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Panel urges stronger school fiscal transparency, recommends MOU and data analyst role
Summary
ERSC members urged specific accountability steps if an override passes: adopt an MOU between town and schools, integrate financial systems (Munis), publish a detailed PSB budget book, and hire analytic staff to measure whether school spending yields educational returns.
Members of Brookline’s Expenditures and Revenue Study Committee said improving fiscal transparency and analytic capacity at Brookline Public Schools is an essential condition for sustained fiscal stability.
Cliff Brown, an ERSC member, said the PSB needs staff who can "collect and analyze data" so the district and the community can see whether spending produces educational returns. "They need the right staff and the right capabilities," Brown said.
Sedef Cosme, chair of the schools subcommittee, said the subcommittee recommended an MOU between the town, the school committee and PSB administration to set timelines and responsibilities for cost and revenue reforms. "We wanted to start by summarizing what the override ask was from the public schools of Brookline," Cosme said, adding that the school subcommittee’s support of an override was conditioned on negotiating concrete follow-up efforts.
Panelists pointed to concrete measures already in motion or planned: the PSB restored a director of data and information services position; the ERSC urged full use of Munis (the town's financial software) by the schools to present a unified financial picture; and the committee recommended producing a school budget book with the same detail as the town’s budget book so residents can compare line items.
Cliff Brown said the school committee is ultimately accountable for spending decisions, and residents should "hold their elected officials responsible" while the district builds capacity to produce the analytic evidence the public seeks. Panelists described these steps as prerequisites for long-term reforms — such as negotiating health-premium contributions and evaluating school-model consolidation — that they say could reduce future override pressure.
The webinar Q&A included direct questions from residents about past PSB fiscal management; ERSC members acknowledged past challenges and said the incremental transparency steps are underway but require time to produce measurable results.
