HANSON — June 3, 2026 — Facing an acute seasonal cash crunch, the Whitman-Hanson Regional School Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve a $6 million short-term Revenue Anticipation Note (RAN) to keep the school district operational through July. Interim School Business Manager Matt Wells revealed that the district does not possess the cash reserves necessary to meet payroll and operational obligations in the first weeks of the upcoming fiscal year before state aid and town assessments arrive.
The Full Story
Interim School Business Manager Matt Wells presented the bids for the $6 million Revenue Anticipation Note, which was opened on Monday, June 1, 2026. The short-term borrowing acts as a critical 60-day bridge for the district. “We are receiving money to help us close the gap mainly in July of the next fiscal year,” Wells explained. “We are not going to have the funds to operate in July... so we have a $6 million RAN revenue anticipation note to bridge that gap between operations and funding.”
“We are not going to have the funds to operate in July... we have a $6 million RAN revenue anticipation note to bridge that gap between operations and funding.” [44:28] — Matt Wells, School Business Manager
The district received two competitive bids from Jefferies LLC and Oppenheimer & Co., with Jefferies securing the contract as the lowest bidder. While the initial coupon rate was set at 6.05%, Jefferies provided a bond premium of $16,800. Wells explained that this premium effectively functioned as a “rate buy-down,” dropping the district’s actual net interest cost rate to 4.312069%. The total interest and borrowing cost to the district will be $43,066.50. The funds are scheduled to hit the district’s accounts on June 15, 2026, and must be paid back in full by August 13, 2026.
Committee member Stephanie Blackman questioned why the administration shifted to a 60-day note after previously discussing a 90-day timeline. Wells noted that after consultations with bond counsel, the 60-day note was chosen because it was more cost-effective for the district. He assured the committee that state Chapter 70 education aid—which arrives at the end of July—and quarterly town assessments from Whitman and Hanson hitting on August 1 will easily cover the repayment.
In a secondary financial measure, the committee unanimously authorized Interim Superintendent Dr. John Marcus to utilize an unexpected $258,675 in late-stage FY26 Chapter 70 state funding. Wells noted that when building the initial budget, the district must anchor its figures to the Governor’s preliminary January budget blueprint. When the final legislative numbers yielded an additional quarter-million dollars, it required formal committee approval to be deployed to balance and close out the current fiscal year’s books. Line-item transfer tracking will be brought back to the committee in September.
