe as these monthly reports
um start rolling out well they've
already started but continue to roll out
um maybe we should the budget
subcommittee should meet monthly and
then after we get you know both feet dug
in um we may be able to make it um less
often I'm not looking to add meetings to
everybody's plate. Um,
so um, Mr. Fury,
I am the abstract math person here at
the table, not the accounting person.
>> Mhm.
>> So, um, your notation,
I always have to clarify this. You've
got these things. Are those negative
amounts?
>> Yes. typically um
>> use a negative sign like we do.
>> It's it's sometimes it's difficult to
see that little dash. I find the
brackets to be um easier to read.
>> They use something else different.
I want a negative sign. Make it red.
>> Yeah, we could make it red. I would have
gotten it if it was red.
Any
other questions?
All right.
>> I don't I don't think we need to have a
motion to accept your memo, though.
Right. Good. Okay. Um
>> I'm sorry, K, before we move on, I'm
just curious. So this particular this is
a this is um this is a different than
what we went in front of the town with
many times over the past year. I'm
curious are we are we speaking to that
with the town at all? Like what kind of
where where do we stand with all that?
I believe the next step once we've
stopped this monthly process, we'll get
clarity on
um aligning communication with the town
so that it makes sense. And so that
would be probably the next level of
activity associated with what we're
talking about this evening.
>> I can get back to you on that.
>> Thank you.
» All right. Thank you. That was a good
question. Um all right that'll bring us
to D discussion action fiscal year 2026
district end of year revenue expenses
and fund balance.
>> Thank you madam chair. Um this one is
going to be of every interest much
interest clearly and there was lots of
um data points and as you had mentioned
the timeliness of what do we know when
do we know etc etc. The bottom line is
the expenses have been pushed through.
There were a few items that I had to do
additional research on
and one of them as the school committee
chair me uh chair had mentioned happened
to be electricity.
And so the unique item of electricity
was with net metering. There was a
change of practice in the business
office this past school year. And so in
meeting with the town,
the electric bills we received show
credits coming off and having net zero
numbers owed to the electric company.
But historically, we were recording the
expense as if we pay the bill. It just
happens to get paid in another manner.
And so that was the bookkeeping to
sustain how much it actually would cost
us for electricity.
By making the change, it made the
expense go down, which created confusion
through the course of the whole year.
There was a worksheet that had all of
the open bills and what the charges
would have been. And so those charges
have in fact been posted to the school's
expenditure account. So you don't lose
the history of how much our electric
actually cost without the net metering.
What's a question that's on further
research
is that payment that the electric
company was recognizing as take it off
your bill, you don't have to send us a
check.
Where were those funds? Typically, we
were accounting with the town for that
and it was a separate. There's no
revenue aligned in our operating budget.
if there was checks coming in,
which is typical of comparing this
budget versus historical budgets. I'm
still resolving the whole piece of where
was the credit offered because we don't
want to lose the sight that if all of a
sudden net metering goes away and that
financial support goes away, we're still
going to have electrical expenses. So
that's why it was important to restate
the expenses in our operating budget
because that's what it would really cost
us. and offset is the question of where
is that recognized in any of our
operating statements. So right now I'm
not aware of any recognition of the
revenue coming in affecting our revenue
for the last year that just closed. But
we did elevate the expense. So, in round
numbers, I was able to demonstrate that
we've actually had income in excess of
$898,000
when comparing budget to what actually
came in. Okay? And in my comments below,
I break down what the major contributors
were that gave us that $898,000
income level. All right. First and
foremost, your Medicaid building billing
for student services, what was Medicaid
eligible, exceeded budget by over 100%.
You had a budget somewhere in the
neighborhood of half a million dollar
and it came in at a million50,000.
So $550,000
of additional billing. I know the
special ed department put in uh
procedures to make sure we build for the
activities that were available for
billing for our students and the
services being provided. So that was one
initiative I understand helped
contribute to this. Second initiative is
there was some sunsetting of Medicare
activities where they were paying bills
um and so that got taken care of but
they may not exist coming into this
year. And so there was an economic
opportunity and a windfall. So the
dollars are real today. And what I
mentioned in my document is part of our
research for the FY27 budget.
This is one of those. Can the Medicaid
Medicare Medicaid uh billing be
sustained for FY27?
because you have a budget that's roughly
the same budget you had in FY26, about
$600,000.
So, can we continue to bill activities
and reach a million dollars in billing?
That's a big number for conversation. I
hope to have an answer by the end of
September. I'm meeting with the director
of special ed to find out the billing
opportunities. If we had a two or three
students that came into district last
year and had very unique issues and that
triggered the billing according to their
unique issues and those students now are
not enrolled or they no longer need
those unique services, then it's it's
very possible the building can go down
substantially. So that we got to get
clarity on as to what those triggers
were and that's what we're working on
now and we'll have answers by the end of
September.
Next category was tuitions of students
coming to South Kingston
in excess of 180,000. Again, your budget
was only about 150,000. So, we made up
over 100% on that category as well. And
it's the same issue. The numbers of
students coming going to be sustained
was next year's budget FY27 built on
what we were actually receiving. So, it
would be um absolutely critical to know
that we're going to be able to sustain
it or was the budget built based on last
year's budget and is there an
opportunity that that revenue may also
go up. I'll have those answers come
September.
And then there's earnings on investments
and I'll be working with the town that
um we went up close to 60% of plus
$113,000
for that category alone. And again, was
it because of where investments were?
How did that investment get generated?
