[Music] Rip it.
Uh, all right. We will call the meeting to order here at 8:05. Um, first order of business is really um FY25 budget discussion. I don't think we have any updates uh Katie as relates to
kind of the budget projections and then car too. So if there are any, we can talk about it here in a second. But um wanted to at least have discussion update on the process by which we uh need to go in from the war committee.
Obviously on Monday night, town meeting approved the transfer of the additional $300,000 to the reserve account. Um so now there is the full million dollars which aligns to our original ask. Um full million dollars is in the reserve account for us to um go to the warrant
committee to ask for as well as obviously there's some additional funds that were already there before any of the transfers uh which hopefully we won't need. Uh we just need to figure out the timeline. warrant committee's term expires on June 30th.
Um and then they are reappointed each year. Um so we need to go in front of them before June 30 by June 30th. That's obviously leaves us a little over a week with public posting requirements. There's no way we do it this week. So it
would have to be next week. The challenge we're having with next week is staff are obviously starting to take some some personal time. Things are coming up. um summer vacation. So, how do we kind of work around those things? And so, uh Katie, don't want to speak
for you, but I believe you are out for um a trip next Monday through Wednesday. So, you wouldn't be available any of those days or evenings. And then John is not available next Friday or and next Thursday night. So,
you could do something during the day on Thursday. Um uh and then the the Monday the 30th you said you're not available on the 30th in the day or in the evening. Um
maybe not. I don't have a I have to get a um I'm not sure. I I could possibly be there during the day. Okay. So that's a maybe. Yeah. Uh Katie is the again I know you're driving not able to look at
your calendar. Do you know if you are in the office or available the night of the 30th? Yes, I can do the night of the 30th. That works. Okay. So, that seems like that might be
the only available evening that all of us could be there in front of the Warren Committee. But you'll um look into that and confirm, John. In the event which we can't have both of you there, I guess the question that arises that you brought on a big one is
like can we do this kind of without Katie next week while she's on her trip kind of Monday through Wednesday. Um or you know we do myself uh and so yeah,
do you have thoughts? your thoughts on um what we think the warrant committee would need. I would say if I think if we went through
the level that we're talking about that the the here are the areas I I don't think there are any surprises. Um I think the if we went through the the the areas where um we're seeing the increases
there is always the potential for there to be very detailed questions. Um, beyond that, Mhm. I do feel like the way that, um, John, that you discussed it, that you
explained it last week was I think was very helpful because I think it was explaining the why and then what's the impact for next year and what are the things that we're changing which would be I I would imagine kind of one of the questions. Um
so I think from because I I think part of it will be the what the other question will be the why right like the okay if it has to do with overtime or step in sort of what what's
the lens that we had on that you know I I think it's just again like that answer why we were why those areas were able to uh go over. So, so one of the working uh
just to just to brainstorm out loud the narrative around that for Katie to listen to as well. Uh Katie absolutely knows the budget inside and out and it would be ideal for her to be able to give that kind of detail. Yes. Uh however, if we can if if uh if I'm the
person and Katie cannot make it or we have a challenge, my narrative that I could work on and add to detail with from uh support from Katie, there are four major categories that we presented uh just to the board the other night. Um
extra duties, substitutes, stipens, uh extra duties, substitutes, and um utilities. And I have the fourth one, transportation. Transportation. The substitutes and extra duties are
personnel HR related cost overruns related to uh the lack of a HR director, the lack of that for over a year. uh giving Glenn's short period of time in that role, only two days a week, and
then having it be left until the year before that, we we definitely had uh we definitely are um working from a deficit in that area that has produced some financial challenges. Um
the the other major bandwidth of things to think about is that Haiti demonstrated in the tables on that flyer on that document for the last three fiscal years the actuals that were expended in those lines were far more than what was
projected each year in the budget. Mhm. So yeah, Katie inherited it, if that's the correct terminology, the budget that was built on uh actuals that were coming in at a higher amount than what was projected in the budget for several
years and more importantly the year that we're talking about it by 25. So those are the two biggest drivers I think Katie if that's accurate. Um, and then if that if that's an acceptable answer from a financial perspective because I know the war committee looks at it
through the lens of of uh finance, then what are the next steps you're taking next year in order for that to be tightened up. Uh, the answer has been first of all, Katie has already placed in the FY26 budget
revenue revenue that matches the actuals. So the the actual amount of dollars you can see in that sheet, the 1 million that was short is actually already projected in the budget for next year in those four categories. So we've already
budgeted those lines based on actuals as opposed to previously those lines were just budgeted to make them to make that side of the ledger work which actually was the gap between the actual expenses that we incurred a year and
that number being lower. Mhm. So the guardrails are HR person posted. We have to get that position up and running in a thoughtful way in order to oversee the the human being side hiring uh stipens all the aspects of um human resources
that impact budget which is 80% of our budget. Uh we've already met with every ex uh person who spends money in the district to talk about the structures for next year related to um their spending from a traditional level books, textbooks, you know, materials,
consumables, etc. Uh and we've budgeted the the utilities at the number that matches the actual. So we have a human capital piece that we've been uh that we will put in place for next year. We've tightened the spending controls that we've already met with the key spenders for the next year and we've already
budgeted the FY26 budget in a way where the revenue matches the the last three years worth of actual if if that we if we think that overview and that kind of dialogue will help uh then that then we can do that. If we think that they're gonna stop to dig
below, which is the warrant committee's job to dig below, right, then I can either get caught up on it or we should wait for Katie. And Katie, is that narrative sitting well with you?
