There was no privilege of the floor.

Mr. Yezukevich began the review of the FY26 budget revenues as follows:

Enrollment

Ms. Calvert reported that tuition adjustments were projected based on the current enrollment of 1,409 vs. the budgeted number of 1,460. 

Discussion ensued on the overall trend of declining enrollments. Ms. Calvert reported that charter schools are seeing a downward trend in enrollment with a contributing factor of families leaving Massachusetts due to the high cost of living. Mr. Yezukevich suggested that, in addition to an anticipated decrease in immigrant families in the country, the following information over a five-year period would be helpful in projecting trends:

• Enrollment trends for sending districts.
• Overall birth rate for Eastern Massachusetts.

Mr. Romer suggested that, since charter schools have an outside variable to public schools as families have to opt into the charter school, administration needs to do a good job in outreach to ensure optimal recruitment especially for the K-1 population as well as retention of the student population after enrollment. Mr. Martin suggested for concrete data points are needed to project enrollment year to year.

Ms. Berkowitz will provide updated enrollment numbers at the next meeting.

Transportation

Ms. Calvert reported that there has been difficulties collecting transportation fees from families, as many families having to make difficult decisions on their budgets.

Building

Mr. Michelot is meeting with Mass Premier on their commitment to more hours using the gym.

Food

With lower enrollment, food revenue is showing a decrease.

Mr. Yezukeivh continued with his review of FY26 budget expenses:

Personnel

Ms. Calvert reported that a vacant position in her department was changed from a 1.0 to .5 FTE. Mr. Romer noted that a greater savings in personnel costs is anticipated with extended vacancies.

Food

With fewer students, expenses do not offset the decrease in enrollment.  Ms. Calvert will meet with Mr. Michelot on was to address rising food costs.

General Expenses

Mr. Romer noted the need to reassess expenses generally and specifically deferring larger projects to be done more efficiently. Mr. Yezukevich noted the need to monitor debt service coverage ratios, e. if expenses are cut by $650K, a debt service ratio of 1.2 is achieved, if cut by $375K, a 1.1 baseline debt service is achieved. Managi ng to the 1.1 ratio for this year is advised, but significant changes to the FY27 budget may need to incorporate these realities.

Ms. Calvert noted that Erica Brown of the Charter School Association has advised finance manager to exercise extreme caution in spending surplus money as there are too many unknowns at the next three years, i.e. 25% of Title I funding cut and there is debate on the use of "rainy day" funds.

IT

Projects need to be re-prioritized to generate further savings.

Capital

Mr. Yezukevich noted the need to develop negotiation strategies with vendors on major projects and not just accept the initial quotes given. He expressed frustration with the vendor of the chiller project who did not complete an engineering study before the initial quote was given, and determined after the fact that the roof could not support the installation of the new chiller at a cost of either $275K for reinforcements to the roof or $70K for installation of the chiller at ground level. Mr. Michelot is currently negotiating with the vendor on a shared responsibility of the oversight and a reduction of cost. In any event the adjustment will be made by a transfer from other capital projects deferred or not completed and a vote by the Board.

Mr. Romer agreed that FRCS needs to be "tighter with capital projects management" and tougher negotiations with vendors are needed/

Discussion ensued on ensuring that budget changes have minimal impact on student services. It was agreed that any changes to the budget need to be vetted with the FinCom. Given the small deficit of last year, it is important to avoid another deficit this year and the need to "fill the holes" in the budget in the short term. Mr. Romer noted that the team is focused on limiting expenses within the current goals and priorities, consistency of services and sustainability of workloads.

The FY26 budget will be reviewed again at the next meeting on December 5th.

Ms. Calvert reviewed her PowerPoint presentation on the changes made to the FRCS Fiscal Policies and Procedures. Discussed ensued on the various changes.

The next FinCom meeting is December 5 with an initial agenda as follows:

• Review FY26 budget updated.
• Update on FY27 capital budget.
• Update on solar project.

Tabled to next meeting.