What were the interest rates? Are
interest rates coming down? We need to
validate whether what we received was
better benchmark for the upcoming year
or we got to roll it back. But I'll have
an answer as to why we won't match it or
we will match it when we do the 27. So
these are all baselines for us to talk
about going into 27, but it's real as of
June 30th. And so that helped the
district immensely.
The next item on the general fund is
expenditures. And as I had noted that we
came in under budget on expenditures by
$840,000
and they were categories
fringe benefits was $290,000
under spent in the categories in
particular our retiree paid benefits by
over 240,000 of it. Staff life insurance
and medical buyback attributed for the
other 54,000. So that became the 290.
The question to be had is the retiree
benefits. Um, is that just a oneoff? Why
was there such a significant savings?
What is it compared to for 27? And is
that sustainable? And so again, it's a
good problem to have, but what you do
with the information becomes critical
about how valid is it. And so, um, that
is further research. Fringe benefits
contributions to contractual pension
plans was under by 194,000.
Still saying I feel like it's redundant.
Our salaries came in relatively close to
budget somewhere in the neighborhood of
about $30,000 out of $29 million salary.
What prompted the pension contribution?
Whether there was a projection of an
increase in contribution rate or there
was periods where we had folks with open
positions. I'm not sure what triggered
those pieces, but that's what the
research is going to drive. And then how
does next year's 2027's pension
contributions line up budgetarily with
the salaries that are appropriate to
those categories is going to be. So
these be this is becoming the outline
for our accounting manager to have
answers for me. how we created the
budget, is it sustainable and then have
a better stronger budget presentation
for you for 27.
And then other purchase services is
primarily the out of district tuitions
for for vocational and special ed had
gone down. Um and is that sustainable
becomes another question.
The side pieces I wanted to highlight is
there was a claim settlement of 150,000.
you didn't have a budget for that
particular item, but because of the
savings and in and other categories and
the revenue, it did not have a a
negative impact on our bottom line for
the school year. So, that's a good
thing. And last but not least is the
summary report attached has broken out
for you the whole general fund. But in
order to have the recognition of the
funds that the school committee adopted
in a budget for the capital program for
FY26 which was done back in August of
2025 last year I came before you with a
recommended budget.
This the school committee approved a
recommended budget of $2.1 million
and $780,000 was going to be capital
fund dollars that was still left in the
0429 account.
And the difference of the 1.4 million
school committee authorized
administration to transfer 1.4 for from
the general fund fund balance carryover
from prior years to the capital account
to pay for the building activities that
were in the budget.
The school district only achieved
$1,95,000
of need for the projects that got
completed. So some of the projects came
in under budget and so we didn't need
the money etc. the 1951
1,95,000
was transferred over so that the capital
fund budget 0429 will show expenses and
revenue balance. So those revenue
figures came in just as had pl been
planned and authorized.
If the budget did not have the extra
revenue for FY26 and did not come in
under budget
by the $800,000,
those two items provided about a $1.6
million
value left over for the operating school
year. The million is being deducted from
the 1.6 six because that's the
bookkeeping entry. We have to show the
community what money is being
transferred from general fund.
If the whole budget and the revenue came
in as planned,
then the school department would have
had a balanced operational budget and a
million 95 transfer and it would have
showed a deficit of a million 95. But
that million95 would have been taken out
of the fund balance that we authorized
last year because everybody knows we got
over $3 million in fund balance that's
not targeted and that was the source of
dollars we were using. So the good side
is we're now in a position to just slide
over the net number that's remaining
which is $600,000. So we have our
homework on very specific targets of
what drove the differences.
We have an understanding of the impact
of the transfer and how it was covered.
And we also end up with my final piece
is the 1.7 was the surplus deficit for
the year before taking into account the
transfer to make the capital program be
balanced. By subtracting the million 95,
we're going to have 643,000
remaining. That 643 will get added to
last year's fund balance because there's
been no change in that over the school
year. It waits till the very end after
the operating is determined plus or
minus goes into that account. Under
school committee policy at 2% of the
general fund budget is set aside for the
potential if there's ever um any
emergencies and shortcomings etc. That
should be defined as restricted fund
balance for those activities. And so on
our audit reports, we had a a fund
balance of over $4 million.
So subtracting the 1.26
from the 4 million
gives us the uh I mean from the from the
beginning gives us the 4 million. Um, by
adding in the $643,000,
our endofear total fund balance that
you'll see on your order reports later
this fall is going to be 5.3 million of
which 1.266 is restricted per school
committee policy, which would leave us
approximately $3 million
for consideration
of paper projects. And I'm setting this
stage for when we come before you with
the capital program. If we need the use
of fund balance, it's available and it's
there. I'm also analyzing FY27 because
my understanding is that there was an
allocation of $1.3 million of fund
balance use to make the FY27 budget
balance for this coming school year. So
simultaneously I will be looking at the
potential need for that 1.3
whether the sustained income that we're
talking about is achievable then you may
not need it and we can have those
conversations once I have 27 completed.
So just setting the stage that if this
makes sense audit report last year
anybody who has the audit report you're
going to see fund balance broken into a
couple of categories but it totals about
$4.1 million. you take our 1.2 out,
that's where we come in with that $4
million number and then we're gonna
because if you add those two, that's
what's out there publicly.
Does that make sense? I hope I didn't
confuse you too much. I know it's deep,
but it has such impact.
