um I don't know what specific reason it was moved there, but now that's what we are specifically um relying on in order for us to hit that 3% reserve. >> If you recall um in previous presentations and in years ago, we had larger reserve balance and so it went into fund 17 for emergency purposes, whatever that whatever the district need may be. Um but over the course of the years we're now to where that is all that we have is our 3% reserve requirement there. >> Any other questions, comments? I I actually had a question on the multi-year projection. So you we saw about 400k deficit this year, 110k deficit next year, and then 874,000 surplus in 2728. But you I just want to clarify this is this does not include what is in the governor's budget, right? Because we're unsure what's happening in May.
I don't want to go back and blow that up, but this was just something that came up in this conversation um that I wanted to to test your comfort level with the see whether we need to talk about it more or not. I appreciate it. Um I do have another question, Mr. Adams. Um so, this does say that uh given an override is passed, it will like end up being a more sustainable financial future, um but just being totally honest with ourselves, um the past couple years of budget increases have been 6%, uh 4%, and 6%, right? So, uh that was all like good and well with during the COVID years when inflation was around 7% like core inflation but now that it's starting to dip and all those things are starting to get back going again this really isn't something that's too sustainable over long period of time and if we do continue boosting the budget 6% every year it's it's not something that the community is going to technically the community will like continue seeing diminishing returns on the service that they're getting so do you have a plan for necessarily making sure that this is a one-time override and stopping further increase >> Sure sure I mean I would never ever sit in front of you and say it's a it's a long I would never sit in front of any group and say it's never going to happen again right because the the flaws in the system right the flaws at the state level of 2.5% capacity to to increase taxes on the levy that being said the way we're designing this is in 5 years we may have have to have another conversation because we are we are going to be negotiating contracts with with educators right so let's assume uh that they get X% well that X% is typically more than a 2 and 1/2% increase of of the property taxes is about 1.7 million dollars that in revenue raised the overall increase in teacher salaries or educator salaries and paraprofessionals and custodian center is well more than a million dollars so they're never going to be parallel right they're never going to match up so what I would say is what we're trying to design is a system that allows for that fluctuation to exist so if we have now the ability to utilize some of that school choice money not 1.1 million dollars of it but maybe a couple hundred thousand dollars of it to offset some of your operation expense, great.
>> Chair Ston, >> yes. >> Secretary Webb, I'm a yes. Vice Chair Childs, >> yes. >> Member Deniv, >> yes. >> Mayor Dorger, >> yes. >> Member Dyman, >> yes. >> All right, that motion passes unanimously. Okay, the next thing I have is that we continued working on the subcommittee budget priorities and guidelines documents so that we would have our goals for this budget season. Uh that was included in the meeting materials. Um I I don't know if you want me to walk through every last thing or just jump to the question where we did not have a consensus and felt that it would be better that the full committee weigh in because it was a charge. So, do you want me to walk through? >> I think it would be good to hear what your pros, cons um so that we're not duplicating the discussion you've already had >> for Do you mean for the question we had or the full document?
For Do you mean for the question we had or the full document? Cuz I was asking if I should walk through the full document of our budget guidelines and priorities versus just the question we have. Mhm. Yeah, I mean I'll just Yeah, abbreviate it. So, curriculum and instruction, it was of course a priority. A lot of it is uh continuing to support the high-quality instructional materials and assessment tools that the district has adopted because they have ongoing costs. Um continuing to invest in programs that are working really well like expanding the restorative justice pilot that's been doing wonderfully at Federal Street School because we want and also we've got other programs uh anti-bullying programs at other schools that it's working there. We want to expand it, grow those programs. So, that's the kind of things under curriculum and instruction. And of course to maintain and expand art and music and get long-term stability in these areas.
>> It correct. Um it the only thing that it does include is a 2.41% cola. That is pretty much um we can pretty much rely on that being funded um for the actual budget itself, the state budget. >> Sounds good. And also just to give a reminder to the public too, um we closed schools to close this budget or this deficit. So it's no longer the 6 million deficit. It um the multi- Yeah. Right here um here. >> So this is the unrestricted side of things. So >> Yeah. So just a reminder for the public um us closing schools has is helping us get back into this upswing. So, we're still um deficit spending and you know, it's still up to what happens at the state level um how funding will go moving forward. So, I just want to lift that up for folks to remember and understand um what happened.
Then I think that's doing its job with the override. I would say if we go back and look at our percent increases, there were reasons for that, right? Um and reasons that we couldn't even predict. Um so we have policies within the community that says, "Okay, if at the end of the year, when we do our budget, there's X amount of dollars available, and we we maybe have a 4% increase in the budget. We start at 3.75%. That's our policy. That's where we should be starting. But if more revenue comes in from the state level, in the fall, we traditionally then reallocate the extra revenue. 70% of the schools, 30% to the general government. So our budget may have been approved at town meeting at 4%, and it ends up being 6%. So because of just the way the revenue streams work at at the state level.
