O. Stearns provided brief remarks on the MCAS data that was umembargoed yesterday. Excel was one of only 13 districts whose students last year met or exceeded pre-COVID results in both ELA and Math. Excel's middle school program was #1 in ELA growth and
#5 in Math growth in the state and the high school program was in the Top 10% in the state in Math and ELA growth. We will discuss these results in more detail at the full Board meeting on Friday.

N/A - No members of the public provided comments at this meeting.

A. Stelson presented updates on the organization's finances, the current state of organizational financial risks, FY26 trending, and FY27 budget planning, as detailed in Finance Update Slides

R. Lytle asked a clarifying question about the timing of the Moore St. debt repayment which A. Stelson answered.

D. Sachs asked a clarifying question about minimum cash balances for the Rhode Island school.

A. Stelson reminded the Committee about our decision to make adjustments at the margins mid-school year to avoid significant program disruption mid-year and to make largest structural shifts if necessary between school years.

A. Stelson and O. Stearns framed the discussion of key risks. It is hard to predict what will happen, but we think the outlook is worse today than it was in May. Therefore we would like to make some adjustments.

R. Lytle commented that it makes sense to pivot more conservatively at this time of the year and then adjust.

D. Sachs asked whether it would make sense for the Committee to be monitoring whether harmful state legislation at the state level that could decimate funding. A. Stelson commented that the purpose of the risks overview is to outline and monitor risks that we can plan for proactively.

R. Lytle asked a clarifying question about the Boston-to-Chelsea ratio which A. Stelson answered.

D. Stolow asked for more context about the health insurance impact and raised concerns with our EdHealth approach. R. Lytle commented that we could reexamine the approach this year. O. Stearns and A. Stelson agreed we will set up time this year to revisit this decision.

A. Stelson and O. Stearns outlined planned reductions and the school and academic teams' confidence that the program is strong enough to manage these reductions provided that the decisions can happen at least a year in advance.

R. Lytle asked for more context about the plan for staff raises this year, which A. Stelson answered.

D. Stolow and R. Lytle commended the articulate and persuasive memo that was provided to the Committee. D. Stolow echoed concerns about morale and possible divisiveness of certain decisions and emphasized the importance of team culture and unity among staff. O. Stearns added that the exceptional results have helped to build confidence in leadership.

The Committee members expressed general comfort with the directional plan outlined today.

D. Stolow emphasized the importance of having a clear identify in talent contexts.

The Committee thanked the team for a very clear presentation on a challenging topic.

List of documents used at this meeting:

• Agenda
• Prior meeting minutes
• 5-Year Strategic Financial Plan
• Financial Model
• Finance Update Slides