Alvarez & Marsal presented to the Savannah‑Chatham County finance committee a phased plan to overhaul the district's financial management, focusing on better use of the Munis enterprise system, building a financial model, and introducing 0‑based budgeting and stronger cross‑department governance.

"My name is Sheena Gordon Roberts. I'm a senior director at Alvarez & Marsal," Roberts said, opening the second phase of the engagement and describing three objectives: executive advisory and project management, change management and capacity building, and improved financial capabilities including a long‑term financial forecast model and a transformed budget process.

Roberts said the immediate action phase will concentrate on foundational finance tasks through the end of the calendar year: inventorying finance policies and procedures, requesting refreshed data to build a financial model, developing tools and templates for a 0‑based budget exercise, and analyzing procurement, accounts payable and payroll workflows. She said A&M will increase its on‑site presence in Savannah to validate processes and document system gaps.

"We'll be submitting a data request to get some additional information and refresh of information that we already have to start building that financial model that will help project the financial outlook of the district," Roberts said. She described a March–June testing window and said the goal is for A&M to "work itself out of a job" by June after district staff take on operations.

District leaders and A&M emphasized coordination across finance, talent/human resources and IT. Julian, who led the governance discussion, described a PMO methodology and said the district will use a cross‑functional approach and "champions" in each department rather than rely on a single Munis gatekeeper.

Dr. Watts highlighted the need to make Munis "work for us," noting the system was purchased in 2019 and that updates since then mean modules previously unavailable may now address some gaps. "We don't want to be sold anything," Dr. Watts said of the vendor showcase planned for Nov. 18, and said the district will ask Munis to demonstrate current capabilities rather than accept a sales pitch.

Board members asked for training and clearer dashboards so they can read executive reports critically. Roberts agreed to provide board training on monthly reports and said A&M will be on hand during future finance committee meetings to answer questions and help bake the contractor's work into the new budget process.

The committee also pressed for broader inclusion of compensatory and Title I staff in the rollout. A board member noted Title I manages an annual budget "over $16,000,000" and said that office needs a permanent seat at the table. Dr. Watts acknowledged that Title I and related grant managers have not always been fully included and committed to bringing them more actively into the finance and ROI conversations.

Payroll and human resources discussions produced two concrete data points: district staff reported roughly 6,000 employees total and that about 100–150 employees per pay period still choose paper checks; leaders said outreach and a campaign with a local credit union had reduced but not eliminated that number.

On procurement, A&M said the district currently uses Bonfire for solicitations and that while consolidation onto Munis is a possible future path, the near‑term plan is to optimize existing tools and explore integrations rather than promise immediate replacement of Bonfire.

The committee discussed capital projects and funding options including bonds; leaders warned that access to cash is only one constraint and that project sequencing, available swing space for students, and project management capacity limit the number of simultaneous capital projects.

A&M laid out a next‑steps list that includes immediate meetings with finance and HR, standing up project‑management tracking, participating in the Nov. 18 Munis showcase, inventorying policies and procedures, and continuing to develop budget templates and the financial model. The committee tentatively set the next finance committee meeting for the morning of Jan. 14 before the board meeting.

No formal motions or votes were taken during the presentation. The session closed with agreement to bring grant, Title I and principal‑supervisor engagement into upcoming work so the district can align financial processes with instructional goals.