>> Because I was asking if I should walk through the full document of our budget guidelines and priorities versus just the question we have. >> Yeah. I mean >> I'll just yeah >> abbreviated. So curriculum and instruction was of course a priority. A lot of it is uh continuing to support the highquality instructional materials and assessment tools that the district has adopted because they have ongoing costs. um continuing to invest in programs that are working really well like expanding the restorative justice pilot that's been doing wonderfully at Federal Street School because we want and also we've got other programs uh anti-bullying programs at other schools that it's working there. We want to expand it grow those programs. So that's the kind of things under curriculum and instruction and of course to maintain and expand art and music and get long-term stability in these areas. Um second uh priority that we have listed is staffing and volunteers.
Um second uh priority that we have listed is staffing and volunteers. We want to maintain a level of staffing needed to have small class sizes and have the individual supports students need. Don't think that's controversial. Um and that's where we do have In that category is where our question is which I'll ask after this and it's if we should add a grant writer to the FY27 budget. Um and third category we had was professional development. Uh a lot of it's provide needed resources to support staff in teaching neurodivergent students, consistency of IEP implementation, resources to support staff in English learner populations. Um just the areas that we've identified as groups that we really want to work with and and improve the way we work with. Um and uh then the last category, transportation. We want to make sure that we continue to have our equitable access to sports and extracurricular activities and to increase accessibility for parent engagement uh in district activities, which we heard a little bit from Principal Fenimore tonight about how the middle school has been doing that and how that has helped families participate in programs that they otherwise would not have gotten into.
>> And the LCF I forgot to mention that the 2627 and the 2728 does reflect the updated projections for colas in those years as well. >> Good. >> Any other comments, questions? All right. Thank you so much for the presentation. >> Thank you. >> All righty. Next up. Oh, I apologize. Yes, we need a motion and a second to approve the presentation. >> Move to approve the second intro. >> Second. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Great. Moved and approved. >> All right. Next up is um B2 resol resolution 2516. It is recommended the board adopt resolution 2516. authorizing the issuance of Barrya Union School District 2026 general obligation refunding bonds. Um, prior to your vote, I do want to introduce Chris Hyatt with Keegent to provide you with a brief presentation on this recommendation. >> Good evening. Thank you for having me tonight.
Uh or um even at the town level when they finally uh look at all the revenue and get it audited and approved. So I I think it's a it's a fair question. I I don't There's no way any community can sit here and say they're going to pass one override and it's going to fix the entire scenario. What I'm saying is with the override, I've committed to already reducing our budget by 13.2 positions that will help stabilize the the budget over the next 5 years. We're starting from a different point. It's a really fair question. We're starting from a different point. The other thing too is like an an article went around today. I don't know if any of you guys got a chance to read it. Somebody forwarded about um overrides that are happening in other communities in in the state. Um and many of them asked for a lot more money than we're asking for.
We want to maintain a level of staffing needed to have small class sizes and have the individual support students need. Don't think that's controversial. Um, and that's where we do have in that category is where our question is, which I'll ask after this, and it's if we should add a grant writer to the FY27 budget. Um, and third category we had was professional development. A lot of it's provide needed resources to support staff in teaching neurode divergent students, consistency of IEP implementation, resources to support staff in English learner populations, um just the areas that we've identified as groups that we really want to work with and and improve the way we work with. Um and uh then the last category, transportation. We want to make sure that we continue to have our equitable access to sports and extracurricular activities and to increase accessibility for parent engagement uh in district activities, which we heard a little bit from principal Fenomore tonight about how the middle school has been doing that and how that has helped families participate in programs that they otherwise would not have gotten into.
Um and then at the bottom of it, we have our assumptions and guidance. A lot of it is just here are the laws, here are the legal mandates, we are going to follow the law, we are going to use the best available information we have. We're going to prioritize the welfare of our kids, we're going to be responsible with money. Um you know, that kind of thing. So, going back to that question, so the grant writer was a topic of discussion at the meeting and the question that I'd like the full committee to weigh in on is should we add a grant writer? Um the pro to that is if you have a good grant writer, they will more than pay for their own salary. Uh there were some cons brought up at the meeting though, such as we already do have a fair amount of grants coming and going and those grants also require personnel to implement them.
