At the Dec. 1 meeting of the North Kingstown Budget and Finance Advisory Committee, members reviewed the budget calendar and confirmed a series of January workshops ahead of the school committee's first budget presentation.

Lehi O'Fallo, director of finance, explained the district's timeline for budget narratives and said moving the committee meeting earlier "is essentially giving me and my department four days to create a budget," a window he called unrealistic for adequately vetting narratives and analysis. He detailed that department narratives are requested back by Jan. 2 and that the first school-committee budget workshop is scheduled for Jan. 20. The committee had been considering a Jan. 12 budget-and-finance meeting to identify key budget drivers to feed into the Jan. 20 workshop.

Members discussed attendance and the tentative nature of the Jan. 20 workshop because it falls on an off day for some members; several RSVPs were pending. Committee members agreed to revisit the date if lack of attendance would prevent a productive session but otherwise to keep the established calendar so administration has time to prepare.

Why it matters: the committee's calendar determines when administrators must finalize narratives, analyses and staffing proposals for the school committee. Moving meetings earlier could compress staff capacity to prepare the materials necessary for informed budget decisions.

What comes next: the finance office will continue to prepare narratives for submission by Jan. 2; the committee will confirm meeting dates once outstanding RSVPs are resolved.