I think what you presented to us was
very clear and I understand this report
very well. Um, I think where
I'm I'm not confused by it, but I am
just want to call out that this is
distinctly different from what we acted
on
with the town. And I want to make sure
that that piece is clear. That's not a
you thing. That's a us thing. And I I am
feeling and and maybe someone at the
table can make me feel better, but I am
feeling like we kind of glossed over
that
at the moment. Um, and I just may be
missing something, but I just want us to
be clear that this is very different
from the budget we passed and presented
and acted on the end of last year and
where this is um
this is what we should trust to be
accurate. Now, um I just want to make
sure we're not glossing over anything
because I I just am feeling a little bit
like we are.
>> Can I ask a clarifying question?
What was the beginning of fund balance
at the beginning of of this fiscal year?
>> 4.1 uh $4.1 million.
>> Okay. So,
we we had 4.1 million in fund balance.
We spent 1.1 million on capital
improvements, bringing us down to three,
and we're ending with five.
>> Well, the the inclusion of your
restricted fund is is what I'm
targeting. There's the separation when
you say three and four where we had the million dollars of targeted fund on
the 2%.
So what was available for use came in at
3.8 I mean um 2.8.
>> Okay. I and I know there's there's a
restricted fund balance and the
unrestricted fund balance and the
600,000 of the surplus that we just will
transfer the fund balance that goes to
the unrestricted fund balance. Correct.
>> Correct.
>> When we move money into the capital fund
balance, that's going into the
restricted fund balance. Correct.
>> That's out of the Yes, that's correct.
>> Okay. So I guess my question really is
what were the numbers in the just the
unrestricted
fund balance and if you don't know I'm
not I I I know you can't come here and
know everything in your head but if you
could get this
>> it's approximately um the total on your
order report when I remember is
$1,100,000
was your June 30th 2025 end of fund
balance which was inclusive of both 2%
set aside and the restricted. So if your
2% was 1.2 million, subtract that off of
the 4.1 that gets you down to the 2.8
is what was in restricted I mean
unrestricted fund balance last year.
Okay.
>> Okay.
>> And from that amount is what we were
expecting to draw over to pay for the
capital program 1.4 million of that. I
guess my real question is
to see in the unrestricted fund balance
what actually
was the difference in the over the year
because I think that's going to be clear
what the true surplus is because if
whatever amount it's increasing by
it because that's where it lands the tr
the true surplus and and I know there's
a lot of moving parts and I think you've
done an excellent job of laying out
because you've got things that are over
budget, things that are under budget,
some are revenue, some are expenses. So,
um so I think you've done a I I follow
it really well. I just want to see that
fund balance piece a bit more clear.
Based on that uh request, I understand
fully, I will make a photocopy of the
actual audit report, which would give us
the specific dollar value of the fund
balance as of June 30th. What we will be
able to then do is take clearly the
$643,000
is going to be the dollar value that's
going to get transferred into the fund
balance when the auditors do their work.
Mhm.
>> And I'll be able to show you from what
their last year number ended plus the
643. That would be the total. And then
from there, once we have that total
number in front of us, we know the 2%
set aside, we can make that deduction
off of that recalculated balance. And
that will become what's restricted for
by the school policy. And then that
whole conversation, that's the remaining
balance. Absolutely. I can pull that
piece together pretty quickly and I
think it'll clarify exactly the question
that you're asking.
>> That would be great because I I just
would like to understand the fund
balance piece a bit more. Um and I do
have one more question.
>> Um so if I'm looking at this and this is
a great summary of the general funds net
position. I I do appreciate that. Um it says surplus deficit for school year
and it shows a surplus of approximately
1.7 million. So if people are looking at
this report, would you say yes, that's
the surplus we have at the end of this
fiscal year?
>> Operationally, yes.
>> Okay.
>> Um because we were expecting to take the
$1,95,000
out of last year's $4 million,
>> right? that piece kind of gets lost in
the conversation.
>> Okay. But if we took it out of that fund
balance, then we would be adding a
million7 into the fund balance,
replenishing what was taken out. This is
the same position, just showing it
differently that we had a million7
operationally,
but we used a million5 for the capital,
which allowed us to only put 600, but we
took nothing out. So, it just increased
the fund balance. So yes, you're
absolutely right on that
>> because what I want to do is separate
the two because I don't want people to
look at this and say, "Oh,
our net surplus was 644,000
when really operationally
the surplus was 1.7."
>> Correct.
>> So, okay, thank you for clarifying. I
want to be as transparent as we can with
people so that when they see this
report, they they can understand exactly
what the numbers mean. And I think when
people say surplus, they mean the out of
the operating budget, the surplus. Thank
you.
>> And I think your prom my promise to the
you and the community runs along the
lines of looking back, we've identified
the two major pockets which created the
million7. The best we can do today is
take that and validate how that's
presented in FY27. If we can come back
to you and say the the Medicaid billing
is going to be sustained
and we make adjustment on FY27 budget,
the million3 you currently have targeted
to take out of your restricted fund to
make the operating budget for the
upcoming year could be relieved of that
pressure.
But if we can't sustain it, I think most
importantly
is you'll have the reason why it's not
sustainable.
>> And people a year from now when asked
the question, wait a minute, last year
you you had this much and now you don't.
The question has already been answered.
We went through the process. Here's why
we don't achieve the 800,000.