>> There we go. And good evening. Thank you for having me tonight. I'm excited to be here tonight to talk about a potential refinancing opportunity to refinance some of your Measure U bonds for taxpayer savings. And great news, this is only three pages, so we'll keep it keep it quick. >> Oh dear. And if I can click it >> down. Okay, that makes sense. All right. So, the bonds we're looking to potentially refinance are from Measure U, the series Bonds. Um, and we're currently estimating savings of about 1.3 million for taxpayers. Uh, the way the refinancing would work is kind of similar to refinancing a home mortgage where you take old bonds at a higher interest rate and replace them with new bonds at a lower interest rate uh without extending the term of the bond. So, we would have the same final maturity. Um, the savings would come in the form of lower property tax bills for taxpayers in future years over the life of the bond.
We're probably on the lower side, if not the lowest. And so factored into those conversations when we were deciding what to ask the community for. Like you have to take the big picture on like what this community could afford. Yeah, could we have gone for like a bigger override that might have provided us with help us meet more of our goals and and meet our um strategic plan and move us forward. I mean this is Jim has pointed out many times this is a stabilization override for us. It is not a moving forward situation. And we have been static almost the entire time I've been We have been able to do some great things, but a lot of them have been for the purpose of saving money in other areas. Like all of the special ed programs that we um brought in were amazing, but they that they required an initial investment, but they also paid off.
Um, and then at the bottom of it, we have our assumptions and guidance. A lot of it is just here are the laws, here are the legal mandates, we are going to follow the law, we are going to use the best available information we have, we're going to prioritize the welfare of our kids. We're going to be responsible with money. Um, you know, that kind of thing. So going back to that question. So the grant writer was a topic of discussion at the meeting and the question that I'd like the full committee to weigh in on is should we add a grant writer? Um the pro to that is if you have a good grant writer, they will more than pay for their own salary. Uh there were some cons brought up at the meeting though such as we already do have a fair amount of grants coming and going and those grants also require personnel to implement them.
So, there was the capacity question of, you know, you get the grants, but can you use them? And then the bigger con was yes, a grant writer is a good idea long term, but when you have a kid who has a literacy crisis, do they need a grant writer right now or do they need their literacy person right now? So, it's not that a grant writer is a bad idea, it's that are there more urgent needs that should be prioritized in a lean budget year above the grant writer? And again, on the other side, the grant writer brings in more money, so you have more money to do these other things. So, yes, that is what we would like committee in committee input on. Well, committee, let's discuss. I have a question. Um it perhaps Superintendent Jewell could answer this question or anyone who knows more about it.
uh that estimated savings figure is net of all costs and all of the costs except for the credit rating are contingent on the sale. Uh so as long as we uh if interest rates, you know, were to go up and we had to cancel the sale, there would be no cost to the district as long as we haven't received that credit rating yet. Um we also recommend including the series A bonds which were already partially refinanced back in 2024. The the part that was not refinanced is still outstanding. um currently not producing enough savings to include in the estimates tonight, but since we're already potentially going to be authorizing refinancing, we might as well throw it in. There's no additional costs, and if interest rates were to go down, we can include them. We're looking at refinancing these bonds on a taxexempt basis, which is the way they were originally sold, on either a current delivery basis or a forward delivery basis.
But there have been a lot of other things that we haven't been able to grow any of our, you know, teach more languages in school, offer more electives, um have more art classes, um all kinds of things that we can't even talk about. There's a very long list of things that um we don't And that's last night when we had a tri board meeting I was talking about how, you know, some of the language and some of the town departments discussion were about like advancing things and moving things forward. At we those words do not enter our conversations. Certainly not this year. Um and if they have for the entire 15 years that I've been here it's been a little bit here, a little bit there. And that's been it. So what I'm saying is though when we decided on the amount of the override, yeah, could we have gone for something more that might have reassured you and anyone else asking that question that we're set for a while.
So there was the capacity question of you know you get the grants but can you use them and then the bigger con was yes a grant writer is a good idea long term but when you have a kid who has a literacy crisis do they need a grant writer right now or do they need their literacy person right now. So it's not that a grant writer is a bad idea. It's that are there more urgent needs that should be prioritized in a lean budget year above the grant writer. And again on the other side the grant writer brings in more money. So you have more money to do these other things. So yes that is what we would like committee in uh committee input on. >> Well committee let's discuss. >> I have a question. Um perhaps superintendent Joyel could answer this question uh or anyone um who knows more about it.
Is the position of grant writer a common like a specific grant writer a common feature in school districts? With your word common, probably not. Um are grant writers in districts? Yes, but they're not everywhere at all. Member Dini? Our de facto grant writer is Steven Sullivan. And all these assistant superintendents that have come before you have also been grant writers. Um and when we're looking for business manager positions, that is one of the things that we ask the candidates. Are you a grant writer? Do you have experience with that and are you willing to do that in addition to being the business manager? So, I think that grant writing has been covered. Um and I would not support in this budget climate adding a grant writer position only because it's already handled. If we didn't have that capacity, if we didn't have that talent already on deck, then that would be a different issue for me.