Yes. Yep. And I think that's consistent with the information that we provided when we went to the warrant committee a few months back and presented the budget information. we did um at that time we
were able to provide them with that some of that information um so I'm hopeful that it is um it sounds familiar to them and in those kind of meetings uh and this is for anybody at the table when
you were with the warrant committee during Q2 and then with the warrant committee during Q3 when we were you guys were sizing up the 2 million trying to reduce it to one trying to reduce it even further Were there any types of questions that were more specific that you remember being asked that we could actually
prepare for that might come back up again? I'm trying to determine if it was in those meetings or in other meetings. There were things that were maybe more specific around maybe stipens. I think like the the some
of the the details of that I I would imagine if there were questions around it um I think and if I'm incorrect I think some of this had to do with maybe spring there there's talk like the sports the
team stipens are higher than anticipated. I think a question might be around that if there were specifics around that. Um and then you know I think Go ahead. No, I was just say I I think the
presentation we did was a mix of when we committee was on both the articles that were coming town meeting. So it was on both the 700,000 transfer and the full budget. So most of it was around full budget and most of the questions there
were around $5.7 million increase you know why are we asking for this like what does that cover the positions that have been added over time things like all the stuff kind of related to FY26 I agree with you I think most of the
questions here be would be around just like you know what are the ways in which the budget has increased beyond what we're expecting and like how to really how we controlling that work. I generally think having your perspective there as like
the fresh voice also for them uh and somebody that folks are excited about like helping us re reset u fiscally will be helpful. I do worry a bit that somebody is going to
I'm sorry. Fine. Um yeah, just trying to dive the conversation into a specific monetary question that like none of us would will be able to answer Katie. But Nathan, I two things. I mean, Mark, to your last point there, I'm wondering if we can
just get the warrant committee chair asked Mr. for Caldwell to give us a a list of focus questions that they definitely want answered during the meeting. That way Katie can do her homework and be prepared for that and then if we can answer additional
questions. Okay, great. Um John, I had a question for you. you had mentioned the four kind of key drivers of the deficit, substitutes, stipens, I think you said utilities and then something else I can't remember.
And um for for substitutes and stipens, it sounds like there were two things happening. one that the budget for this year was based on prior budgets, not actuals, and that there weren't
sufficient cost controls in place that like for example an HR director might might put in place for next year. Is the budget for for um
substitutes and for stipens similar to what we spent this year or is it a different number? And I'm asking because to me it must be the case that that one of your theories is is the top theory.
