Swampscott Schools $200K Utility Expense Clarified At Joint Meeting

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — A joint meeting of the Swampscott Select Board, School Committee and Finance Committee this week sought to clarify how $200,000 in reserve funds were used to cover utility costs at the new K-4 elementary school in 2025.

The questions came following the tri-chair meeting on Jan. 21 when Select Board members questioned how the majority of the reserve fund was used, when a Memorandum of Understanding stated the funds "can only be used to offset increased utility costs and are not for general use in the school and town budget" at a time when records showed the schools also had a line item in the budget for $175,000 to cover general utility costs.

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"I just want to be super clear here," Select Board member MaryEllen Fletcher said on Jan. 21. "I feel that the schools are in violation of the MOU. It always worries me with these MOUs."

However, Asst. Supt. of Finance & Operations Cheryl Stella told the joint meeting on Monday that part of that budget process — which included since-departed Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald and since-departed Superintendent Pamela Angelakis — included the schools "zeroing out" the line item for the elementary school's utility costs, leaving only the reserve funds to pay the bills.

School Committee member Miguel Contreras cited specific times during the annual town meeting and Select Board meetings when that was confirmed.

"The MOU wasn't funded the way the writing on the MOU said it was, even on the day it was signed," said Finance Committee Chair Eric Hartmann. "I think that kind of goes to show that certainly wasn't clarity, perhaps even among the superintendent and the town administrator as far as where the numbers were when they were both signing that agreement."

"I think that's the key piece," Select Board member Danielle Leonard said. "It's clear as mud, really."

Stella explained that, essentially, during the budget process, the schools asked for a budget increase of 5.1 percent, while Fitzgerald offered an increase of 3.8 percent. To make up the difference, it was decided to use the MOU to create one-time reserve funding sources that would cover costs for the year, but would not add to or be "baked in" to the overall school budget.

"Which, I think, is why going into this budget cycle, there was no way we were going to be funding the school committee budget this way," Stella said. "Because it gets incredibly confusing.

"And, unless you've been in every meeting and every discussion since 2023, and on every email, and because there was a lot of back and fort, and some of those individuals are no longer here to speak to that, it's not a good way to fund a budget where we obviously know we need the money for utilities."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)