BOE Made Smart

Business Choices

To the Editor:

Last week’s article on school finances should have been portrayed as follows:

A 12-page year-end report to the Board of Finance used detailed summary account balances to clearly show that the BOE was returning $1,474 to the town. This illustrates that 100 percent of what the voters approved for education, went to education and included the purchase of textbooks and renovations to the deteriorating middle school auditorium, both of which were not originally in the budget. This information was forwarded in mid-August, a mere month and a half after the close of the fiscal year and the BOE’s review, as compared to other organizations whose results are not available for as much as six months.

The BOE made a smart business decision by locking in fuel oil prices at $1.97 a gallon while a great number of consortium school districts were paying $2.27. This resulted in a balance of $164,000 that was applied to the renovation of the auditorium, which had been closed in February due to safety issues.  Additionally, staff and program development funds were redirected to much-needed textbook purchases.

The town’s budget deliberations wrestled with the best algorithm for considering the complexities of the insurance benefits for more than 620 school district employees with differing premium share payments for several unions. In the end, a 1.4 percent plus or minus variance was deemed acceptable. That variance produced $100,000 for the district this year. Of that, $20,000 came from the elimination of two aide positions in July 2006,  $22,000 was transferred in April to unemployment compensation, another benefits account. The final transfer of $63,000 was part of the year-end closure process, which covered additional textbook purchases.

The report identified remaining balances and several areas of need, such as electricity $98,000, out-of-district tuition $45,000, and custodial services $30,000.

The BOE reluctantly cut $300,000 from its 2007-2008 technology budget by cutting the planned computers for Head O’ Meadow and Middle Gate. For Middle Gate in particular, which struggles with antiquated equipment, this was a serious blow so the BOE transferred $5,000 from the plant equipment account to assist the school in acquiring the hardware necessary to operate donated SmartBoards.

This year-end report provided a recap and brief explanation of the six BOE transfer actions publicly acted on throughout the year. The report included a final transfer recommendation designed to balance the many school accounts to be within a $5,000 range. This was recommended as a housekeeping item due to the fact that the year had ended and expenses “are what they are” by then. Failure to approve these final transfers has no bearing on the bottom line or the activities they encompass.

What should be clear is that the BOE takes its financial stewardship seriously and hides nothing. We are eager to share the way we spend the taxpayer’s dollar and are happy to answer questions when residents and elected officials do not understand our operations.

Ronald J. Bienkowski

Director of Business

31 Peck’s Lane, Newtown                                     September 12, 2007