Windham Southeast School District
Finance Committee Meeting – Monday December 1, 2025
5:00pm
WSESU James Kane Conference Room
53 Green St. Brattleboro, VT
Members:
Ruby McAdoo, Tim Maciel, Kim Price, Brian Remer, Deborah Stanford, Frank Rucker
Independent Budget Review Committee (IBRC):
Kristina Naylor, Rich Leavy, Ellie Solomon
Others Present:
Mark Speno, Jodi Nutting
Board Recorder:
Tracey Drotts
Agenda
Ruby McAdoo called the meeting of the WSESD Finance Committee meeting to
order at 5:00 pm.
1. Approval of Minutes
Deborah Stanford MOTIONED TO APPROVED THE MINUTES OF THE
11/24/25 FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING. SECONDED.
VOTE WAS CALLED. VOTE PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.
Ruby McAdoo noted that the next step in the budget development process will be at the full WSESD Board meeting 12/16/25. Working with the Board Chair, the budget review will be earlier on the agenda to encourage public involvement. The Communications Committee will be spreading the word about this meeting.
Ruby also noted that the hope is that some Senators will be in attendance on 12/16/25. A discussion ensued discussing the location and the logistics should there be significant public attendance in person.
2. FY27 Preliminary Budget Development – WSESD District Revenues and Capital Plan Proposal
Tax Commissioner Ed Tax Rate Letter, 12/1/25
WSESD Preliminary FY27 Revenue
WSESD Preliminary FY27 Capital Plan
Frank Rucker spoke about the letter from the Tax Commissioner. The Yield number, which impacts the tax rate, is noted on page 3. The beginning of the letter outlines the challenges the state of Vermont is facing related to cost per pupil (increasing steadily) and the decline in student population and student achievement. The Yield shows an increase this year (which is favorable). The next important information will be the weighted student average number, which should be made available prior to the Board meeting on 12/16/25.
The FY27 Preliminary Revenue document was then reviewed. This information will need to be recalculated once the weighted student average number is received. Mr. Rucker noted that there is a 15% reduction under the category of “subgrants” driven by the reduction of federal funds. Following the summary there is a detail related to revenue organized by each individual school. Noted was the revenue brought in by the high school and WRCC, which in large part is from tuition. The other schools in the district do not generate significant revenue. Overall, the percent differential in revenue from FY26 to FY27 is 2.46%. To hear this discussion in its entirety, review the recording of this meeting found here.
The Capital Plan was then reviewed. The district is intentional about maintaining the buildings and assets providing spaces for clean safe environments for our students. Facility Managers have been meeting with Frank Rucker to review upcoming needs and projects along with planning for obsolescence. Work has been done to reduce the district’s carbon footprint, resulting in increased energy efficiency. Pages 2 through 28 provide information specific to each school. The Capital Plan records projects completed along with life expectancy. If there is an upcoming project in FY27, a projected budget is in the highlighted column. There are summary notes included for background information. Mr. Rucker noted that this is a simple excel document. The goal would be to invest in a Capital Planning software to have a more robust repository for documents related to each project.
The discussion for this portion of the meeting can be seen on the recording of this evening’s meeting found here.
Meeting is scheduled to adjourn at 6:30pm