like it it seems like it can't be equally cost control and budgeting practice that drove the deficit this year and I just wonder if if there's one that sort of stands out above the other. So, so I'll give you an example first to answer your first
question. Katie has populated those lines with budgeted revenue to support the actuals that would have been reflected in this year's budget that we just experienced in FY25. So their hope and I I actually we should send that
document to Amanda, Mark, and Nate. So they can actually see that it's actually right on the it's right on the screen. Nathan, the slides. So I just made a copy of this for everybody. The warrant committee presentation we did on 326 start made a slide deck for whenever we
go in this month. Um, so I haven't made many changes to it other than try to collect some of the things John was uh talking about in terms of the presentation on slide two. But Nathan on slide 19 is information we've shared previously that Katie's put together and went through previously with slide board
committee when we were talking about the current year deficits in terms of the examples of the budget versus expenditures over the last few years and that that has been to your question of like what is the primary driver that has been what we've been saying is the
primary driver of this um obviously the secondary driver being yes you said like processes and cost control processes for hiring and so that that's that's helpful then I I would just maybe I would
encourage us to to reflect that then that the primary driver is a budgeting practice and secondary would be cost control. I I am fully supportive of bringing in a part-time HR director and I think that they will help in a number of areas, but just
um I would hate for the warrant committee to conclude that um a fix that we're putting in next year like like Katie has already brought proper budgeting practices to bear on
this and that's really important for the warrant committee to understand and we're not waiting until next year when we have this HR director to put in place the fixes that are going to to to do this. Correct me. Correct me if I miss if you
feel if you see it differently. No, no, I don't. I think that you said I I like the way that you said that Katie has already put in the budgeting practices uh necessary for FY26 because that that's what this budgeted versus expenditure chart kind of shows us. But
more importantly, the the example of the functions that we would have the HR director take on in institute uh best practices and this is not anything new, but when you have extra duties being done by certain people in your building like an aid doing bus duty and these
things, you you really want to have an approval process for that. you really want to have that maybe even increase that 8 hour lead week from 30 hours um to 32 which is a half hour every day to see the children off the bus. So really
and then have memos that follow that up so we can always be clear on what the expenditure uh will cost us throughout the year. We can project that number. So bringing that into a tighter um review process and approval process and then working handinhand with Katie for the
budget impact on that and where that money comes from and how that's going to be distributed. If everything went the same way next year that it did this year, which it won't. It'll get tighter. We still have the enough money budgeted for those things to happen during the year to cover the bus duty, to cover a
class. However, we would like to see that the the human resources uh policies and practices in just updating uh the fact that principles and other folks have to pay attention to those things will actually reduce cost in some of these areas. Yeah. Because
with the pressure to be accountable. An example would be that I met with the entire unit B yesterday and you know gave the whole pep talk and all the good news and said and by the way Katie and I need an exact detailed list of every PO you're about to submit on July 1 for all your materials moving forward and that
needs to be CCD to every single principle and impacts so they know exactly what every dollar is going. We know where exactly every dollar is going and who spent it like just starting from the beginning the first because there's a stack probably the size of a phone book that goes out on July 1st. So, um,
I can speak to those mechanisms being put back in place. I think Katie actually could speak better to whatever technical drivers or below these these categories for FY25. But if you know I I like the idea of reaching out to the chair and saying what are your anticipated questions so
we can be prepared for you to be as efficient as possible. Yeah, I I agree with that. I'm not confident how successful that will be. I questions continue to come out of left field within conversations and again maybe because we've already had this
conversation with them before they'll be less so but you know there were questions within our budget where we've worked with them for a year almost uh and that we're like we've never this question's never come up before um and so like they're I just I worry about
that. Yes. Yeah. And again, if we're in there and Katie's not there, we're not able to answer, we're just going to tell them we're not able to answer and hopefully answer the best of our ability to um to the point where they feel comfortable enough voting in favor of the the funds
transfer. Um could I add one one thing? Um and and we've talked about it. I think it's a it's it's there's a nuance to it which is um we're discussing we're talking about um costs that are coming in like continuing that have come in last
quarter and looking at uh the impact on FY26 budget and and understanding that you know I love the way that you guys always talk about it. They're always looking in three budgets. I think it might be important to
explain or stress how you have already taken into account in the FY26 budget the things that we're talking about now that are coming through currently. I think it might be a an understanding that not that the budget is fixed, but sort of is like,
oh, that budget was done and set as opposed to we know the bottom line number. You're taking in actual costs and then how are you adjusting that budget? How are you adjusting it to
continue to meet that bottom line? Does that make sense? because we're talking about numbers because some of it you had that anticipated maybe it's emphasizing like that number has always sort of been out there that over and that's what you were building this to but I think that there
might be that the idea that we were working to a lesser deficit number than this does that make sense because I do think that it could be well if you're just adjusting it now it might be the thought of like Oh, you're just
learning about it now. We're not just learning about it now. So, right, we this has been the number that there that we've been tracking to and to that point the budget that's been built for FY26 is similarly tracking to the anticipated deficit. So, that is going to be four.
