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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-03-05 Finance Committee Minutes 4 • Call To Order: Mr. O'Connell called the meeting to order at 7:03PM. The open session meeting took place in the School Admin Room at the School Administration Building on 566 Main Street. Present: Chair Denevan O'Connell, Vice Chair Christine Allen, Regina Kean, Eva Pastor, Nancy Sarro, Brianna Stetson, Keith Chaney, Dustin Silk, and Jeanne Irwin. Keith Chaney is participating remotely. PUBLIC COMMENT Helen Pickard of 447 Waverley Road expressed her appreciation for the work the Finance Committee and the School Committee have done. Public comment via email regarding the school budget. GOVERNMENTAL REPORTS Update from Superintendent Lathrop Superintendent Pamela Lathrop and School Committee Chair Alissa Koenig were present. Ms. Lathrop stated this is an overview of the $68.2 million budget as she has not had an opportunity to present to the School Committee. Ms. Lathrop stated she has been able to meet with principals and anyone that is a cost center to begin to look at what cuts may look like. Ms. Lathrop provided a recap of the four budgets previously discussed and the impact of those budgets. Ms. Lathrop stated the School Committee voted on February 25 to move forward with a recommended budget of$68.2 million. Ms. Lathrop stated this is a 9.89% increase over FY25. Ms. Lathrop stated this would leave $1.5 million remaining in the levy. Ms. Lathrop discussed the School Committee directives. Ms. Lathrop stated the School Committee asked to keep elementary class sizes between 18-25, to reduce programs rather than eliminate them, to temporarily take Kittredge School offline, and to maintain professional development opportunities for educators. Ms. Lathrop discussed the impacts to the North Andover Public Schools with a $68.2 million budget. Ms. Lathrop stated the welfare of the students remains their top priority, they are maintaining its curriculum work and educational initiatives, and are committed to moving forward while navigating these financial challenges. Ms. Lathrop thanked the Town Manager, the Select Board, and the Finance Committee for all of their support and transparency to the school department. Mr. O'Connell asked why they had the blue and purple budget, and the School Committee chose to select a path between the two. Ms. Koenig stated the School Committee's main concern was planning for the long term. Ms. Koenig stated they wanted to leave a little extra in the levy as a backup to any unforeseen challenges. Ms. Koenig stated the blue budget was too much in cuts for the best interest of the students but thought they could do something in the middle to leave some room to plan for the future. Ms. Sarro asked regarding the reduction of 34 staff members, how much is that related to the Kittredge School closing and how much of other positions. Ms. Lathrop stated the Kittredge School currently has 12 classrooms, and those students will be merged into an increase of five classrooms. Ms. Lathrop stated there is some overlap, and those are through attrition. Ms. Lathrop stated the cuts are across the board. Ms. Sarro asked if half or less than half is correlated with the Kittredge School closing. Ms. Lathrop stated less than half. Ms. Kean stated when saying temporarily taking Kittredge School offline, she is assuming that the savings will be from taking the school offline and not reducing teachers. Ms. Kean asked if that 4 • Nlecting Minutes of Nlarch ,5, 2025 was another number they are not calling out like that; is it just called out as closing Kittredge. Ms. Lathop stated if they were not taking Kittredge offline, the reductions would be greater. Ms. Lathrop stated when they say 34 staff that includes all staff. Ms. Kean asked what kind of increase will they have when the new Kittredge School opens. Ms. Lathrop stated they will have to plan appropriately for those positions. Mr. O'Connell asked if the new Kittredge School will be bigger. Ms. Lathrop stated yes. Ms. Allen asked if the savings for closing Kittredge is about$2 million. Ms. Lathrop stated no. Ms. Allen asked if there was a dollar amount attached to it. Ms. Lathrop stated they are working with the Town Manager to look at what that savings would be, but it is under a million dollars. Ms. Sarro stated if they do not know how much that amount is, how do they know the $68.2 million is the right budget. Ms. Lathrop stated they already moved a lot of that to the town's budget as well so that may be something that comes back to the schools. Ms. Lathrop stated that the $68.2 million budget is across the board: pre-k to 12. Ms. Lathrop stated it does mean a reduction, changes at the Middle School, and less electives at the High School. Ms. Sarro stated the savings is not in the school budget, it is in the town budget. Mr. O'Connell asked if Ms. Sarro characterized that correctly. Mr. Keohane stated yes. Ms. Kean asked in regard to the 10% reductions