Committee moves to send delayed bills to city council as district confronts a fiscal shortfall

After a finance-subcommittee update, the Lowell School Committee voted March 20 to present a December 28, 2023 delayed-bill list to the city council for approval so vendors can be paid. The vote followed a broader budget discussion in which staff outlined an overall $26 million shortfall driven by the end of ESSER grant funds and a smaller Student Opportunity Act increase than anticipated.

Miss Turner explained that delayed bills arise when invoices arrive after the fiscal year closes or when purchase orders are closed; state law/process requires presenting such items to the city council for payment. Committee members raised concerns about a Public Consulting Group invoice of roughly $150,000 and asked whether outstanding items—such as homeless transportation bills—were included. Miss Turner said delayed bills are inevitable under the current processes and agreed to provide more granular breakdowns if requested.

The superintendent and Miss Turner emphasized mitigations: use of set-aside delayed-bill funds ($200,000 previously approved), vacancy savings and budget transfers, and an intention to manage school-level impacts so the total estimated impact on schools would be about $4 million of the $26 million shortfall. The committee made a motion to forward the delayed-bill memo to city council for payment approval; the motion passed on roll call.

Separately, staff presented an update on Fair Student Funding and enrollment; they noted that expected increases from the Student Opportunity Act were smaller than projected (about $14 million rather than an anticipated $30 million), creating pressure to trim supplements previously funded by ESSER. Staff said they will provide a reorganization/recommendation report within weeks.

Next steps: the delayed-bill list will be forwarded to the city council for approval; staff will provide further breakdowns on how much of the delayed-bill total relates to homeless transportation and other categories, and a consultant report on reorganization is expected in coming weeks.