Despite Finance Board Request—

School Board Funds Go To Supplies Not Shared Shortfall

By Eliza Hallabeck

A portion of the Board of Education’s meeting on Tuesday, March 16, was spent discussing where money previously reported to the Board of Finance as frozen went since the finance board requested the school board’s help covering the town’s roughly $800,000 state funding shortfall.

The finance board first broached the topic during its special meeting on February 25. During the meeting, finance board member Martin Gersten moved to recommend the school board encumber any funds frozen or perceived to be at risk to offset reduced state funding for the town, which resulted in an $805,979 shortfall.

First Selectman Pat Llodra and Finance Chair John Kortze believed the most fair way to proceed was to apportion the overall revenue loss across both the town and the school sides of the budget, which would equate to a $268,659 loss on the town’s side.

 At the February 25 meeting, Mr Gersten later tabled his motion in response to Board of Education Chair Lillian Bittman requesting time to discuss the idea with her board.

The topic came before the school board at its on March 2. At the time, school board Vice Chair Kathryn Fetchick and board Secretary Debbie Leidlein spoke to what helping the town would mean for the collaboration between boards. Board member David Nanavaty was hesitant to give money to the town until knowing whether the town would have a surplus in its budget. The topic ended with Ms Fetchick requesting a financial report from Dr Robinson.

“We froze everything in October,” said Dr Robinson at the February 25 finance board meeting, while explaining the school districts’ reaction to a shortfall in state funding through the Special Education Excess Cost Grant. “We took this very seriously. We don’t have any money that is going to be surplus.”

Mr Kortze said at the end of the February 25 meeting that the topic would be moot if the school board spent the money before reporting back to the finance board, after asking to the school board to acknowledge the intent of the request.

“We’ll be more ethical than that,” Ms Bittman said in reply.

On Wednesday, March 17, Dr Robinson said the original amount of money projected for the shortfall was roughly $600,000, however, the shortfall was reported to the Board of Education on Tuesday, March 16, as being $103,440.

To cover that amount, she said, money was held back in little areas since the October freeze. At the school board’s meeting on Tuesday, Dr Robinson said it was inappropriate to have called the spending limit a freeze.

Items eligible for the Excess Cost Grant are special education transportation, special education tuition, special education trainers, special education assistants and speech/hearing professional services. Money budgeted in 2009–2010 for those services was $2,888,467. The actual projected costs by January 2010 were $3,567,342, causing a deficit of $678,875.

The Excess Cost Grant, according to the state, reimburses school districts for the reasonable costs of special education for a student who lives in the district that exceeds the district’s average per pupil expenditures for the preceding year.

On Tuesday, Dr Robinson reported to the school board the projected Excess Cost Grant amount expected was $1,937,068, which would offset the school budget’s deficit, leaving a $2,593 shortfall.

“These are all based on the counts from January,” Dr Robinson said.

As of February, expected expenditures will increase the shortfall to $103,440, according to Dr Robinson.

“A Lot Of Changes”

After being questioned by Ms Fetchick as to how the deficit went from $2,593 to the larger amount, Dr Robinson said the $103,440 is additional expenditures the district is anticipating between now and the end of June. That amount is not reimbursable through the Excess Cost Grant.

“These are costs that will come in, and they don’t go above the threshold to give us any additional reimbursement,” said Dr Robinson.

Ms Leidlein asked Dr Robinson whether the lower amounts held under restriction for the previously frozen funds, represented whether the rest of the money had been spent.

Dr Robinson explained the funds had been obligated.

“Are we not freezing?” asked Ms Fetchick. “I saw a lot of changes. The last time we had this report we had $270,000 plus in supplies and now we are down to $104,000. A $160,000 change in one month seems to be a big change to me.”

The district ran out of toilet paper, paper towels and more, according to Dr Robinson, who added every purchase went through scrutiny.

“I should never have used the word freeze, because freeze denotes that everything just came to an absolute halt,” said Dr Robinson.

The campaign against the H1N1, Dr Robinson said, was so successful the school district went through paper towels much faster than normal, as one example of needed supplies.

“We have had some expenditures, and we will continue to have expenditures,” said Dr Robinson.

The school board, Ms Fetchick said, spoke to the finance board and informed them the funds would be frozen until the school board responded to the request for assistance.

“Now it appears that is not the case,” Ms Fetchick said.

There are also things the school board needed to buy, according to Ms Bittman, and said the spending was for supplies.

Ms Fetchick requested a list of what went on during the month of February from Interim Director of Business Ed Arum, before the school board unanimously approved the monthly financial report.

On Wednesday, Dr Robinson said she never said there was money to give back to the town.

“[Dr Robinson] always made it very clear that we were at a point of running out of many supplies,” said Board of Education Chair Lillian Bittman, also on Wednesday.

Without seeing paperwork showing that the previously discussed $400,000 to $500,000 funds (as of February) the school board was holding to cover its expected deficit were used on supplies, Board of Finance Chairman John Kortze asked if the burden of a shortfall should be born by one side or by the town as a whole.

“The town is in a very difficult spot,” said Mr Kortze. “We are not alone. Every town is in a difficult spot.”

Towns are looking at less revenue from anticipated revenue areas, including state funds.

“You can address it, and try to deal with it,” Mr Kortze said. “Or you cannot address it and put that burden on the already over-stressed tax payer.”

Since first bringing the idea to the school board, Mr Kortze said the finance board has heard nothing on the topic.

“We should have at least been able to have the discussion,” Mr Kortze said.