The Whitman-Hanson Regional School District Transparency Project

From: "Jeffrey Szymaniak <jeffrey.szymaniak@whrsd.org>" <jeffrey.szymaniak@whrsd.org> To: Ottina.Kathleen Cc: beth.stafford@whrsd.org; Szymaniak; Jeffrey Bcc: jeffrey.szymaniak@whrsd.org Date: 2024-02-02 17:08 Subject: Re: FY25 Hi Kathy, the district always makes a copy of the proposed budget available to the public 48 hours before the meeting. It is available in Central office in accordance with the statute. I am forwarding all documents to the SC on Monday and will include you as the liaison to the District. You should see these documents around noon on Monday. Have a great weekend, Jeff Jeff Szymaniak Superintendent Whitman-Hanson RSD @WH_Super Semper Ad Maiora On Fri, Feb 2, 2024 at 4:43 PM Ottina.Kathleen <KOttina@whitman-ma.gov> wrote: Good afternoon Jeff and Beth, I am contacting you both to see if I could obtain a copy of the FY25 WHRSD budget ahead of the budget hearing next Wednesday. I see on the posted agenda for Wednesday February 7 that you are planning to open and close the budget hearing at that meeting. According to MGL Ch71 sec 38, a copy of the budget shall be made available to the public not less than 48-hours prior to the budget hearing. Based on the one-page budget document presented at the January 10, 2024 School Committee meeting, the FY25 General Fund Budget may range between a 2% to 5% increase over FY24. ■I believe it is unreasonable to expect members of the public to digest and comment on a $60 million-plus budget if the information is not made available prior to the scheduled budget hearing. Please let me know where and when I can access the budget documents. Thank you. Kathleen A Ottina Whitman Finance Committee vice chair and liaison to the WHRSD