North Kingstown advisory committee recommends FY26 budget changes after state aid, health and solar cost shifts

The Budget and Finance Advisory Committee in North Kingstown recommended a package of revenue adjustments, expense line increases and candidate program cuts for the school department’s fiscal year 2026 budget at its May 13 meeting.

The committee recommended that the school committee adopt updated state-aid figures and the revised town appropriation after staff told members the Governor’s preliminary calculations reduced North Kingstown’s state aid by $88,021 and that the town restored $285,047 to the district appropriation to cover higher-than-expected health and dental costs. Leslie McDonald, director of finance, said the April 25 state-aid numbers are preliminary and “They’re not final numbers.”

Why it matters: The committee’s recommendations aim to reconcile the school department’s approved budget with new, post-adoption changes in state and local funding plus several unexpected cost increases. Committee votes are advisory; the full school committee will make final appropriation decisions.

Major revenue and expense revisions the committee recommended

- State aid: Staff reported a preliminary reduction in state aid of $88,021 (Leslie McDonald, director of finance). The committee moved to recommend that the school committee amend the FY26 general budget to reflect the April 25 updated state-aid calculation; the recommendation passed unanimously (4-0).

- Town appropriation: Committee members reviewed the town council’s approved appropriation to schools of $63,789,200 and noted the council restored $285,047 to the appropriation to cover anticipated health and dental cost increases. The committee voted to recommend amending the FY26 general budget by the new town appropriation (4-0).

- Tuition and other revenue: Staff reported updated Career and Technical Education (CTE) and out-of-district tuition rates from RIDE that raised projected tuition revenue from other local education agencies by $264,597. The committee moved to recognize $549,644 in increased revenue that combines the town appropriation change and higher tuition revenue; the recommendation passed (4-0).

- Transportation: The committee approved increasing the transportation expense line by $263,345 to reflect updated statewide transportation projections (vote recorded as unanimous).

- Solar credits: The committee approved increasing the solar-credit expense line by $150,000 to account for a recently received bill tied to a prior intergovernmental agreement in which school building solar credits are transferred to the town and then credited back to the town’s electricity account. McDonald said the arrangement was made by a previous administration and that the school department currently does not retain a portion of credits generated by school buildings (motion approved).

- Investment revenue: Members approved recommending a conservative $25,000 increase to the investment-revenue projection for FY25/FY26 based on year-to-date receipts and monthly averages (motion approved).

Proposed operating savings and position recommendations

Because the revenue and expense adjustments left a remaining gap, the committee recommended a set of operational savings and position reductions for the school committee’s consideration. All of these are recommendations to the school committee; no personnel changes were executed by the advisory committee itself.

Key recommended reductions (amounts reflect how staff presented them): - Superintendent’s operational savings recommendation, revised to $76,820 (motion passed). - Salary updates: adjust appropriate salary lines by $42,008.91 (motion passed). - Retirement-related adjustments: reduce the budget by $168,240 aligned with anticipated retirements (motion passed). - Stipends: reduce two stipend lines (curriculum coordinator and another coordinator) by a combined $9,500 (motion passed). - Clerks and FTE: recommended reductions including a student-services part-time clerk ($12,587), a preschool clerk ($20,901) and the reduction of one general elementary FTE (amount recorded in the meeting material as $990,035) (motion passed). - Program/position eliminations: recommended elimination of the school belonging and engagement coordinator ($88,403) and recommendation to eliminate one math-intervention FTE (presented as $90,035) (motions passed). Committee members explicitly framed these as advisory recommendations and discussed prioritization and trade-offs should the school committee accept some or all of them.

Committee discussion and next steps

Members repeatedly noted variability in estimates and the provisional nature of some figures. McDonald and Superintendent Kenny Duba urged caution about relying on preliminary state numbers and transport/utility projections that could change when final state and billing data are available.

Committee members also discussed process: the advisory committee approved each recommendation individually and asked the superintendent to prioritize proposed FTE reductions for the school committee’s consideration because, as members noted, accepting all recommended cuts would create a surplus while accepting none could leave the district short.

The committee’s compiled worksheet showed that if the school committee adopted every recommended revenue increase and every proposed cut, the district would show a roughly $176,000 surplus; with the advisory committee’s current set of recommendations the staff reported the remaining shortfall at roughly $76,857. The advisory committee voted to forward its recommendations and updated projections to the school committee and to present a more current April year-to-date projection at the school committee’s May 20 meeting.

Votes at a glance (advisory recommendations to the school committee) - Approve minutes from 03/25/2025: passed, 4-0. - Recommend school committee amend FY26 budget to reflect April 25 state-aid calculation (reduction $88,021): passed, 4-0. - Recommend amending FY26 budget by new town appropriation ($63,789,200 appropriation; town restored $285,047 for health/dental): passed, 4-0. - Recommend recognizing additional revenue (town appropriation + tuition from other LEAs = $549,644): passed. - Increase transportation expense by $263,345: passed. - Increase solar-credit expense line by $150,000: passed. - Adopt superintendent’s revised operational savings recommendation ($76,820): passed. - Adjust salary, retirement, stipend and clerk lines as presented (see body): passed. - Recommend elimination/reduction of specific positions (belonging & engagement coordinator; 1 math-interventionist FTE; clerk positions; 1 general elementary FTE): passed as advisory recommendations. - Increase investment revenue projection by $25,000: passed.

What the advisory committee did not do: The committee did not itself remove staff, change contracts, or sign final appropriation documents. Every personnel or program reduction it approved is a recommendation to the school committee, which retains authority to accept, modify or reject the changes.

Context and constraints mentioned in the meeting

- Several numbers were called “preliminary” and staff repeatedly warned they could shift when the final state budget and year-end invoices are complete. McDonald said the April 25 state-aid numbers “are subject to change” pending the final state budget. - The solar-credit arrangement stems from an agreement executed in a prior administration; committee members asked staff to examine whether the town/school credit split remains appropriate and whether the district should seek a share of credits generated on school properties. - RIDE-provided tuition and CTE rates produced a more concrete tuition revenue estimate than staff had at the time of the district budget’s adoption.

Next steps: The advisory committee asked staff to supply an updated April year-to-date projection for presentation at the school committee’s May 20 meeting and asked the superintendent to prioritize recommended FTE reductions for the school committee, should it decide cuts are necessary.