Here's why the expenses and what
happened aren't going to be achieved. We
are now down to that level of
understanding because we started at the
top of what's the two drivers validate
how successful those drivers are going
forward. And if it and if we choose to
not include it for some reason then
that's a that's a bat on us for doing
that and that's the conversation that
will take place in September. To me, the
real work and the real validation and
where we're going to stand will be on
that analysis of whether we add that
into the budget or not. Because, god
forbid, you add it in and make another
decision and all of a sudden the feds
pulled the Medicaid billing process and
dropped threequarters of a million
dollars on us. And it's like, well, I
added the 500 we thought we were going
to make and now we're 800,000 in the
hole. How'd you allow that to happen? We
didn't allow. So, all of those things
will come to rise. We're trying to get
in front of that. That just brings up a
couple things. First of all, thank you
for your analysis that you've done on um
the 2026 budget. I I think you're
very perceptive. It It's not just the
number, it's the why. How did we get to
that number? What's causing the you
know, what caused the surplus? I mean,
it's good to have a surplus, but we were
not expecting it and not being able to
know what the real numbers were is, you
know, we don't want to be in that
position again. and and this analysis is
wonderful and I know you're going to now
look at the 20 do that analysis on the
2027 budget. So, um but that risk in
Medicaid reimbursement knowing I mean we
can't predict what the federal
government's going to do, right? Um it
goes to how much is really needed in
fund balance because that's our safety
net for those shocks uh financial
shocks. So yes, we have a policies that
says 1 to 2% but it really should be 1
to 2% plus known risks should also
increase that amount cap so that we have
funds available for the any of those
risks. So anyways, um thank you for
answering all of those questions and I'm
going to ask others if they have more
questions.
>> Yeah, I um so my question is this fund
balance
at the end of 2026
has a total of 5,358
911.
>> Correct.
Are you telling us that was there
>> with with the current 600,000 getting
added to it? Yes.
>> We right now today.
>> Yes.
>> I have a I I
have a hard time understanding how we
got to that. Right. Because our budget
session
was horrific in my opinion, right? And if we're if we have these fund
balances,
I need to understand
if within that $5 million,
is it being
divided into a restricted fund?
Is it being a general fund? Is that one
amount being divided into these other
buckets?
>> The
fund balance is for your general fund
and then within
your general fund
you have different allowances of that
fund balance. And so when the school
committee has a policy that from their
general fund they want have money set
aside in case there's an emergency need
that becomes what they consider
restricted. You're putting it aside out
of the 5 million specifically for this
purpose.
>> Okay.
>> I just I just want to interject real
quick because I don't think and correct
me if I'm wrong. Look, I'm I'm not done
because I'm still trying to understand
if we had a 2%
in our fund balance.
Why were we like why weren't we able to
use that to help us stay our home that
our budget? I don't understand. Like I I
just think
>> I mean and I'm not blaming you. Not at
all. I just don't understand how
you could find it.
But the person that was working on it
couldn't find it. And if and also
just to help me understand a little bit
more
you were consulting during the last
couple of months or no
>> the last couple of month I came on board
I believe it was u end of May early June
>> okay that was right after all of this
you've started to dig this
>> yes okay but I still have a hard time.
>> Yeah. So, so
>> so Paul, I think to your point that is
part of the the the problem is that we
were not aware we were not made fully
aware of what we had available to us and
we were not given good information
during the budget process. Uh so that is
I I share your frustrations. I think I I
understand where you're coming from.
It's it's it's frustrating.
Yeah, I I just want I just want to
clarify one thing because I've not seen
this and correct me if I'm wrong if
we've seen this before.
>> I've not seen that 1.2 million referred
to as a restricted fund. I don't think
I've ever have Have we seen that on
previous budgets and I just missed it
because I know we had that like 1 to 2%
rule
>> and now you know Tonyy's kind of
itemizing it out into that 1.2 million
but I just want to clarify have we seen
that on previous budgets? It has not
been listed as a restricted fund. It's
been listed as that 2% um recommended,
>> but there was never a dollar amount
associated with it because that because
that's a new
Okay. So, I was I just want to make sure
I wasn't like losing my mind.
It's been referred to as restricted in
the past, but policy says that we have
that 2%
>> in in our um
» policy only can a surplus
because surplus the 2% is on any surplus
that you have that would then ate that
fund balance. Am I correct?
>> That's my understanding of your policy
which is the reason why it's not
probably not been well communicated
along the lines of those funds are for
your operating budget after it gets
approved if something big happens. So
during budget conversations about what
our school operation looks like
>> is the first $2 million or million2 is a
set aside out of the again I'm referring
to the audit report and they actually
have three classifications
of dollars what they consider the
unrestricted restricted and committed
and so all of those cluster together
generate you $4 million but it's all for
the general fund and the underlying is
what is it targeted why it's there and
then bottom line is what's the remaining
piece that's available conversation to
include and that conversation had to
have taken place because you have a line
using a million3 to balance FY27 so that
piece came forward at some point in time
um and and it's interesting that the
capital budget not getting presented
andor adopted which relied on fund
balance in prior years to go over into
that general fund fund balance. Well, if
you committed a million three, you may
not have had enough to even have that
conversation. So, that's why I'm trying
to make it clearer. And I I think having
last year's audit report is going to be
really helpful because you'll know what
our beginning is, how you got there,
what happened over the years. You had
good years where the expenses were down
and the revenue was not as high. I mean,
it was higher than what was budgeted.
Maybe not as high as this current year,
but those accumulations of dollars
validated by the auditors. That's
available. So, that's that's that's a
given. We know that to be true. We know
right now I can stand on these numbers.
I know where these numbers came from. We
know that 640 is going to it. So, I have
a lot hard number to talk about. And
then we can have that conversation about
if 27 doesn't need a million3 because
there's other revenue or expense cuts,
then we'll get there. If it does need
the 13 and you still need another
million million and a half to do your
capital projects for 27,
we'll know what that number is that's
available. So there won't be
uncertainty. There'll be certainty of
where it's coming from. And I'll make
sure that's very well communicated.
