SAUGUS — The School Committee received an update Thursday night on the district’s athletics account, nearly two months after school finance officials warned that expenses were outpacing revenue and called for a closer review of the program’s finances.
The concerns were first raised in April by Director of Finance and Administration Pola Andrews, who asked the Athletic Subcommittee to conduct a fiscal review. At the time, Andrews said she did not want to see the account “go off the rails” as spending continued to exceed incoming revenue.
Athletic Subcommittee Chair Dennis Gould and Finance Subcommittee Chair Brian Doherty, who also serve on the School Committee, agreed to a joint meeting to find the best course of action.
Gould was able to give a short report back to the Committee and Chair Tom Whittredge after the two subcommittees had met.
“We had an athletic meeting on the finances,” Gould said. “This year we’ll be okay to close it off, but next year we’ve got some concerns, and we’re going to look at transportation alternatives and some other stuff.”
He continued that the Subcommittee was going to take a look at all of the line items and try to find a way to lower the expenses.
“We definitely do not want to raise any user fees or anything like that,” Gould said. “It’s important to take a deep dive and get serious and make sure we don’t do that.”
Doherty said that alternatives for transportation were discussed, but the biggest thing they discussed and found answers for was the field lights being on late at night.
At the April meeting, Andrews brought up that utilities were her main concern and that a $190,000 shortfall was projected at that time.
She stated, “While the increasing rates have contributed to the deficit, I really did a little bit of a deep dive into our usage. And what I found is that the complex is really out of whack.”
Her findings showed that the complex, compared to the last fiscal year, used 497,499 more kilowatt-hours. The Committee then questioned why this might be happening, and Andrews said one possibility was the field lights staying on too late.
Whittredge believed that the stadium lights were on a week-by-week schedule and not the main issue.
“There were some concerns about the fields (lights) being on at the stadium,” Doherty said Thursday night. “But what I found out is that our lights are all controlled through an app, and there is a way to monitor that… You can set it every day. You can say turn off at 9 p.m. tonight (and) turn off at 10 p.m. tomorrow. If there’s no event, don’t ever go on… I don’t think there’s a gap there.”
Gould then noted that the athletic situation was a double-edged sword.
“We’re getting successful. We’re bringing the kids in. Of course, with rising kids and participation, the costs go up. So, we also have to offset that as well,” he said.
The two subcommittees will continue to work together to monitor the situation.