And I there is a difference too when we talk about um I know we kind of we put the money kind of in in pockets, right? into the 700,000 and then the question of well originally you know there was
conversation around 700,000 why is it now a million and so one of the examples that we gave that was a change from the third quarter until the end of the year was a stipen payment when we look at the
actual budget for FY25 that stipen payment is within the budget that was set. It was just when we did the projections of saying how much we thought the payment was going to be, it
was less in quarter 3 than the actual payment that was made in quarter 4. And so I don't know if that is clear, but I think the point is that in a typical year when you're not operating in a
deficit, if you're spending at or below the budget, it's that is the goal, right? That's totally fine. And if you say, "Okay, originally we thought it was going to be 150. It ended up being 160,
but you're still within budget." Then it's fine, right? In a normal year. This year was not a normal year. And we had known that we were above budget pretty consistently since, you know, we started talking about it in early January. And
so I think that's a unique part where this the athletic stipen payment is was within the budget, not a concern for next year. It was just a driver of the increase from the 700 to the million and the need for additional funds to close
the books for this year. So, I I I want to unpack that response because I I understand it, but if I'm a Warner Committee member, they're going to say, "Well, in quarter three, even if that was within budget and we were asking about, do you have anything that might push you over the edge?" And that
didn't come up that they're going to ask why why didn't we see that pop, right? That like that's the that's the smaller question that I wouldn't be able to answer, Jimmy. I mean when when we are looking at all these things because we did meet with the ad last week and he basically was pretty much within budget.
Um so I think I would need more understanding of that answer. Sure to answer that question and so and I think that speaks to the HR functions of I didn't so um internally in process and
procedure I'm not provided a list of the type and payments that we're going to have to pay. So, I didn't know there aren't letters that go out, there's not an HR process, and so having the HR director that is kind of managing that
from a people standpoint, but also helping me manage it from a financial standpoint, helps with the projections because a piece of it is me just kind of looking at historical information and not actually knowing what is going to
happen. Yeah. So, I think that speaks to the the process. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that agree with you though, John, that the I would assume the weeds in the weeds questions would
be like on again that 300,000. I think we answered the 700,000. And I think when we did that, we also said we told the warrant committee our original request was for the milling. So I think we continue to hammer that of like we asked for the milling because we thought there could be unexpected things around
the corner. The select board provided us number that was as tight to like our estimates as possible and so provided us. So we needed some more. Uh but I I just going back to Nathan's point. I forgot to say like I completely agree with you Nathan. I do think we need to be clear in the presentation on to not
conflate the two things. The primary driver is this like the budgeting practice which has been taken care of uh already within the set FY26 budget in terms of the resetting of
the lines to cover actual expenses versus just rolling over year over year. So like highlighting that is that that is the biggest thing that will set us up for success next year. And then secondarily to that is all the great stuff I think John you're you're hitting
on and Katie you just talked about. So so let's play this out again one more time because we what we have to do today is decide whether we have this meeting of both of us or just one of us and what what the best strategy is for that. Yeah. the the the
presentation in my mind is that in quarter two, we let you know we had a $2.2 million deficit. The the district in the in the school committee worked hard to get that down to a $1 million deficit by quarter three. That $1 million deficit that we roughly
estimated came to bear and that's why we're asking for the 700 plus the 300. Mhm. Um, and so we're we're we're thankful that we that we were we were hoping to get to a $700,000 uh deficit by driving certain costs
down, but we were only be able to go from 2.2 to 1 million. So, we actually reduced $1.2 million worth of expenditures in order to successfully close out that 23. specifically when you asked the question why would we be what
happened to that 300 that you thought you might be able to you know um reduce the delta the question it has to be brought back more globally the budget was fundamentally under projected and underfunded actuals were higher than the
money put in those lines so we were actually you know we were we were challenged with just a clear deficit in the funding that we had in order to come up with funds to expend on lines in the budget that were actually already
there. The coaches typing being one of them, right? The the HR overlay to that is that when Katie was doing that in the, you know, period of time that was fairly intense, uh the human resources accountability and memo and tracking
system was not there. So her ability to look at data in the budgeting and to pass things had a limited view into what that would look like. So these expenses did come up. Uh they were part of what we would do every year. The lines of revenue in those budget actuals were
just not the same. And and so what what are we going to do forward? So hopefully you can get them there. Right. So that's the answer to the 2.2 to the one to the seven to the three and then we're best practices moving forward conversation from there.