in athletics and the Scarlet Knights Academy, do they have a sense yet of what or how they would reduce those. Ms. Lathrop stated no, she has met with the Athletic Director and looked at what he proposed to move forward for FY26. Ms. Lathrop stated the Athletic Director is relooking at that budget to see where he can make those reductions. Ms. Kean asked if that was up to the Athletic Director's discretion. Ms. Lathrop stated his direction is he would make the first pass at making those recommended reductions then he will present those to the high school principal and the Superintendent. Ms. Kean asked if they had sent out a request to all the teachers and staff to ask if there were any retirements. Ms. Lathrop stated yes. Ms. Lathrop stated they have also contacted those staff members on a leave of absence. Ms. Koenig stated they want to be careful how they approach this knowing that these are individuals and families. Ms. Lathrop stated they have a plan to present to Kittredge School families and give them an opportunity to share their concerns and questions. Ms. Lathrop stated they will form a committee to ensure a smooth transition for the Kittredge School students. Ms. Lathrop stated in order to ensure the class sizes stay between 18-25, they will assign students to the Franklin, Sergeant, and Atkinson Schools but are always willing to listen to families if they have a preference. Ms. Lathrop stated it will be dependent upon enrollment at the school and transportation. Ms. Kean stated in the memo from the Town Manager, it stated with this proposal they would leave a levy capacity of approximately$1.5 million for FY27 which is anticipated to fund a portion of the school department's negotiated cost of living increases for FY27. Ms. Kean asked how big is that portion. Ms. Lathrop stated the Town Manager has been consulting with the interim school's Finance Director to look at the impact for FY27 with a $68.2 million budget. Mr. Keohane stated if everything stayed the same as it was when they made their forecast and all of the levy capacity was allocated towards the schools, it would be a 4.74% increase. Mr. Keohane stated depending on what the school's forecast is for what they would need for FY27 that may support all of it. Mr. Keohane stated these are all estimates, and they did receive higher insurance rates than anticipated. Mr. Keohane stated if they were to allocate the entire remainder of the levy capacity of$1.5 million in FY27 to the schools given where they projected 2.4% that would put it up to 4.74%. Ms. Irwin asked what the reasoning was for going from the purple budget to the $68.2 million budget; was that to avoid the override. Ms. Koenig stated yes, and they wanted to avoid using the full capacity of the tax levy. Ms. Irwin asked if they will have to do the override next year 4 • Mecting Minutes of Nlarch ,5, 2025 regardless. Ms. Koenig stated they know they will have to do the debt exclusion but as far as there being an override, it is possible. Mr. O'Connell stated if they had reserved more of the levy, the plan was to use that exclusion towards the debt so they did not have to go for a big debt exclusion, but now that the plan presumably is to use the levy capacity they will have to go for a bigger exclusion. Ms. Irwin asked if they go with the$68.2 million budget and a 4.74% increase, will there be any more cuts in FY27. Ms. Lathrop stated it depends on the work that they do next year. Ms. Sarro asked when would the Kittredge School be back up and running. Ms. Lathrop stated FY30. Ms.Allen asked how much money they receive in federal funding. Mr. Keohane stated if you include the school lunch portion, it is about$3.4 million. Ms. Stetson asked what the difference for Special Education was between the purple budget and the current proposed budget. Ms. Lathrop stated in the purple budget, there were no cuts to Special Education. Ms. Lathrop stated in the current proposed budget, she cannot guarantee there will not be cuts to Special Education. Ms. Lathrop stated the School Committee did prioritize that in terms of the services. NEW BUSINESS Discussion regarding FY26 Budget Ms. Allen stated that it was a strange year regarding the budget, and she is impressed with the Superintendent and School Committee. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JANUARY 13, 2025& FEBRUARY 13, 2025 MOTION:Ms. Allen motioned to approve the Open Session minutes of January 13, 2025 as presented. Ms. Pastor seconded. Motion approved 8-0, 1 abstained. MOTION:Ms. Allen motioned to approve the Open Session minutes of February 13, 2025 as presented. Ms. Stetson seconded. Motion approved 8-0, 1 abstained. ADJOURNMENT MOTION:Ms. Sarro made a MOTION, seconded by Ms. Pastor to adjourn the Finance Committee meeting at 7:52PM. Motion approved 9-0. Respectfully submitted. Nicole Civitarese Executive Assistant 4 • Meeting Minutes ofNl.urc S, 2025 Documents used at meetina Presentation Memorandum Minutes from January 13, 2025 & February 13, 2025