Triton Regional School District leaders on Thursday outlined the district's FY25 budget changes, confirmed interim and permanent finance leadership, and agreed to a coordinated outreach effort across the three member towns after the committee certified the budget to member towns before the March 15 deadline.

Superintendent Brian Fordy said the district's net increase in spending for FY25 is $2,450,000 and described a remaining undesignated gap of about $350,000 that the district plans to close without additional staff cuts. "The actual increase in spending on the work we're doing is $2,450,000," Fordy said during the discussion.

The budget discussion was the meeting's longest item. District leaders and town representatives pressed for a public information campaign and a series of joint forums in each town to explain why the schools may seek one or more overrides, what would be at risk if overrides fail and which line items are largely fixed (special education, transportation, health-insurance-driven costs).

Why it matters: Triton serves three member towns; the committee and select-board representatives said voters in any one town can affect the district budget's ability to preserve staff and services. Committee members stressed that voters often misunderstand how regional assessments and special-education costs drive the district's numbers.

Most important details first: Fordy and district staff told the group that the FY25 budget the school committee approved and certified contains assumed savings and offsets that include $300,000 expected from labor negotiations and $200,000 in additional circuit-breaker (special-education) revenue the district is counting on. The budget also reflects four full-time equivalent (FTE) position reductions: two retiring special-education teachers at the middle school, a full-time teacher position left unfilled for course-enrollment reasons, and the district wellness coordinator position, which was cut.

The superintendent said those staffing changes are intended to reduce spending while avoiding classroom-teacher cuts where possible; he also warned the district may need to restore one or two special-education positions next year depending on caseload changes. Fordy said the $350,000 remaining shortfall is being managed through assumed savings and timing changes but would have to be covered if the anticipated state and other revenues do not materialize.

Transportation and service issues came up throughout the conversation. Committee members and town representatives said punctuality and reliability of contracted bus service reduce parental demand for alternate transportation and that the district is currently short two bus runs (one in Salisbury and one in Rowley) compared with funded routes.

The committee confirmed administrative changes tied to finance and operations. David Bertolino, brought in on an interim basis through June 30, was introduced; the committee also approved a permanent hire, Richard Poore, currently principal at Constantino Middle School in Haverhill, to transition into the director of finance and operations role on July 1. The superintendent said Poore is fully certified and MCPPO credentialed and will support forthcoming building project work.

Separately, the school committee voted to form an 18-member MSBA building committee to guide the district's planned Triton campus project; members include district administration, principals, two school committee members, representatives chosen by the member towns, staff and community members, and two nonvoting students. The building committee is expected to begin meeting in early April.

Town representatives and school committee members spent much of the meeting on outreach strategy. Several suggested multiple formats: joint town hall sessions pairing school and town officials, invitation-only briefings for finance committees and senior centers, targeted PTA outreach, informational materials on municipal-access channels and social media, and a calculator on town websites showing estimated individual tax impacts of a proposed override. The group agreed to schedule a series of public forums in each town and to coordinate invitations with PTAs, councils on aging and finance committees.

On revenue assumptions, district staff described two items the budget currently treats as "assumed": an additional $200,000 in circuit-breaker reimbursement and $300,000 in negotiation-based savings. Fordy cautioned that those figures are not guaranteed and said the district will need to restore cuts if revenues fall short.

The meeting also included a finance briefing from a town finance official, who said a recent local construction "growth bubble" (a cluster of new homes built quickly) inflated the municipal revenue-growth calculation the state uses; that will make Raleigh's assessed new-growth revenue appear higher for up to two years before the three-year average resets. The official warned the committee that past decisions to under-fund the district at town meeting have to be considered because they can increase future tax impacts when the accounting catches up.

Discussion vs. decision: The committee formally adopted and certified the FY25 budget (the school committee voted the final budget March 12 and certified it before March 15). The committee also approved the interim finance appointment and the selection of a permanent director of finance and operations, and it voted to form the MSBA-required building committee. Several other items were discussed but not decided, including whether to revive an alternative assessment formula; members agreed that could be revisited but would require strong town-level support to succeed.

What comes next: The school committee and town officials will schedule joint forums in each member town, finalize outreach materials and coordinate with PTAs and finance committees. The district will monitor state-level revenues (chapter 70, circuit breaker reimbursements) and labor-negotiation outcomes that underlie the budget assumptions and report back if those assumptions change.

Ending: Committee members repeatedly asked for a unified public message and for school and town officials to appear together at forums: as one select-board member put it, "we have to stand together and go to the towns to explain things," a point multiple officials echoed as they closed the session.