Um and and there are some details that be provided as well, but I think once we go if we get too in the weeds, we might realize but not the P squad. Like I always say a lot when I get into a conversation and I find like I always
give myself a line, right? If I find myself talking about what the subpay is for someone who covers it, who's a biology teacher who's like, "Oh my, this is all this is gone." like this mean it's not effective. So trying to keep it at a certain level of height in in and
understanding uh knowing that by nature war community people love the detail that's their job. It's what they do and I'm I have no problem with that. I'm really trying to keep it at a high level be helpful. I think another piece of that too just
um when we talk about the process moving forward just from like a financial budgeting um and even like being able to project within a fiscal year some of the conversations that we've had um that you
already spoke to John about talking to every single person within the district um that will be potentially in charge of um spending money and just saying this is what the expectation is moving forward. And then
also having the ability to um look at the budget over the summer, see the hiring that's occurred and um potentially if we have to backfill some areas that were feeling like may be a little lean or there may have been some
changes, this is an appropriate time to do that and we're committed to doing that. We're not the there was no waiting until you know second quarter to make any changes. We're doing that like every single day now to make sure that we're
in the best possible. We have a really good story to tell July one moving forward. Actually June one or even May one moving forward in terms of how we're going to do work moving forward. Uh it already discussions already had budgets already shown this is your budget for
next year athletic director. this is all you get to spend. So, we you have to figure it out, you know, we're doing that with each cost center. Um, and that that's a big part of it because when we think about the the culture shift of we're also saying out loud, we're not adding to the budget
next year. I don't know how many times I've been to meetings where we'll need a point, we'll need an aid for that. We're not adding. You're going to have to find out how to do that. And the way that we're doing that is we reviewed all 32 vacancies that were created this year due to resignations, non renews and
retires, decided which ones we'd fill and which ones we wouldn't. We have that same process happening in unit D where we have right now about 12 or 13 unit D turnover, which happens every year, and we will evaluate whether we fill those or not. And to Katie's point, when we do that and we don't fill certain things,
those dollars will be put aside in order to either a meet the needs of anything unexpected in that by 26 or be put into to fortify lines that we need to be fortified, which I don't want to talk publicly too much about, which is some of the the drivers that have been
challenging for the district and not fully funded right now. Um and um and then that that's that's what we've been saying the whole time since we started going on the tour together. Nathan, quick comment here. It sounds like based on where this conversation is happening
and you know I've never you all have been in front of the warrant committee a lot this past year. um that our theory is the warrant committee will be most concerned about not how where did this $300,000 come from, but what is
happening next year to make sure we're not in the same position. At least that's the that's the takeaway from what I'm getting from where we're spending most of our time today. Correct me if that's wrong. And I'm wondering if we also need to if if
that's our theory that the warrant committee's main concern is how are we going to safeguard against this next year. Do we also need to talk about what happens if the warrant committee does not authorize $300,000 to backfill this deficit which I assume
will impact our budget next year. I'm not actually sure the mechanics of that. Well, again, they need to fund a million because we never got the 700,000, right? So, so they might Well, like what happens if they only fund the 700,000 or something like is the choice a million
or zero or is the choice whatever number they authorize? I mean, I guess they could change the authorization. they approved both the 700 and the 300,000 funds transferred to the reserve account um knowing that at both times those funds were likely going
to be used by the schools to cover the deficit. So I don't think that would be a surprise. So I I agree with your your assessment that you know I think not transferring the funds is essentially shooting the town in the
foot. Like there's really no other way to do it. Uh so I think part of this is coming in front of them is mostly on the like how are we making sure this is not coming up next year and I think secondarily it's the like what has changed between your last presentation to us around the 700 and this one which
is the million. Um, and so I think that's a part C and part A and B is really the like how we're moving forward next year, which is what we spent a lot of our time the prior presentation also on and was a lot of their questions on how did we get
here? How do we stop this from happening in the future? Um, things like that. So I I anticipate the questions about the 300 to be relatively uh I think that's important to them because they have to justify the three, right? So we have to give them a um an
adequate amount of detail for that. That makes sense. And and I would say that's about the fir that's the first 30% of the meeting. And I think the 70 the next 70% of the meeting is what mechanisms are you putting in place moving forward so this doesn't happen again. And and there is no it's not a no. But if they
don't, if they choose not to allocate the 300 and they keep it in free cash, we have to we have to finish up by 25 at zero and there's no room in the fiscal year to make any reductions. So, it would actually be us going back to Nick and trying to figure out a workaround in
