001one I guess Wanita is missing no I'm here oh okay Teresa is here janell's here Julie's here Kate's here and one is here whoops all of the committee members are are in attended um that being said I'm going to turn the meeting over quickly to and as I said before welcome back Dr Kath yes welcome than you very much over to Mike Weaver I'm not sure whether Angela is on I can't see her name but she is she is okay so why don't you guys start with the statement that's the first item on the agenda sure pull it up here in the screen in case uh someone doesn't have it like I see on my copy the pages were numbered don't know if everybody else had it they should be yes yeah I think that's
002a big Improvement thank you I I didn't get it yeah it's was an attachment it's on the level right hand yeah oh I'm just trying to share my screen here give me one second Teresa is on the email that Cara send send us I mean I got the report but I don't have numbers for p it should be on the top of the right I don't have a top or bottom I don't know if they got cut off in the no my pages are not n either Teresa okay they must have got I was going to get on mic about that because at the last meeting they were Ned and the Hope out that you know very helpful it was it's helpful yeah no didn't cut off they just not mine's not numbered the the
003attachment that I received has numbers on the bottom right corner right same as mine I got like chicken scratches yeah they were numbered thank you Mike that was Angela took the time to to number them by hand because we couldn't figure out how to get it um done electronically but um okay well heard you know I appreciate the effort but they look like scratches and they're not consistent ours are clearly numbered Teresa well it must have been a different document then than what I got okay try to improve it next Mike start with the the comments sure uh yeah so these are the uh the financials for the month ending July 31st um the the most uh significant thing here we'll talk about um in a minute um was a a reclass that we uh
004that we've made in salaries and benefits but for the month um we came in at 8.6 or 8.7 million um for the month which is typically um it's a little bit lower than than where we usually sit and that's due to that year-to-date reclass we'll talk about in a minute um as far as the the year-to date goes uh for the year-to-date expenditures where it's 70.9 so just just about $71 million uh and we have about 80.6 million uh incumbered on top of that against that budget of uh which receives $160 million um that that's putting us at a favorable balance right now so if the um if the year were to end right now we'd have a 8 uh an 8.5 million favorable variance and um again that that variance as we'll see on
005the next page is largely uh driven by uh by salaries um and by by benefits um and this is the page I'm talking about the the summary page uh we'll see here this is the the 8.6 or 8.7 million with the 7071 million expended and the 81 million encumbered Mike can I just interrupt here sure just quickly initially you mentioned it was statement for July January 31st right and the the headings here you have from January 1st 25 to 13125 I I would thinking The Heading should be for something like the seven month period July through January I I think we flip-flopped I think we had it last time and then we said we were going to change it to the month because we're this is presenting the month to date um but whatever is
006easier um this kind of this sheet represents both the month-to date and and the year-to date expenses so okay at the mood point we'll clean that up sure um million doll the8 million is very favorable at this particular Point um are there all right just finish go ahead yeah and and again that eight million is um partially due to a favorable salary um line uh favorable salary lines were about 4.7 4.8 million favorable in salary um that's due to uh two things really one is open positions um but two we have also made a year-to-date reclass taking people uh out of the general fund and putting them correctly uh into the the alliance Grant um Cara Cara had us working through that um that task it took us a little bit longer than usual but
007and along with that we move their benefits um so the benefits are also favorable and that is also because there are open positions so people not having um Insurance because they're not here uh as well as the reclassification of the benefits for the folks that were from uh that went into the the alliance Grant um and then the the last the last very favorable item is a supplies we'll talk about that um shortly but that's driven mostly by um electric uh um favorable variance in electric about $600,000 favorable in electric and I think that's really due to timing as the uh the summer months come and it starts to warm up using more electric we'll be using less fuel to heat the buildings and more electric to cool the buildings um following Pages uh by
008line item um as we typically see every month uh the first section is on salaries and uh I know one of the variances that um we we point out every month was the fact that there were people in an expiring Esser grant that were moved to the general fund um and when the person had moved them over to the general fund instead of allocating them correctly to the the correct uh account codes they put them all in one to keep track of them um and that account code that was used um was part. or part-time printing oh that's yeah that's the $1 million negative number yep so you'll see part-time printing here that's that's the last one um there is there is no budget for part-time printing but you'll see month to date we move1
009and a half million dollar out um there is still one or two positions I think we just we just missed so we'll clean that up um next time but this reclass um Angelo worked on um all month to do um it's it's kind of a a time consuming task to move everyone um moving one person um takes quite a few minutes and you have to kind of take note of the screens move them to make sure they they move correctly so um luckily Angela was was able to uh spend some extra time and and get them moved um in addition to moving all the folks um from general fund into alliance so these these adjustments are important adjustments in a retroactive adjustment although the the initial Accounting in terms of presenting the statement was misconstrued
010so these adjustments now are making Corrections the way they should be therefore distorting particular period for which these things were correct put done in yeah so so yeah so month to date it looks like we had a very a very good month when in reality it's just because uh the year-to date reclassification happened in this one current period um we we try not to do that the best uh the best we can you know to get everything right the first time but um so you'll see that in um in salaries we moved the part-time Printing and then we also moved um benefits here so you'll see that health insurance is also uh favorable again that's due to open positions um and it's also due to the reclassification um of benefits for the folks that were
