NORTH READING — The School Department finished FY25 with a surplus of $862.89, representing the difference between the budget of $39,171,090 and an expenditure of $39,490,019.
Additionally, $31,088 remains “committed” but unspent.
“We experienced a smooth and successful close out of Fiscal Year 2025,” wrote Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Michael Connelly in his Final Budget Report, which was delivered to the School Committee during a video-conference meeting on July 21.
“As projected, personnel costs remained within budgeted ranges and the District was able to identify savings in a variety of areas including supplies and material costs, utility costs, maintenance costs, as well as salary accounts for teachers, paraprofessionals, administration and custodians due in part to extended leave of absences,” Connelly continued.
“These savings assisted with enabling the District to pre-pay special education tuitions and purchase some materials to help prepare for next school year. In addition, we were able to exceed the $150,000 pre-payment amount forecasted during the budget season, which will provide some additional flexibility in Fiscal 2026. Further, as we forecasted, we were able to use available funds to help pay spring regular transportation and athletic invoices from the general fund which will enable us to meet our carry over targets in these revolving funds to help ensure revolving account balances are in good standing heading into fiscal year 2026.”
“Expenses costs remained within budgeted ranges. The District’s Special Education transportation costs were higher than anticipated due to an increase in the number of students requiring services, and the out-district tuition line exceeded budgeted amounts due to the planned pre-payments for Fiscal 2026 as described above. Despite another unique year that presented many challenges and circumstances the District was able to leverage areas of savings and address unanticipated costs.”
But Connelly also cautioned, “As we do the next budget, there’s less and less flexibility as unexpected expenses come up.”
In FY25 total salaries were $31,564,110, leaving a surplus of $172,506 from the budgeted $31,736,616, which Connelly said is typical due to leaves of absence and turn-over of staff.
Other expenses totaled $7,575,909, which led to a shortfall of $171,643 from the budgeted $7,435,354. “We had a negative total due to pre-paying Special Education tuitions to prepare for the unforeseen costs this upcoming fiscal year,” he explained. The FY26 budget is $40,780,049, approved by voters at Town Meeting in June, and is $597,752 lower than the preliminary request of $41,377,801, as a result of $150,545 in previously unanticipated funds from increases on state aid per student and reductions in costs for fixed costs and vocational school assessments.
The surplus for FY24 was approximately $250.
Things are already gearing up for FY27. “As we enter the school year and people start coming back, it would be a good thing to start to prime the pump when it comes to budgetary issues,” School Committee Chairman Jeff Friedman said.
GOALS FOR NRHS IN 2025-26
During the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Patrick Daly also outlined five goals for the North Reading High School for the upcoming year. The first is to measure and monitor the implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support strategies to support individual student learning, personal growth and development and social emotional well-being for all students.
The second is to assess data and findings associated with and derived from the Self-Reflection process and related Collaborative Conference preparation for New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation.
The third is to implement best practices of blended learning with a focus on effectively utilizing technology in all learning areas and focus on identifying relevant data to inform decision-making with special attention to achieving equity for all students.
The fourth is to implement and incorporate opportunities and strategies to access student voice so that all students feel valued and connected, with emphasis on lifting marginalized voices.
The fifth is to continue the work of the focus group in conducting an inclusive and comprehensive review of the practices and procedures of the Power Block model at the high school. The end result will be recommendations likely to be introduced during the 2025-26 school year. “It’s not just about how they can be used as an interim period,” Daly said. “It’s about how they can be used to make gains for students. There’s a lot of fertile ground there.”
The School Committee will start work on its own goals this month. “Typically we’d review goals from last year and a new document,” Daly explained. Categories in the 2024-25 goals included Leadership and Governance, Financial and Asset Management, the Educational Program and Family and Community Relations.