order to provide uh the extra $300,000 to close the It would probably be I mean, again, not not to get in crazy center. The only way in which I would assume the town could close that would be to go back to town meeting and ask for a funds allocation emergency
account, whatever that's called. Again, Warner Committee doesn't have oversight for it. You can only get that through Yeah. a vote of town meeting and I don't think they want to do that. I think they want to focus a little bit, make sure that we're aware, explain, be accountable, which we have to be. I that's an expectation that I agree with,
and give them clear indication of how we're going to move forward. Um, I on slide two, Nathan, I think you've already seen this, but just to highlight this, um, in case you weren't watching my notes in the room, this is, I think, what I was trying to capture as
the agenda based on a lot of what you were sharing, John. um updating these this presentation. So again, starting kind of with the the timeline as you said, John, like this what we two starting with two and Katie had kind of a good little slide that we it's down
here somewhere. Um that we've shared previously give that information again update this slightly where we are. Um and then obviously say we need we're requesting the million dollar uh talk about the original select
board request the overall cost drivers for the year. I think a lot of this is restating kind of what you said John just making sure I understood this correctly. We're all on the same page. Um cost drivers for the increase for the full year and go back to the warrant committee presentation
that we did on 326 a bit referencing that. Um and then specifically the cost drivers for the increase from 700k to the billion like the 300 variance. discuss the variances from the Q3 projections
and then uh and then yes closing with what are the things we are doing differently moving forward again to your point Nathan being clear about primary versus secondary drivers x FY26
it's it's a it's a subtlety um but when it says what are the cost drivers that resulted in the increase of 700 to million it's weakened just be cautious about how we word that because it sounds like it was unexpected as
opposed to we were projecting a million. We were hoping that we had gotten it down to 700, but those same the cost drivers didn't ever change. They just um they weren't able to be red. They weren't able to be reduced. Yeah. Right. So, I think it's it's a difference. It's
a it's a we've always been at that. So, I just it it makes the way that it's written that way makes it seem like a surprise or unanticipated and it wasn't. And I know that these aren't the these aren't the words that you're going to use. I just want to make sure that
the conversation So, so that that's the be. So, let's walk that through, right? just and I so I hear what you're saying school department that you had always said a million and that you were hoping to get the extra $3,000 off. Um so when
you were projecting that again you know where were you and where did you know when did you know you know whatever but why why why were you unsure whether you could do that what what was this some of this was just the fact big picture fact the actuals were not budgeted adequately
secondly is the the HR functions that would have given Katie a specific view into what the projected cost would be related to stipens and other things were not in place in for I'm just I don't want to speak for you. I'm just trying to imagine. I'm looking at the screen
that that that shows me that this is what I think you still need to pay for the rest of the fourth quarter. And some of those just weren't codified anywhere in order for her to use that as part of a calculation. But then when you pull back, you look and they were a part of what would happen in the budget every year. But you were taking a pretty quick
lens into these kind of spreadsheets, right? So, I know that that's a long answer, but I I want to I want to anticipate the question of well, what part of the projection of the three didn't you understand? Yeah, I I agree. I also I I push back and say like it was
a like we weren't anticipating because I don't think we would have said 700,000 if we thought there was no way we were going to hit like we thought we were going to be able to hit 700,000. I agree that I think the point is the drivers of the additional 300 are the same drivers we've been talking about. Yeah. But like
the increase wasn't in like we weren't Katie, you know, to the best of her projections wasn't projecting a million dollars. She was, you know, and maybe we're squeezing her too hard on like how to shrink this down, but we were projecting a 700. So was a bit of a a change again for all the same reasons
that these are the same drivers and here are the places in which change beyond what we were projecting in Q3, which is again unexpected. foster transportation of, you know, we've spent a little bit more on stipens than we expected to. the coverage stuff like just all the things we we talked about within this meeting
of these are places where we we just under projected what we thought we were going to end at even if though some of these places and I think the point you made is a good one like in some of these places we're still on budget in that
area but because that number itself is higher than what we thought we could come in under budget by more right and given that overall we're just overbudget like it's it's pushing everything up. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead, Katie. I was just going to say and I think it's really
important to remember that collectively our intent was get to get to zero, right? And so when we talked about it, we said we're at 2 million. We want to balance at the end of the year. That is collectively the goal. And so we really
did try to push and try to shrink the deficit as much as we possibly could and we talked about areas to be able to do that. It's just that some of those areas we weren't able to shrink the deficit as
and they weren't what what I would call implementable right and so the reduction in substitutes at that point in time in the year to say that we could put students in the high school auditorium instead of hitting more daily subs that was able to be implemented because of the age of the students at the peers it