011in the general fund and now have uh moved over to um to Alliance now Mike previously and I assume you're still in a process of of uh doing doing the cleanup as we talked about before in in going through the variances and understanding some of the Mak of the budget it's and that's how this stuff is coming coming about uh where do you stand in terms of um where do you stand in terms of a completion where you feel you have a good a good handle on the saying that now you know pretty much what's in these budget numbers and they have the actual um appropriately charged against those line numbers you think you need another month or two or Oh yes most definitely yeah and and some of them Rich some of the numbers
012that are in here um we just don't have any notes for so it's very difficult to say you know from a variance perspective um what was being budgeted uh in those lines but um we're we're trying our best as we as we work through the financials and as we see these variances um to dig into them in between you know doing doing the audit and the the budget we're trying to dig into them and kind of and and also Rich you know along those lines as we walk through these um you know Dr kazmo will present her these financials as well and one of the things that we're cognizant of is just to make sure that the narrative that we put forth for the budget um is is holding true um with with our monthly
013financials so that you know the budget that we and we see that here uh two two good lines just to point that out is um unemployment compensation you'll see here has a favorable variance of $18,750 and if you remember when we looked at the at the budget that was one of the lines that I chose to reduce because it looked like um for this current year we were slightly over budgeted so that is that is holding true and conversely workers compensation the line above it um this negative 23,000 um that is that is likely going to um that is likely going to grow uh negative and that is because the the amount of workers compensation that we're experiencing compared to the budget um is is very high so that was an increase in the budget
014just to give you an example of you know some of the other analysis that we do on kind of back of the envelope um as we go through these uh these statements I I do appreciate the work that you're doing you know on this and the time that you've done to to do that in the order in the AUD but again to everybody's point the the more that we we get these numbers cleaned up better off we are so we understand our position um you know get fast this particular hurdle it this time is there anything as I said these numbers are favorable and I personally I'm not going to dwell too much on it because you know the the the the amount of information specifics is is sort of sketchy at this point not
015a derogatory statement but a timing statement because of you guys being new and the amount of work that you've been given but from your field is there anything that any expenses that you feel are should be put a watch on that you know you mentioned workers comp are there any others that may be surprising to us that you would put a watch on and question number two is generally you know this time of year in the past we've had you know spending creases and basically with this size variance you know I'm not sure that there's a spending Tre necessary but that's my only assumption what is your take on what the financial situation is at the end of the seven months yeah I I'm I'm very pleased with how this looks um Rich one area
016that I always um that I always pay attention to um and again it came up in the budget is um tuition for our special education both um private public um uh tuition um that that the expenditures versus budget for last year the expenses were higher than budget and when this budget was being done for the 20 25 year not the one that we're working through right now um instead of the budgeted number increasing to match where our expectations were it was actually lowered so this number here um this 4.3 million um is actually lower than it probably should have been for this year so we do see a negative variance here uh and that is partially offset by by the amount of tuition special education tuition for public schools but it it is always um
017something that that I look at because some of the the placements uh for for special education be can be quite costly um but but overall um no there there's nothing um that's jumping out uh at me um and in respect to a freeze um typically I I from what I've been told in in the past spending freezes typically that conversation comes up in March and April you know as we're approaching the end of the year um however we are looking like we're tracking very favorable um at least in respect to um salaries and benefits um so I wouldn't anticipate it but um you know we we do have to be um good stewards of our of our funds so um that's not to say that they're we're not going to watch them all right apprciate
018that you know we sort of in a damn if you do and damn if you don't situation because ultimately at the end you know we'd like to come out with as close to a break even as possible or have a nominal you know favorable balance but not not too favorable where becomes you know a little hard to justify why your number why you've tried so much for money you haven't spent that much money you know which has been some conversation council meeting so that's why I look at concerned that at the size of the Varian is and pay close attention to these things as we get close Rich excuse me can you talk a little louder okay yeah I'm sorry yeah I was saying that to me the variances are important you know fortunately we
019should be winding up with a positive variance but too much of a positive variance from fact the viit us because people then say you know we haven't spent what we have appropriated or or um we were asking for too much and you know it's all in the nonsense that we have so that's why I look at the experience numbers very closely and and try to gauge what the end of year is going to be to be looked at but that being said I you know in another couple of months again um I would hope that we make more progress and continue cleaning up the these variances and getting to know what's in the budget so that you know we can have a pretty good feel for what the numbers are in total yeah and and
020just to to take note um of you know when you talk about spending freezes I know a lot of our staff that um that purchase supplies will typically wait um to the end of the year to spend their money and then they have you know the spend down before the freeze comes and that's kind of why if you remember on the first page we had a $1.1 million favorable variance in supplies and I said that's driven by two things really instructional supplies um and some timing of our utilities but you'll see here um on just after page four in the top of page five this $485,000 favorable variance in um in instructional supplies um and um when you think about $160 million budget putting a a spending freeze on supplies really doesn't make that much