>> The main reason why the capital fund was
not being acted on is because when we
were going through the budget process
last
March, April, it feels like a year ago.
It feels like yesterday we were we were
operating as a board with the
understanding that we were in a deficit.
We were not operating in the
understanding that we had a $1.7 million
surplus. So when we were navigating with
our town and working out over how much
property tax transfer was going to come
in and scrambling and having students
lives disrupted significantly. And I
want to acknowledge all of this because
I feel like not you, but we are seem to
be glossing over that this is a good
problem to have now, but it also is a
problem that we had that we are now
addressing. But I also want to make sure
that we're be excuse me, we're being
transparent about that, that we're not
trying to like pretend that didn't
happen because that's what I feel like
the moment, not you us. And I want to
make sure that we are acknowledging that
or I am at least acknowledging that and that we there it's a a bigger
conversation in my opinion that we have
to have with the town because this is
not our money. This is our taxpayers
money and we need to make sure that
we're being forthcoming about where this
surplus came from because in our last
public meetings we did not have a
surplus.
We were working off a deficit. We ended
up having some sort of a surplus. were
able to make some things work, but there
was a lot of turmoil and upheaval around
it. And so, I think that's where a
couple of us are a little confused why
it was being presented as though
that didn't happen. So, I just want to
make sure that I get that clear for
myself. And I just want to state for the
record, I I am in agreement with you on that this is this we we did put the
town through a a difficult budget
process based on information that was
unclear at the time that we had it and I
know Mr. Crui is presenting to us as
fact now since it's you know this is
what it is but I don't think we can uh
or nor should we ignore the fact that happened. We had that we had those
contentious meetings and very uh
difficult budget process. So we are
where we are now and we do need to move
forward but I don't think we can move
forward without acknowledging that. So I
don't I don't want to gloss over it
either.
>> And also you know just being
with the public right now that we are
acknowledging this information as you
receive it. um
you know to inv
like Kate did. I agree with her when she
says um we kind of lost sight of that
and it may not have been it wasn't
intentional at all. Not on our part
anyway, but it happened. And so being
aware of it now, uh we just need to make
sure that while at this table when we're
receiving this information that we are
acknowledging it so that the people in
the community, our town know that we're
holding ourselves accountable,
right?
And I'll just And I'll say I think as a
committee we we trusted
our administration and certain
individuals too. I I I think I think we
need to take a look at ourselves and say
we need to be more critical and more
you know more aggressive in pushing for
information going forward. Uh whether we
trust the person or not I I I think you
know to Mr. Gucci's point from earlier
talking having November and February
updates having this monthly where are we
spending things where are things going
those are going to really make
everything a lot more transparent for us
uh not only for the community at large
but for us at the table I think that is
something we we absolutely need to
commit to going forward um to make sure
we don't end up in a similar situation
in the future. We want to make sure
we're being as transparent as possible
with the taxpayer dollars that we are
stewards of and prevent things like
this. You know, I I don't I don't want
to go through this.
>> I just want to say that I I want to
piggy back on what Paula said. We were
operating with the information we had as
we obtained it. And even as late as July
28th,
I specifically asked if we knew what the
number was for the end of the year. And
we were told told we had a small
approximately $300,000
surplus. And to find out just weeks
later that it was 1.7 was
astonishing.
And and it's also very frustrating
because we had put our community through
a terrible budget
season that we just didn't have to have
if we had known the right numbers. So,
we need to put reporting in place so
that we do know the numbers are real
that I mean, we trust what people tell
us and we'll continue to trust people,
but we need the reporting um to to
actually see it and be on top of it
ourselves. And I think that's why I I
agree. We need to start meeting with the
sub subcommittee. Um, and I do want to
apologize
to the town, our community for having
this horrible budget cycle that wasn't
needed, but we just didn't know, but we need to do better and have better
information going forward.
>> Agreed. and and I'm sorry I I would just
want to make sure that you know it's not
targeted at you because I think the
pieces that you're putting into place
and the information that you've been
able to pull forward and these templates
that you're putting forward for us to
review on a monthly basis make sure that
we have full knowledge um on a very
granular level what we're navigating and
then also we the town also will have it.
So when we are having these budget
conversations, everybody has the
information, the actual information in
front of them instead of just sort of
hoping that what's being presented to us
is accurate. So thank you. If I could
just make one small comment, I know I've
been speaking quite a bit. Um um
starting what you just discussed and
acknowledging it from your levels, I
think provides a lot of credibility to
the community.
But also concurrent with that is a small
example.
Okay, if I have uh a purchase order for
so many students going out of district
that I put in in October and kids come
and go and all of a sudden there's 15
kids who are no longer going out of
district because they decide to stay in
town,
the folks in the field who have the
purchase order in the system
have no real reason to call up the
business office and say disencumber a
half a million dollars in tuition
because the students left. Okay. So, I
get it. The the the leadership in your
fiscal office is the is the primary
cheerleader for everybody. It's not just
the system breakdown of how they didn't
know. If you've got we just put it in at
the end of the year like in July, we can
just close it because now we know we
don't need it. Well, even when I got on
board and I ran some early preliminary
numbers because I was working on
maintenance of effort for the community
and I needed some of that data,
I saw purchase orders on July 10th
exceeding $1.2 million. And I'm like,
could there be that many bills out in
the system?
So, if I'm reading the system reports
and I'm seeing incumbrances owed for
$1.2 2 million. Yes, I could come
quickly to the same conclusion unless I
do the detailed extraction of what line
items are these impacting and who do I
got to talk to to validate whether they
need transportation busing, whether they
have out of district students, is there
some capital project that hasn't got to
completion, um has it been delayed and
it's going to happen next year. None of
that's happening in the fields because
there's not really a sense of urgency.