just wasn't able to be implemented so some of the strategies just were not and I think that everybody in the room mate and I weren't there but I was watching on TV. This group was on under an intense amount of pressure fiscally but also politically some of
these numbers I assume were political numbers. We we got to get it down to a million. We got you know like and then all of a sudden then how do we get there? Like usually it's you know how we get there is the first part but sometimes in those situations you put out a hopeful number and then you try to
get there. Um, and and I I do believe that if we if we have explanations that take this is elevator speech time for the most part, we need a good elevator speech that gets everybody in the ballpark of understanding the big picture in most of the detail and then
hopefully we don't have to go into the to the super detail like the substitute line didn't go down as much as we thought because we couldn't hold all those kids in the auditorium. Okay, so that's an example of what would that cost on a daily basis. I think we could calculate that number to say we probably
paid more in subs. We didn't reduce the number in subs because we weren't able to do that. And there's a number attached to that if we needed the calculation which you know we keep track of actually. So I I guess my if if if the data is there and I can't make it, this is all going
to go well because Katie is the keeper of all the big information. And I think the our narrative is the same. Do you know what I mean? Um, if it has to happen on a night that Katie's away, uh, I feel confident on giving the big picture and moving the the discussion. Um, but I guess it really comes down to
what's the date that we do. What's the date that everybody's available? If it falls, we we have both of us. Yeah. Uh, would you be able to confirm your I'll make one
any um you still you still need to confirm on 30. Um, Nathan, can you I I don't know if you I guess there's no requirement that you uh attend this uh but in case you
want to. Uh is there a night that you can't do? Guess first like would you like to come to the warrant committee presentation? Um we're not. And if so, then we can just make sure there's scheduling around. Yeah. Yeah, I definitely would like to come. I'm
generally open in the evening. Mark, the only thing I would note is on June 30th, we have our next uh school building committee meeting. Yeah. Which if this ends up getting scheduled that evening, you know, I could go to that to represent school
committee if you want to go to the warrant committee or something along those lines. Okay. But next week, any date next week, you evening next. All right. Um, if we uh
if we could have the 25th would be less than ideal because that is my wife's birthday and we had plans. Um, there's nothing on my calendar yet, but um, you know, don't say that in a public meeting. You got a great
She may not be. you're probably not watching this recording later, but yes, uh I have a great plan. Um doesn't involve the warrant committee. Um although I'm sure all great date nights start at warrant committee, so who knows?
Yeah. All right. Um I will call Tom. I'll try and call him today and connect and then also maybe he has a sense too from I'll ask him also. So I think again worth the ask Nathan certainly a good point of if there's any way he can try
and collect questions that we can prepare in advance. It's great and then I can also get a sense of he has a sense of if folks would rather have Katie or you based on like where the questions might lie. And I can do
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I I won't be able to do Thursday and I definitely question it that um it involves fairies and I had plans to go to the vineyard prior to taking the job for the whole week and
a half. Yeah. And so I thought so my wife is going down for the week and a half and I'm going down for weekends but I got to get them done and then come back. Um, so Nate, I do have good plans. Yeah, those sound great. Vineyard, I I
can't I can't top the vineyard. I just planning on going out to dinner. I have good dinner ideas. One of my hobbies is uh good places to eat in the city. So, if you ever have any questions about vibe, culture, good food, service,
um, let me know. Yeah, I would I would I'll take I'll take any wrecks that you have for sure. Um, all right. Uh, so I will connect with Tom on that. I think we want to try and nail this down today or tomorrow uh at the the latest um so we get something
posted uh oh I will say no I I came Friday okay uh all right so I'll try to down um the creation slides I can go through and take kind of the
slides we have created try and create an um a structure share that with you all please throw in anything but I can try and just delete the things we don't know need or move them to the appendix create a journal structure let you know and then edit
fully um Nathan just to be clear for you we love working collaboratively in Google slides we are not allowed to from a public um meeting perspective uh that's considered a violation but I will after I have the structure you know I'll
send it to you uh or I'll share with you you're already shared on it just don't leave like comments or make edits you can make a copy and make comments and edits and like email it to Katie and John and Amanda and myself
yeah yeah you can do that but you just can't edit within the so okay thanks for that clarification And then once we get the date, we have to post it and we will post it as a full school committee meeting just in case everybody wants to come just to make it easier. Yeah, that makes the most sense.
So once we schedule it, yeah, I can also school in case wants to come. All right. Anything else on the presentation committee 25?
The only small update is Richard uh Wells grabbed me last night and just mentioned that I think they're talking about the state house is talking about the FY25 update today. Um it's that it's going to pass and we'll take the vote on it today. So that's
great. Uh as we expected to kind of go through a little bit later than I think we were hoping for, but that's good news. Oh, and Lizzie mentioned um one of the warrant committee members last night grabbed Lizzy beforehand and then grabbed me.
