The Summit Board of Education on June 12 received an Operations Committee post‑mortem examining why a tentative budget proposal presented in March showed an 8.8% increase and pledged changes to the district’s forecasting and communications process.

The review, delivered at the board meeting by Board member Rick Hanley, said the district is a Type 1 district subject to an annual budget cap and that, because prior years had unused cap, the district’s statutory maximum this year was 4.72%. Hanley said that by mid‑February several large, variable line items — notably insurance and state aid — were still uncertain, which contributed to the March proposal. "This is why the district was caught surprised in late February and why the budget was tentatively proposed up 8.8% in early March," Hanley said.

The committee reported these facts and recommended operational changes intended to reduce future surprises: adopt multi‑year budgeting and forecasts, produce ‘‘what‑if’’ scenarios for major variables such as state aid and insurance, require earlier submission of staffing and program requests to the business office, and consider zero‑based budgeting and contingency planning to prioritize spending when revenues shift.

On specific finance actions, the board approved several items during the meeting. The board approved using $321,000 from the capital reserve account to complete HVAC repairs at Brayton Elementary. The administration told the board FEMA had reimbursed $365,000 so far for three affected rooms and said the district expects further FEMA reimbursement for the remaining room; the board approved the work now and intends to return the capital reserve funds if FEMA later reimburses the district. The board also approved modest price increases proposed by Pomptonian, the district food service vendor, and accepted donations for high school biotechnology equipment and a Summit Ice Hockey Association donation toward the high school hockey program.

Business Administrator Derek Hess and Assistant Business Administrator Cathy Sarno joined Hanley in describing next steps: once the district architect finalizes plans, roof projects (estimated at $12.6 million) will go to the city council for review; the district will compare bids to co‑op pricing and schedule work to minimize school disruptions. The committee also noted up to 40% of roof costs could be reimbursed under current RODs grant programs.

Board members asked for clearer March presentations in future years so the public can better see where new money is directed and what prior investments are producing. The administration agreed to present more detailed early‑March proposals going forward.

The board voted on the finance block items with roll call; all finance motions carried.