Okay. By creating the year end process
of November and February, the business
office will be working with principles
and leaders in the schools and the
clerks in the schools. They'll start to
understand
how important it is if there's some
material change in some of the purchase
orders. Something as simple as
facilities.
The guy's got to go to the hardware
store to pick up some pipe or a fixture
to fix a sink. So, we got an open
purchase order for that hardware store.
Well, if we don't fix anything because
nothing broke and there's a $25,000 one
purchase order at one store times five
stores, there's $125,000. We're all
going to assume this bill's coming in
and all of a sudden it evaporates
because oh, we're not going and now
we're buying the stuff in July and
that's next fiscal year. So, give me a
new PO for $25,000.
only spent three and I've been telling
everybody we're going to spend 25. So,
you're setting the table is helping the
rest of the district realize how
important those nickels and dimes and
tens of thousands of dollars that may be
in the system that makes it more
difficult. So, that when you have things
that are outside of the scope, they'll
pop to the top because we're always down
to $50,000 at this time of the year and
I got 275 still in there. How come? Oh,
I got one purchase order for this
particular issue. Yay or nay. Got a
problem or it's going to happen in
August. That's next year. Get rid of it
out of the system. So really, thank you
for providing that support to get how
critical folks contribution is for those
activities because that is what your
cheerleader is going to do when they go
on like here's what's going on. I got to
do this. It's not just us. I mean me.
It's us. It's a picture of us. we need
to work together to create the right
picture. So, thank you for your support
for that.
So, um, like my, um, colleagues at the
table said, I'm very grateful for these
figures that, um,
that we're seeing now, but, um, as other
members of the committee have said, we
created a budget
based on incorrect numbers
and
In my opinion,
we created a lot of angst in the
community with students, with families,
with the town council, and that was
unnecessary.
So now we are presenting numbers
that are accurate and um moving forward
um we can we can see
um how I mean we we've got to see some
way how we can
fix this. we, you know, I mean, other
than apologizing to the community
for based on the false figures,
um, you know, I don't see what we can do, but the community needs
to know that we're trying to write the
ship.
if if I may, um, for what it's worth, as
superintendent of of the district and
who, uh, put forward the budget
proposals given the numbers there, um,
and from day one talking about
transparency, from day one talking about
students first and that what we put
forward was done with that with that in
mind. We came here to build things, not
take them apart. We're fully com
committed to that. Um, and that apology
to the the committee, to the students,
to the town council, to the public whose
budget meetings got turned upside down.
on behalf of as superintendent, I
apologize to the committee, apologize to
the town council, and we'll look to do
so in part next time uh that I'm there.
Um I'd also though, you know, apologize
not only to the students and the
families who showed up, but every person
for the past two years who is not with
the organization anymore or was getting
pinklip. I met with each and every one
of those people. I looked at them. I
said, "Family, I mean, this is your
livelihood." And so, mo most importantly
to me for people who are no longer with
the district, um, there's an apology
there.
The most well, not the most, that is the
most unfortunate part. Another
unfortunate part here is that there are
great things in here to celebrate.
that had we been updating accurately and
regularly, we could be celebrating an
increase of revenue from students
wanting to come to South Kingtown and
coming to South Kingtown.
that we have an amazing director of
student services student and team there
student service director of the year
who's doing Medicaid billing and getting
reimbursement and to make those
adjustments and ultimately
know ultimately to be here now I'm you
know again I would be remiss if as the
superintendent that I did not apologize
um and promise to the community that it
will not happen again. These things will
be vetted. We will do better and we will
uh keep building moving forward. Uh and
by the I believe at our second meeting
in September, I'm extremely confident in
what Mr. Fucci will be able to present
as a accurate, researched and validated
FY27
that and plan moving forward that this
committee and the community uh will be
proud of.
>> Thank you.
>> I think I think Oh,
one thing I want to say is just you're
right. There are things to celebrate in
here and having increased revenue for
Medicaid reimbursements and having
increased revenue from students. But we
can all see and I think this is a lesson
we can all take home is that having that
lack of transparency has turned what
should be an objectively good thing that
we have funding for the schools. We
probably will be in a position to have a good conversation around FY28.
It is has put a Paul on on that. Uh so a
simple thing just not having the right
information at the right time has turned
what should be something good into
something that we have to apologize for.
It's so I think it's a lesson we can all
take home that transparency is vital and
important and and communication is key.
» Yeah. I just want to thank everybody
here for um
the questions they raised tonight, but
being conscious of how important this
all is to the community. And I want to
thank the superintendent
for the words that you just said and and
actually for the apology to our
community. Um, I thank you for that. And
I know that
we've got some really encouraging things
that we've learned, some really great
numbers that we can celebrate, and now
we just need to look at the 2027 budget,
continue to do that work, and then we'll
have a final idea of really what we're
dealing with because I still don't we
still don't have that piece. So, we're still in the middle of this and um
so we'll be back to revisit this again.
So, but thank you also Tony.
All right. Um that will bring us to the
next one. Discussion action capital
improvement plan update fiscal year 2027
and the impact on the five-year plan.
>> Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, on a
hopefully a a seriously uptick note, um,
last year I got involved with the
five-year capital plan. And last year I
took over a document that had five years
of information and kept getting rolled
forward with comments about, well, we're
not funding, you know, we got to be next
year needing five or six million dollars
worth of work and the funding's not
there and we just roll it. That turned
into what can we afford and how do we
make presentations. And so we did that
last year and the superintendent and I
met with the town manager and the
finance director and we went through it
and we had some very good conversations
about it. The critical element being
that we have a maintenance of effort
issue with the state and if we don't
meet those objectives then that state
aid that comes to the community will be
held back. And so with that as a
backdraft, we presented a two-year plan
with the budgets being about $2 million
because we thought that might be
fundable and then everything was pushed
off. But myself in the transition in
your facilities area, your leadership
there, your history, how these numbers
came about, what is this project that
really talking about? When I go in
there, it doesn't look like it's maybe
it's been done. So there was a lot of
uncertainty of even the validity of the
projects because of the history of it.
I'm happy to announce tonight that we're
going through the same process because
you do this every year. We've got a
facilities director that came on board
and he's been impressive so far. I'm
really enjoying working with him. I
think he's going to take the bull by the
horns and and really make this district
elevate its uh performance building base
wise etc. But systematically with that
conversation came up, what's the
validity of the dollars of the projects?
And so I talked with the superintendent
and he and he has supported the idea
rather than the finance director and the
facilities director getting together and
trying to come up with a five-year plan
and all the impacts on the community,
what the building needs are, and then
trying to get that communication out
what the funding is and blah blah blah. We took it to the next level.
We created a community I mean excuse me
a capital improvements administrative
team responsible for making a
recommendation and that team consists of
the fiscal person. It consists of the
facilities director but it also
consisted of we need somebody who's got
the academic needs of students involved.
They also needed somebody who had at
least some history. And most important
from my seat was the validity of the
data and how it was generated.
I wanted to have members of the
community join us from the town and I'm
happy to announce that we in fact did
create this team. This team has been
meeting for the last three weeks. We
took the report that the school
committee adopted last year as our
kickoff. We have in our hands a report
created by the state that was sent to
the district back in July of 2025
for our middle school and the three
elementary schools because of course the
high schools being brand built brand
new. We expect nothing to meet to be
done in that at least the first two
years anyway.
Um, but we took that report and this the school committee's approved
five-year plan
and we met with John Ghoul, who is your
intram facilities director last year,
who's got some historical knowledge of
the district. The two community members
who joined us happened to be Mr. Mark
Russo, I believe he's the DPW director,
or facilities director for the town and
the town finance director. And everybody
came to our meetings every meeting and
we started with what are these reports
and how they're used and where do the
data come from. And then we took the
next step. I introduced that the state
is paying housing aid based on plans
that they've approved that they're
willing to pay. One plan expired this
past June. So anything after July 1st
this going forward won't be reimbursed
from that particular approval. We have
one approval left that goes through
December 2028.
Okay. In order to get an approval from
RIDE for this what they call memorandum
of agreement takes about 18 months. So
an application that goes in in September
if it's considered to be moved along in
rise estimation documents need to be
submitted by the following February or
March. We call that a stage two. and
then they have eight months to make a
decision. So that'll put them someplace
after the initial September date. So now
as a backdraft we go 5 years. 5 years
will put us out to 2032.
Government approval ends December 2028.
Two years it's all we have.
Okay. What happens in those future
years? Everybody understands it.
the t that the team's effort was to do a
host of things. We're going to focus in
on what's going to get completed in the
next two years. What makes economic
sense and what can the community
support?
What are we going to do for the next
three years? And if this pushes us past
December 2028, how are we prepared to
make that application process work? And
what's the timetable? The timetable is
December of 2027.
The application has to go in if you want
to have a housing aid reimbursement in
place after the next memorandum of
agreement goes away.
The following February 2028, we have to
put in the stage two documents they
request. They'll make a decision
sometime in September, October of 2028
that they'll give us an award effective
January 1st, 2029. That's two months
before the last sunset. So taking all of
this information in, our team has gone
through and we said, "Oh, these are
projects are completed. These projects
are not needed. This doesn't seem
budgetarily to be accurate. We're going
to do more research. What does the state
say?" We triaged all of these pieces.
We've come up with a roster for each of
the four schools, the middle school and
the three elementary schools. I thought
it was critical, superintendent
supported it, that we actually do
building walks. We want to meet with the
principal. We want their input as to
what they think they need for student
needs in their buildings. We're going to
share with them what we're looking at
projectwise.
That's beginning tomorrow. We are going
to Matunic and then we're heading up to
Broad Rock. Friday we're going I West
Kingston and then Peaceale.
The team will be reconvening next week.
the facilities director and I are going
to be working on a capital improvement
plan budget, excuse me, capital budget
for 2027,
and I'll have that for you by the end of
September.
It will target the things we have to
accomplish by the end of June. We need a
million dollars of projects completed
every year as a minimum on top of the
investment we're making in maintenance
people and maintenance supplies, etc.
and the debt interest payments that the
town makes. That all gets added
together. We have to provide 2% uh is it
2% of our operating budget. No, it's
more than that. It's over $2 million. So
maybe 4%. My calc's off top my head
getting tired. Um but it's a little over
$2 million a year. So a million of it
has to be capital improvements.
We need to get things done this year and
we'll have that roster done. Next year,
2027.
Um, actually 28 because it'll be June
the 28th. Okay. We have the summer of
2027 to do major construction if we want
reimbursement
from the currently approved document
with ride. Okay. So we we are going to
present a 28 recommendation as well.
Okay. June 2028 fiscal year closes. July
1st 2028 we have six months to do any
major construction where we need
reimbursement. We will have a plan for
the summer of 2028 which puts us into
2029.
But we'll get it done before Christmas.
