School finance update: monthly reports, Munis rollout and circuit-breaker windfall reshape budget outlook

School finance leaders told the North Andover School Committee on Oct. 9 that joint work with town officials has begun to realign reporting and procurement practices, to encumber salaries and contracts more accurately in Munis, and to improve transparency after last year’s budget challenges.

Gail Dowd, the district’s interim finance director, said the school department and town finance team have been reconciling payroll, encumbrances and estimates for substitutes, athletics and transportation since the academic year began. “This includes our best estimates as of Oct. 3,” she said, adding that the district is “trending right where we thought we would be.”

Dowd told the committee the district received larger-than-expected circuit breaker funding from the state: the FY26 budgeted estimate was $2.3 million but the district was notified it would receive $3.3 million. She described the additional funds as an opportunity to…