Millis School Committee approves year-end balance transfers to close fiscal accounts

The Millis School Committee voted June 29 to approve balance transfers administrators said are necessary to close out revolving funds and reclassify grant-related salary charges before the fiscal year ends.

School business administrator Shaileen Volpe told the committee the district is “in, surprisingly, a very good spot” for year-end and laid out numbers she said require reclassification and transfers to balance accounts. Volpe reported a salary-line surplus (reported in the meeting as about $298,463) and an expense-line surplus of $78,823, said the district drew down a final SOA grant payment of $22,076, and noted a transportation deficit of about $32,000 that she expects to offset with bus fees and lower salary draws next year.

“It's a lot of information and it can be confusing with the reclassifications,” Volpe said, pointing members to a spreadsheet in the packet that details the proposed transfers.

Superintendent Robert Mullaney framed the transfers as routine year-end work and said some additional adjustments may be needed at the July meeting. Committee member Peter Underhill moved to approve the transfers outlined in the spreadsheet; Jaime Staraitis seconded. The chair called the vote and members who voiced assent were recorded; the motion carried.

Administrators said the transfers will move some school-choice and grant-related expenses back into the general fund so special accounts are not left with negative balances and to protect the future health of the school-choice fund. They also said the district expects to be largely balanced going into the 2026 fiscal year, with only minor deficits or surpluses anticipated.

The committee did not debate alternate uses for the surplus during the meeting. Volpe offered to answer members' follow-up questions and noted finance staff will perform additional cleanup work in July to finalize the accounting adjustments.