CLA review: district operations sound but long-term cost pressures and enrollment shifts pose budget risks

CliftonLarsonAllen LLP presented the results of an operational review to the Bridgewater-Raynham School Committee and the towns of Bridgewater and Raynham on March 18, saying the district's business operations generally align with best practices but face structural budget pressures.

The 20-minute presentation by CLA CFO Eric Mason and the consulting team summarized a five-year historical financial analysis, capital and grant management reviews and enrollment and fiscal projections through FY2031. CLA emphasized that its engagement was advisory, not an audit, and that it reviewed the district's financial records and the externally prepared single audit (SEFA) for context.

CLA identified instruction'al spending (teacher salaries and personal services) as the dominant cost driver and projected it would continue to account for a large share of district spending. In its baseline projection, CLA estimated instructional expenditures would represent about 46.1% of spending (excluding teacher benefits) and, when combined with pupil services and benefits, roughly 79% of projected spending through FY2031. Transportation and special education were listed as additional major drivers: transportation costs nationwide have risen with market consolidation and limited RFP competition; the district's own transportation increases were reported in the single-digits annually after mid-period stabilization.

On special education, CLA reported an improving circuit-breaker reimbursement rate (from roughly 57.6% in FY2019 to about 66.7% in FY2025) but noted net special-education spending still rose by approximately $319,000 over the analysis window.

The report also examined grants: CLA summed $17.9 million in grant expenditures over the review window, of which $9.32 million remained unspent at the time of reporting. CLA distinguished recurring grants (IDEA, Title programs) from one-time federal awards (ESSER, ARPA, CARES), and flagged $4.4 million of non-recurring grant-funded personnel expenditures during the period as a potential exposure if those funding streams do not recur.

CLA recommended modernization of financial reporting practices, including chart-of-accounts improvements and better ERP segmentation to support capital planning. It proposed raising the district's fixed-asset capitalization threshold from $5,000 to $25,000 to reduce administrative noise and focus tracking on durable assets. CLA also highlighted an unusually large conversion loss between eighth and ninth grades (about 27% in the data window, versus a 23.8% average in the period) and urged closer enrollment-forecasting and retention work because cohort conversion affects staffing needs and costs.

In question-and-answer exchanges, CLA said projections use a baseline 3% year-over-year assumption informed by regional inflation data but noted the model holds FTE counts constant; adding staff or restoring positions (for example, the 72 positions the district lost over two years) would require funding above that baseline. CLA told officials it did not perform individualized headcount tracing within the project's scope and therefore could not name which positions were made permanent from one-time grants without further data review.

The presentation finished with prioritized recommendations grouped as high (enrollment forecasting, chart-of-accounts modernization), medium (transportation market engagement, capitalization threshold), and low (ongoing grant reliance assessment, central office structural review) priorities.

The meeting moved to a question period and a 12-minute public-comment session. The next procedural step noted in the meeting was that the school committee could adopt budgets at its upcoming meeting and that officials and residents could direct follow-up questions to the superintendent and CLA by email.