At the last Revere Public School Committees Ways and Means subcommittee meeting members discussed the first quarter financial report that includes the first three months of the current fiscal year.
According to the report presented by RPS Chief Financial Officer Matthew Kruse, Revere has an operating budget of over $94 million with $25 million expended so far for the current fiscal year.
With an available balance of $68.8 million Kruse said things are looking pretty good for FY2021.
“The most useful part of this report is to look and see if anything has already entered into a deficit or are they all tracking with surplus balances,†said Kruse. “When you look through the detailed pages and line items there is only one red line item that stands out.â€
Kruse said the sole red line item was due to early retirement incentives RPS gave to staff that were nearing retirement. RPS offered early retirement due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a number of staff took advantage of the offer.
“This resulted in a $37,000 deficit but it is not a big one,†said Kruse.
Going forward, Kruse said , RPS will look at any surplus in other areas that can flow to help cover the deficit in the retirement accounts.
In other areas RPS has spent $697,666 for administrative costs out of a $2.6 million budget.
Instructional services totaled $6.75 million in the first quarter of FY2021 out of a budget of $57.4 million and other student services have cost $3.94 million so far from a budget of around $10 million.
Operation of plant and maintenance has cost RPS $3.68 million in the first three months of FY2021 out of a budget of $9.2 million.
Employee benefits and insurance has totaled $168,441 so far out of a budget of $751,500 for the fiscal year.
Civic activities and community service have cost the schools $15,692 out of a budget of $39,783 over the first three months of the fiscal year.
There’s a $832,294 budget for school improvements but none of that money has been spent thus far for FY2021.
Revere has spent $10 million through programs with other schools out of a budget of $13.1 million.
RPS is also expected to receive two grants due to the COVID-19 pandemic that can be used to help any foreseeable deficits as Revere moves into the second quarter of FY2021. One grant will be $1.6 million and the other will be for $2 million. The $2 million grant would need to be spent by the end of December according to RPS Superintendent Dianne Kelly.
Kruse said there will also be a “Carry Forward†allocation of roughly $7.92 million left over from FY2020. This money will be added to the budget during the second quarter of FY2021. Kruse said RPS is on target to release a report on where the money will be allocated at a School Committee meeting in November.
