The Saugus Union School District reviewed the unaudited actuals financial report for the 2024-25 academic year during a governing board meeting last week.
The district’s annual financial activities were presented to the board to provide an update on current finances and the amount of carryover into the new school year.
A third-party agency will conduct a formal audit of expenses and present the findings to the board in December or January, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Nick Heinlein said in a follow-up interview Friday afternoon. Finances can change throughout the year depending on unexpected expenses or lack thereof, he added.
In the presentation given during the meeting by Heinlein and Director of Business Services Jo Anne Downen, it was stated that the district had a total of $141.8 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Of that amount, a little over $3 million was spent on outside staffing agencies due to a shortage of special education service providers, Heinlein said, adding that it’s been a challenge not just for the district but for the whole state.
The district has open vacancies for those roles but “we struggled trying to fill in those positions,” Heinlein said during the presentation, which bumped the budget expenses for staffing and services to a combined 81.3% of the $141.8 million.
Most of the district’s expenses went to covering classified salaries, certified salaries and benefits, Downen said during the presentation.
Residents also fund about $35 million of the district’s funds with property taxes, Heinlein said as he highlighted that point during the presentation, adding that their taxes are going toward schools in their own area. That amount remains consistent from year to year.
In the budget, expenses were divided into two categories: Unrestricted and restricted.
Restricted is for funds given by the government that come with regulations and must be used for specific purposes by a certain time, Heinlein said. That amount carried over into the new school year is about $16.5 million.
With unrestricted expenses, the district has more flexibility in using such funds for what it deems fit as long as it’s school-related. That carryover is $19.5 million.
In the restricted revenues section of the presentation, Heinlein said that federal revenues decreased because the district spent less of its allocated funds than expected.
State revenue, however, increased because of the Expanded Learning Opportunity Program. Districts that did not spend their initial allocations were required to return the funds, which were then reallocated to other districts, including Saugus. The district had estimated it would spend $3.6 million from the restricted fund balance but ultimately spent only $1.6 million, according to Heinlein.
