Brockton CFO outlines FY25 close, FY26 budget plans and proposes open-checkbook dashboard
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Summary
Assistant Superintendent/CFO Dr. Beth Regalbuto told the school committee the district has closed school-side accounts for FY25 but awaits city Schedule 19 reconciliation before filing the state report, outlined a more detailed FY26 reporting format and pushed for an Open Checkbook dashboard to increase transparency.
Dr. Beth Regalbuto, assistant superintendent for finance and chief financial officer for Brockton Public Schools, told the committee on Nov. 18 that the district’s Munis books are closed on the school side but the city is still reconciling Schedule 19—health-care and certain pension costs—so the FY25 end-of-year report has not yet been filed with the state.
"We did file the request for a formal extension due to the fact that we're still working through our reconciliation with the city," Regalbuto said, adding she expects to know the requested extension date after a Friday reconciliation meeting and anticipates only a couple weeks of extra time.
Regalbuto previewed FY26 reporting changes that will break expenditures into DESE function codes, add narrative context and larger-format reports for the public, and increase use of encumbrances so the district can reflect obligations earlier. She said the district plans a chart-of-accounts overhaul (Nov.–Feb.) to allow reporting by org/object and school, which will enable better monthly projections and public transparency.
On transparency, Regalbuto introduced an "open checkbook" dashboard concept and provided the committee with live examples (Springfield, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Northampton and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts). "OpenArchitects can make it happen on a very short timeline," she said, asking for input on how the committee wants data displayed.
Committee members responded positively: Miss Oliver called it a move toward greater transparency for residents; Mister Vega praised the ability for community members to drill down into transportation, curriculum and salary costs and to contact the finance team directly through an "ask the finance team" inbox the department has added to its website.
Regalbuto also described a recent effort to tighten purchase-order workflows and close open purchase orders, and said the finance team held professional-development sessions for administrative assistants to increase district capacity to handle financial queries.
Next steps: Regalbuto said the district will meet with city staff to reconcile Schedule 19, finalize the extension request to DESE if needed, and return with monthly narrative-led reports and an implementation plan for the proposed open-checkbook dashboard.
