Mr. Yezukevich asked Ms. Berkowitz to follow up on a proposed member’s ability to join the FinCom because it may pose a conflict of interest with the teacher’s union. He will send out a list for the next meeting. Also, in order for students to join the meeting, future meetings’ start time will be changed to 7:45AM.

Ms. Calvert stated that the projection of $29million for tuition reimbursement is too high based on current enrollment. The January and February tuitions were the same at $2.2million and she anticipates that number decreasing. She also stated that there have been no adjustments to foundation rates.

Ms. Berkowitz added that while Ms. Foley is knowledgeable on securing grants for teaching and learning identified through DESE, the finance department guides the management process of all grant funds and tracking of expenses.

To Mr. Martin’s point, Mr. Yezukevich questioned whether not having a dedicated grant researcher on staff resulted in missed opportunities, Ms. Berkowitz stated that grant seeking falls under her purview, and when the new Executive Director is onboard she will be able to have the additional bandwidth to follow through on opportunities as she has done in the past with the Walton grant.

On the expense side, Ms. Calvert reported that the district received another $59K of federal food reimbursement. She also removed $20K from the snow and ice expense line item.

Mr. Yezukevich stated that, although revenue was soft and there was no assurance of enrollment, things have worked in a positive direction. He mentioned that there was some confusion about field trips being cancelled.

Ms. Berkowitz stated that there were several international field trips that were booked without leadership approval. Consequently, a pause was put on further international field trips until a trip policy could be reviewed by the Board and procedures put in place to reflect structure, consistency, equity and oversight.

Mr. Martin noted that before 2020 field trips were ongoing every year in celebration of elementary students moving up to middle school and middle school moving up to high school, etc. Ms. Calvert stated that the traditional trip for middle schoolers to Nature’s Classroom became too prohibitive in cost and other alternatives are being sought.

Ms. Berkowitz stated that the goal of leadership is to re-implement field trip opportunities for students as a very enriching experience to the curriculum. Building based behavior and other things take precedence before moving in the direction to go back on schedule where every grade has a field trip end goal.

Mr. Martin noted that these trips are often relived by students as a fond memory, and the experiences are what “makes FRCS what it is.” It gives kids the excitement of having these trips to look forward to. It is not only good for our students but acts as an indirect marketing tool.

Ms. Berkowitz confirmed it is a priority of the leadership team. Post-covid student behavior is getting back on track in the classroom which will transfer to social environments, and now teachers are needed with the energy and desire to chaperone. The annual calendar would list consistent events tracked to the curriculum, so that graduating students will have experienced thirteen events.

Discussion ensued on the protocols for investing in students for the next year. Ms. Calvert cautioned that auditors require a request for prepayment for contracts pertaining to the next school year.

In response to Mr. Martin’s question on projects to be completed before the end of the school year like roadwork, etc., Mr. Michelot stated he and Ms. Calvert can look into getting projects completed within the timeframe.

Ms. Berkowitz reported that the pre-enrollment number submitted to the state is 1,525 with 1,450 number of students budgeted. The pre-enrollment number is a bit higher than projections to ensure tuition reimbursement. 

Generally, between 50-75 is the difference of students between enrollment and budget. She stated the following phenomena around the 1,525 number including the following highlights:

• Lowest historic number of Kindergarten applications; while highest number of ninth grade.
• When families apply for following year from October to February suggests a solid desire to come to FRCS; whereas application in spring or summer may indicate problems and an exit strategy at play.
• Pre-enrollment based on a number of assumptions on a variety of different things.

Mr. Martin expressed concern that the increase of ninth grade students would have a dramatic change on teachers and resources of the high school. Ms. Berkowitz responded that the principals and leadership team are in discussion on ensuring that the high school has sufficient staff and adjustments to classroom schedule to make it work. Since the changes would have implications for union negotiations, the leadership team and principals are having preliminary discussions.

Ms. Berkowitz noted that FRCS is limited to the number of students it can enroll from any one given town. The state issues early in March a list of districts that are near cap. Each district is allowed 10% of its population to exercise its right of school choice. If the district is at cap, the particular charter or vocational school cannot enroll any more students. The FY25 list is not yet issued, so in the meantime FRCS can process students and keep on the wait list until a determination is made whether they can be admitted.

FRCS is bound to conduct a blind application process by accepting all applications and process in a lottery wait list. There is no way to control what districts the applications are coming from. The general concern is not something the district can control, i.e. it can’t control where anyone is applying from. The school will be available to any town in Massachusetts above and beyond the community that are sent to FRCS. At some point the district is responsible for figuring out a workable solution, just as a public school district has to figure out the demands for service to the students sent to them.

Mr. Michelot reported elementary school roof and HVAC system project is moving along.

No updates at this time.

Ms. Calvert reported that she had telephone conference with bond counselors with regard to enrollment, etc.