We'll have recommendations how to fund
it. Our conversations with the town
manager will absolutely be critical on the summer work for 2027
and the summer work for 2028 because if
we're going to be doing $2 million worth
of roofs or $2 or $3 million worth of
HVAC systems or anything else of that
critical need, the size and scope of
those projects require bid documents.
You need your vendor to be appointed by
April, if not sooner,
because then they will have their trucks
in our parking lot on June 15th saying,
"When can we go to work?" Because we got
to get the work done over the summer.
So, those are the objectives that we'll
be working on. Um,
but I hope and so far it's been
extremely cooperative and productive.
the team we put together to validate the
dollars,
identify the source of the projects, and
then the prioritization of those
projects to meet the objectives of the
community. And so in the budget cycle,
I'll talk about the housing aid again
coming in and the rather revenues that
we may have available to fund them. But
I can't thank the committee or the
superintendent enough to take it to this
next level of sophistication
and creating your new 5-year plan
recommendation because it is aligned
with what ride will need for a
submission in September. They won't
accept just the finance director and
with facilities director with the
superintendent having a plan. They want
to see community participation. We've
got that. we're keeping people apprised
of what's going on and we'll be able to
speak to that and we've engaged our
local community uh officials to join us
and it's been extremely productive. So,
I'm just really proud of the work this
team is doing and I think the outcome is
going to drive a lot of really good
conversations for the community and I
look forward to going over and working
with the town manager and the town
finance director in October to say we
can cover this year. What are we going
to do the summer of 28 and what are we
going to do in the summer of 29? How do
we get there? And if we can do 90% of
the work, maybe we won't need an OA for
more capital projects. If we can get the
bulk of the things that are being
identified done in those two years, we
could be way way ahead of the game. If
not, we'll know what our next layers of
work are. So, I'm happy to answer
questions, but I'm very excited about
how the table's getting set for that
future conversation. So, thank you.
I don't have a question. Just to thank
you for your enthusiasm, your
proactivity on this. We have not seen
that in years when it comes to this
particular topic. Um, and so I
appreciate what you've put together, the
folks you've gathered trust, very highly
trusted in our community, both on the
town side and the school side. So, thank
you um for this and I look forward to um
what you present to us in September
2026,
so next month.
» I agree with Kate. I think it's great to
collaborate with the town and bring in
those two people that actually work for
the town to be on the committee. I think
that is going to go a long way to
helping us work together to make our
buildings better and improved. So, um,
it just thank you for all this work. I'm
really excited to see the plan that they
that was just an update. So, that it's
not an action. Um, just so you know, we
we've decided to put discussion action
because if there's something else that
comes up that we want to act on, it
allows us to just out of an abundance of um caution that we might have
something. Um, so is there any other
comments on that item on the capital for
that plan?
Okay, then we're going to move on to our
last item, the discussion, school
building committee uh status update of
the new high school and athletic field
stadium complex at Chris Corner.
So, it's a talk about an exciting
item. Um lot lots of exciting work going
on next door. As we can see, the uh
brick has started to go on the academic
tower, which is it's it's funny because
you're like, "Oh, it's brick going on a
building," but it is exciting when you
come up to your like, "Oh, it's starting
to look like a school building." Um,
instead of just a big steel building.
Um, so continuous progress keeping us on
time, continuing to demonstrate that we
are under budget. Um,
as far as Curtis Corner goes, there's
been a slight delay with the demo of the
Curtis Corner um, school itself, um,
completely out of all of our, uh,
spheres of influence and, uh, areas of
control. We're waiting on Rhode Island
Energy to disconnect our utility. And
so, we cannot start demo until Rhode
Island Energy does that. So, Rhode
Island Energy is listening. You're
delaying us and we need you to move. um
because we can't move forward with demo
until that happens. Um we have made a a
plea to the town, you know, if if um our
town manager or deputy manager or the
town council has any connections that
can assist there, that would be uh very
much uh helpful. I know that um and you
know in Rhode Island Energy's defense,
they have a lot going on and they do
have a kind of their a pack schedule for
themselves, but that is that is the only
holdup. It's not delaying any part of
the project because the demo once it
starts it will be quick and and easy
over there. Um so we continue right
along um with all of our kind of all of
our steps that we're moving through. No
real we we had a very short meeting on
Thursday. Um no no major developments outside of just
work is continuing as planned. Um, we do
have a small committee of folks that
have been pulled together for to start
now developing the traffic flow for next
school year. So, not starting um in two
weeks, but in uh September of 27 because
what's going to happen is when we
transfer everybody over to the new
building, this building will still
exist. And this is and this is where
traffic flow is supposed to go and
parking is supposed to go. So we do have
a team that's being pulled together
includes town manager, includes the
chief of police and um includes our
administrative team um as to what the
temporary traffic flow will be for the
26 27 uh excuse me 27 28 school year
while this building gets demolished and
the new parking lot and roadway um gets developed. So um we're trying to
forward think all those things because
as we know this school year is starting
like what as two weeks from now. So time
is going by like this and so we don't
want to delay any important decisions.
So we're trying to stay on top of
anything that will uh maybe sneak up on
us. Um so as far as this school year we
still have we'll have this parking lot.
Nothing will change for the traffic
patterns um that started last year.
it'll be the same traffic globe for for
this year, but we do want to be
proactive for next year. So, um I don't
have really any other significant
milestone updates other than we're just
cruising along um as planned. Um but
unless somebody has any specific
questions uh for me or even for Michael
on the on the topic.
» Thank you. And uh so if there's nothing
else then I will be happy to make a
motion to adjurnn.
» All those in favor I
>> that motion passes.
We are adjourned at 8:05.