As Newton Community Education treks on through its turnaround effort in the new year, NCE Director Kate Carpenter Bernier presented a comprehensive business plan to the School Committee Monday night.

A few months ago, the School Committee opted to help out NCE—which was in a financial tarpit after the COVID-19 pandemic—provided NCE works with Assistant Superintendent Liam Hurley to turn things around by the end of the school year.

And after a promising December (revenues were up 16 percent from the December before), NCE’s improvement continues to show momentum toward its pre-pandemic glory.

In January, for example, NCE saw $241,228 in revenues, which is $50,000 more than expected, and net income for January $70,635.

NCE has reduced its full-time workforce and had its credit card fees lowered while at the same time promoting more programming to get more participation from the public. And NCE’s winter class catalog was mailed to all households in Newton in the fall, bringing widespread visibility to get those classes packed.

“We know that the first thing we have to do to serve this district is to not be a financial burden,” Carpenter Bernier said. “But beyond that, we think we can do a lot more wonderful things.”

Carpenter Bernier said she was working on NCE’s cash flow problem next. Money comes in for programs at different frequency throughout the year, as people sign up for the next season. NCE has 43 percent of the total expenses for the year still to come, and half of the expenses in July are attributable to pension funding.

“It’s not an acute problem when we have a reserve,” she said. “As long as we don’t have a reserve right now, we are seeking ways to essentially flatten the cash flow.”

One is through paying the pension to NPS in monthly installments, to reduce the amount of deficit carried at any given time throughout the year.

“Our goal is to have $300,000 in reserves again, so that covers that trough and we don’t have to ask the district to do it for us,” Carpenter Bernier said. NCE is also focusing on increasing the number of profitable classes it runs, to help reach that goal.

Committee members were pleased and cautiously optimistic.

“It’s certainly great to see [positive enrollment], and there was a lot of community support when some of the challenges became public,” Ward 1 member Reev Parlikar said. “The one thing I would suggest is figuring out how to continue that momentum, in terms of community support.”

Ward 4 member Tamika Olszewski hailed the presentation as a model for all agencies.

“I think this represents the type of strategic visioning or strategic planning that all organizations need to do periodically,” Olszewski said. “And while it’s unfortunate that the 5-alarm fire, if you will, was the driver of getting to this strategic planning—this business plan—I think it’s a very good product and one that will guide NCE for years to come.”

Ward 6 member Paul Levy said he was uncomfortable with the idea of NPS paying for NCE’s portion of school custodial staff pay, because that money would not be paid back to NPS. And NPS is already looking at potentially tough budget choices next year.

“We will be making personnel decisions over the next few months, and I see NCE having the ability on a current basis to charge appropriate rates for their courses that would include the custodial bills,” Levy said.

Vice Chair Emily Prenner echoed Parlikar’s sentiment and put the ball in the community’s court, urging people to sign up for classes and donate to NCE if possible.

“I think we all agree that this is an amazing organization, or we wouldn’t be fighting so hard to get you to be successful and survive,” Prenner said. “But we all have to do our part.”

You can watch the whole presentation online.