They had a question on um this kind of gets to the agenda. They had a question on the state funding and wondering if that meant we needed less than a million because we're getting the extra funds. So, I think we just need to be clear that we and we can do that I think somewhere within the in the original
request that we assumed we were going to get this additional fund. $2.3 million. Correct. So to say that differently in a more concerning way that if that money does not committed then we would have to work with the town regarding that
roughly $100 million deficit. Correct. Mhm. And we collectively talked about that and decided that we it make the assumption that it's coming in because it has come in uh over all previous fiscal years. So we didn't want to
overreact. We wanted to just let the process take its place through the summer. Yes. Which would be actually early July hopefully. Yeah. Just wanted to name that that came up and so I think we'll just name that explicitly. I think that's a good idea. Uh all right.
Uh that's that's uh I will name it's 8:55. Um so I would love to jump into the finance report structure. Um but I think we should just wrap for folks. Uh sure you don't have much to do on the last very last day of school launch this
summer. Um, I will say Katie put together a copy of the Q in our folder for 618 uh the Q2 report uh that she presented to school committee. So that is in there as a again putting together some reference things and then she put a
sample of what um Brooklyn's school committee or finance committee um receives and a sample of mayor uh nice nice logo. Um so uh appreciate those um
those samples as well. So I think that's I have two others shared one time the one from and from Yeah. If you would drop it in there I think it's just interesting to see how different people organize it. Yeah. And I think it's not
helpful. And I think the goal here to just make sure it's clear for everybody is to be clear for Katie so that we're not like, you know, so she can plan of like what what do we want to see? Nathan, I think you said that well of just like it
helpful from the board perspective to tell folks like, hey, this is this is what would be helpful for us as we have this discussion versus you know have all these iterations. So um trying to get some alignment on on what that is and then getting feedback
from you on what's possible within the system and stuff like that. And u can I ask a technical question? Uh Mark, where is the presentation that you're working on? Uh in the uh so it's in the finance subcommittee folder under 188. Yeah,
it's generally here. Okay. Thank you. So I can also email out that'd be great. And that way I can actually I have to clarify the two that I have. They aren't Q3 reports. They're
the initial budget presentation. So that might be as we talk about Yeah. that quarterly. Yeah. Yeah. Um All right. of finance structures
townwide finance committee. Did you hear did you reach out to Ben or did you hear from Ben? I did not hear from Ben. And then best practices consultant. I haven't asked him last night. I don't know if you heard anything.
We have a we have a meeting with so you'll let us know. Um, it's great. Uh, and then we continue to push this grants manual. Uh, so apologies. Yeah. But thank you. I think the the grants manual
really hasn't been updated and so it's not something necessarily that you would need to and it's also pretty lengthy. Um but it it just kind of ties into that best practice of we should have this um document and so we'll have to do some
work to update it and then make sure that we're following it. Um but I just wanted to provide it to you all just kind of as a heads up that this is something um that we're working on that we should have it. We don't have it. We're working on it. Um, and we're
hoping I have it in place. Um, we don't have any meeting minutes to vote on right now. So, I'll work on last week's and this one. Uh, discussion of next meeting date and agenda. So, obviously our agenda will be the finance reporting structure. Depending on when we meet, I will adjust some other
things. Um, I can't remember when we first met last year, so I could go back, but it probably makes sense. I mean, maybe we want to meet beforehand if we want to keep talking about finance report structure, but from like a budget timeline perspective, the next little
thing you would add would be the close out of wood, which tell me when um was obviously weird last year because we had the deficit prior year. We have until July 14th. That's the date that we
have to um close the book. So we do have a couple weeks after the end of that fiscal year. Okay. So we talk like an end of July, beginning of August meeting. Just talk about the Q4 report. Um
and then we probably want to have the Q4 discussion on that point. you do the recasting or um I don't know what folks in terms of looking at the calendar when folks are around that again towards the end of
July timeline when folks are taking the time from July 28th uh forward I'm available taking my two weeks vacation I mean July so from July 28th
June 30th and 27th will be 26. So we're looking at the week the 28th right now. And we have a we have a school committee retreat scheduled right August 6th. So our normal meetings are Wednesday mornings. So that'd be talking about
either the 30th in the morning or the 6th in the morning. Either one works for me. Okay. So, August 6th, yeah, will be our next finance meeting.
Uh all right. Um sounds good. Um anything else we should assess? All right. If there's nothing else, then I will uh take a motion to adjurnn.
Um yeah, motion to adjurnn. Second. Uh all in favor, since we're hybrid, we need to do roll call. Nathan, yes. Amanda, yes. And I'm a yes. Thank you. Have a good day, Nathan. Thanks,
everyone. See you next week, probably. Thank you. [Music] Rip [Music]
it. [Music]