Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Finance subcommittee approves grants and a utilities budget transfer; administration flags reporting and audit obligations
Summary
At its March 25 Finance & Facilities Subcommittee meeting, Beverly Public Schools accepted $1,250 in gifts and $20,311 in grants, created a student activity account for the high school art department and authorized a budget transfer to cover increased utility costs; staff emphasized how SIMS, single-audit and circuit-breaker reporting affect revenue.
The Finance and Facilities Subcommittee of the Beverly School Committee on March 25 approved gifts to Beverly High School totaling $1,250, accepted $20,311 in grant awards and created a new student activity account for the high school art department.
Administration then presented a budget transfer to cover higher-than-expected utility costs, saying the transfer would be funded from existing reserve lines including a reserve labeled for lane changes, a teacher longevity line and money budgeted for retirement-account matches. Administration said the recommended transfer includes moving $8,884 out of the longevity line, leaving an amended balance of $260,005.24.
“Again, we are audited, at the same time as the city is audited every year,” Finance presenter Emma Pugliese said in describing the district’s financial controls and external reviews. She described Roselli and Clark as the district’s current auditor and noted they raised questions about how grant balances are tracked across funds but that there were no material audit findings.
Pugliese explained that several reporting obligations affect district revenue: SIMS student-data reporting (used by DESE to calculate Chapter 70 aid and some grant awards), periodic federal grant expenditure and program reporting, the end-of-year report for net school spending compliance, and the Massachusetts circuit breaker reimbursement for high-cost special-education services. “So we are budgeting $4,200,000, I believe, of circuit breaker offset to the FY27 budget,” she said.
Members asked about accounting nomenclature and coding. One member asked whether newly onboarded staff (Rob Mullen) could help clean up GL coding and exports from Munis; administration said the district can export reports to Excel and would provide support. The presenter added that some natural-gas heating costs rose after a particularly cold winter even though overall electricity usage fell after LED upgrades.
Votes on the gifts, grants, the student activity account and the budget transfer were taken by voice and passed without recorded opposition. The committee also approved a policy on audits that aligns with the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) model and described the district’s single-audit obligations for federal grant recipients.
The subcommittee adjourned after completing the posted items.
