Members of the Board of Education’s CIP/Facilities/Finance (CFF) Subcommittee went over the financial report for the month of December, as well as updates regarding transportation issues and the Newtown High School roof, during their meeting on Tuesday, January 28.

In her financial report, Director of Business and Finance Tanja Gouveia informed everyone that they have a projected budget of $14,625. BOE and CFF Subcommittee member Shannon Tomai mentioned this during the BOE’s meeting later that night, saying that the projected budget is “pretty low” for this time of year.

Tomai said that this is caused in part by a reduction in the Excess Cost Grant from the federal government, for which they had budgeted 70 percent based on the State’s new formula. However, Gouveia said the reimbursement came in at 59.96 percent, which translated to around a $220,000 reduction. There was no notification from the state regarding the 10 percent reduction in reimbursement, according to Gouveia.

Newtown isn’t alone in dealing with the reduction, as Gouveia noted that other neighboring towns are dealing with the same issue. Superintendent of Schools Anne Uberti added that she has heard a lot of backlash regarding the reduction and that there’s a “real push to reinstate for next year.” Due to the pushback, she said that they should keep the 70 percent in next year’s budget, and see what happens from there.

Gouveia also touched on electricity overages, which are still being shown around $340,000. This is an improvement of around $50,000 compared to the previous month’s negative balance of $390,000. While Gouveia said that she saw slight relief in demand when January’s electricity bills came in, she said that they are “still projecting about 40 percent over budget in demand.”

By the end of the year, she said that they might be looking at a deficit of $350,000. Gouveia noted that they got a new supply rate of $0.96 for one year from the energy company Constellation. She added that the contract is for five years, but that the rate is variable.

Transportation And NHS Roof Update

Gouveia also reported on athletic transportation liquidated damages for the athletic trips not being covered by All-Star Transportation’s contract with the district. The district uses outside transportation services in place of All-Star for trips not covered by their contract.

Gouveia detailed the differentials in what they would have paid All-Star for those athletic trips compared to what they’re actually paying for those outside services, along with recouping the damage fees charged back to All-Star.

According to Gouveia, All-Star has provided 36 percent of the runs from year-to-date. She said that All-Star has been very cooperative and understanding when the damage fees have been presented to them, with Uberti adding that All-Star’s Terminal Manager is very communicative with their responses.

Director of Facilities John Barlow also gave an update on the NHS roof, which he said was 95 percent complete and that they need to wait for warm weather to do the UV coating on the roof. Barlow and the maintenance department had previously gone up to the roof for inspection mid-November since it often has issues when the weather is warm during the day and colder at night. They discovered a 180-foot-long “spider web crack” on the section of the roof above the auditorium that split off into many different directions.

After getting several vendors to investigate, Barlow reported that they all said the roof would “not make it through winter.” Barlow and Uberti then asked the Town for an emergency appropriation, and the allocation for repairs to the roof were approved by the Board of Finance and Legislative Council at a joint meeting on Monday, December 16.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.