Joint Select Board and School Committee Meeting on FY2027 Budget Deficit - March 9, 2026
Joint Select Board and School Committee Meeting on FY2027 Budget Deficit - March 9, 2026
The joint meeting between the Bourne Select Board and School Committee convened on March 9, 2026, to address a $478,532 budget deficit for Fiscal Year 2027. The deficit arose primarily from higher-than-expected cherry sheet assessments, particularly school choice out and charter school tuition costs. The Select Board must present a balanced budget to the May 4, 2026 Town Meeting, and the meeting aimed to collaboratively identify potential reductions.
Discussion Items
- Town Administrator Marlene McCollum explained that the original deficit of approximately $729,000 was reduced by $250,000 after 14 students were reclassified by DESI (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) as not residing in Bourne, leaving the current gap at $478,532. She noted that the cherry sheet assessments are school-related and that the Select Board must decide how to distribute cuts across all departments.
- School Committee Chair Donnell Beale and members expressed that the school budget was built diligently and is in line with neighboring districts' per-pupil expenditures ($24,569 for Bourne vs. $24,000 for Wareham, $25,000+ for Falmouth, etc.). They emphasized that the budget already includes cuts and that they came to the table willing to help, but need a clear target number before making specific reductions.
- Superintendent Dr. Joe and Director of Business Services Jordan Geist provided context: ESSER funds have been fully absorbed, the district faces a 42% increase in out-of-district special education costs since 2021, and enrollment volatility (e.g., Grade 5 may require a seventh track if registrations increase). They proposed a potential cut of a Grade 5 teaching position ($76,000) if enrollment stays at six tracks, but cautioned that this is uncertain.
- School Committee member Maria Heaney raised the issue of potential retroactive reimbursement from UCT (Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School) for previously misidentified students, noting that a letter had been sent to DESI. Select Board members clarified that while the UCT issue is separate from the cherry sheet deficit, any recovered funds would reduce the overall town deficit; however, it would be fiscally irresponsible to rely on an uncertain outcome.
- Select Board member Peter Mart and others emphasized the need for collaboration, recalling a similar situation in 2015 when an override failed and cuts were equitably distributed. The board stressed that all town departments have already made sacrifices, including unfilled positions.
- A public comment from a taxpayer questioned why UCT did not verify residency as Bourne Public Schools does, and suggested UCT be held accountable. The Town Administrator confirmed that 14 students were already adjusted, but 12 remain in question.
Key Outcomes
- No final decisions or votes were taken on specific cuts. The School Committee will hold a Budget and Facilities meeting on Friday, March 12, 2026, followed by a full School Committee meeting the next week to vote on potential reductions.
- The Select Board will then determine the remaining cuts needed from municipal departments to close the $478,532 deficit, with the goal of presenting a balanced budget at the Finance Committee hearing on March 30, 2026.
- Both boards agreed to continue communicating and to avoid layoff notifications until proposals are finalized; the select board will notify unions before any town employee reductions are announced.
- The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:57 PM with all members voting in favor.
Meeting Transcript
Don't belong to the next one. I know. No. Hi, gentlemen. Okay, it's 6 p.m. I'd like to call the meeting to order. Um in the joint meeting with the select board. Good evening, everyone. Um I'm just going to go around, have everybody go around and say a quick introduction. Um let me call our meeting to order first. That would be fine. Uh so I'm gonna call the select board meeting um March 10th, 2026 too. All right, okay. Do you want to go down that way? Just say your name, please. Sure. Erica Funning, Finance Director. Marlene McCollum, Town Administrator. And Marie Srunian, Select Board. Peter Mart, Select Board and Born High Love. Gene is there, but Select Board. Melissa Freedom. Select board chair. Okay, Mr. Angelo Select Board. So we knew school committee should go. Rachel Aguirre still school committee. Maria Heaney School Committee. Donnell Beale, school committee chair, and a 1986 born alumni. Hi Carrie Schofield, I'm school committee. Kathleen Quindal School Committee. Christine Fourning, Assistant Superintendent, Forn Public Schools. Jordan Ghost, Born Public Schools, Director of Business Services. Chris Oliver, Director of Technology, Board Public Schools. Kristen Donnayu, Born Public Schools, Director of Special Education and Student Services. Okay. All righty. So we're here tonight. Um is a joint meeting between the school committee for public schools and the town board of select. Um Marlene and Erica. Thank you guys for being here. Um so the purpose of the meeting is to discuss um FY 2027 budget deficit in advance of the finance committee's public hearing and annual town meetings. So do you would you like to start first or would you want um I mean I think we all know why we're here? Um actually if I can do you mind if I just that would be fine, please. I was gonna look to you, sure. Very briefly. So um as many of you know, we met in December for the budget preview um at the police station, and we talked about the assumptions behind building the budget, and one of those key assumptions is that we level fund the cherry sheets. So um we went to get we built the budget for FY27. I presented it to the select board on January 6th, at which time it was but it was balanced. The end of January, we received um our cherry sheets, and um they're concerning this year, and the end result of those cherry sheets are um right now we're standing at a budget deficit of 478,532 dollars.
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