021sense because um you know the majority of our expenses really are Staffing and benefits you're talking pennies relative to Y Rel the total you know you've explained when I look at your page number I think it's number nine where you lay out the the the monthly uh expenses you know for this month when I saw the $8 million the $8.6 million spend and these are ual you know actual expenditures with mle curs and the months prior or you know talking in double digits close to 156 million that that's that's a big differential so part of part of that difference is attributed to your adjustment yes this is what you're talking about here Rich y yeah right sure if you don't mind I I can't see them so if you um no I initially just want
022to ask regarding this special ed um and all the cutting on budgeting if it's what's going to affect this budget overall but you explain it as far as understand it should should not be a concern at this point right it's just something I'm I'm always um always aware of just because um you know the nature of some of those placements um the dollar value can be very high for for single placements okay thank you sure yeah I was just going to add you know one of the things richer that I think it's important you know when I see such a favorable balance in the salaries and the benefits um we know a lot of that's due to the open positions but also um you know we when we made a lot of moves into alliance
023um in this time around um I think we were very conservative with estimating you know the how much staff we can put in there we put we're able to slide um you know a fair amount of staff in there utilizing the appropriate strategies that were given uh to us the boundaries by the state um which created a little bit of extra room so one of the things that I'm looking at right now and I'm working with Mike is you know we have um I I don't want to have sit on so much salary money when we could be supporting some of the schools um and and you know maybe even getting a head start on some of the things that are critical heading into next year and so there's a few positions that I think
024that we should be getting started with things that were already in the budget for next year um but we don't also don't want to close the year on $8 million in salaries um you know for support so so I think you know we're going to have some conversations about getting some of these supports to the schools up and running um in advance I think if we can because I don't want to see I don't want to see us close the year on a ton of salary and benefits when that could be used to support uh things that are happening now I agree it makes us look bad in terms of our budgeting you know and then you know one year we come up with a huge tradeable and next year you know we're asking for
025more money so basically leads one person to say te you guys know you know what you're doing I was just going to comment on those open position or practicality in terms of what you're hearing relative to the the the industry overall being typed teachers for subs and all the other categories is is a lot of that's still prevailing where the the lack of of Supply um may lead us to not be able to fill those positions although we can afford them uh and therefore wind up with a good favorable variance that's that's part of it um I think I think some of the what's the funds that are there that are available are in part due to the open positions but I also think that you know we were able to absorb Alliance Grant was
026able to absorb uh more positions than we anticipated so it created a pocket some room uh nobody wants to you know mess with us with a little bit of breathing room at the beginning of the school year but as as the year Ticks by and here it's February um if we still have that pocket in room um you know there's definitely some schools um and that could use some support and I have a few in mind um but also you know there are positions in our current budget for next year so for I'll give you a quick for example and I don't want to derail the meeting but you know we have in we're in the process come this spring come June we have to move DHS science wing all the staff all the equipment
027CRC has to go over to the West Building 43 Beaverbrook gets moved this is all equipment people everything um 63 Beaverbrook moves um we have 1,400 students desk their equipment and all of the things and the teachers that go with them must be moved over uh in June and at the same time we have to be have a hiring process that is larger and greater than we've ever had probably in the last 10 years so we have to find a way to onboard and start hiring um the staff that are going to be set for the Academy um if we wait till July 1 that certainly makes it a lot more difficult in the midst of all that um you know disruption but so there's a few positions I think that could help get that
028process started early uh and there's also a few schools that are I would say not use the word on fire but they can definitely use some support um right now for sure so we're we'll we'll continue to monitor this but like I said I I'd hate to sit on 8 million in salaries when we can it can go to use sure no I agree so long as we're on the right track and and feel that you know the the numbers as presented you know we can justify and do that so I agree 100% thank you Mike um my my concern is the purchasing at the last minute um being a city employee we have to get our purchases in I mean I think supplies are very basic you know you can you know what you
029need pretty much you know be by the by Springtime what you're going to need in in the fall and I think there should be a um early date to submit supplies requests so because this seems to hold up our um books into next year instead of closing our our books in a timely fashion because you have outstanding purchase orders that's that's what I'm getting at we really should be more mindful getting those orders in as by a certain date and that and not so much into the summer like by May is what the library has to do so and I realize you've got a lot more buildings to consider um but still I think everybody can get make a good uh have a good idea what they need for the fall yeah that that's a
030great Point um one of the reports that we were um able to find in in our system in Tyler Technologies um is called an aging a PO aging report and it shows um you know how long certain POS all the various POS have been uh have been opened and we do see that at the end of the year there are people that put POS in for the current year and I think that goes back to an an old thought process that doesn't really exist anymore is hey let's um let's wait for the last minute and whatever we have we'll just hurry up and buy um but you're right that does add a significant um difficulties in in the year end so exactly what you said is what we talked about um you know that in
031May listen if you need something um supplies in nature please let us know put the requisition in we'll approve it in order it otherwise you know we shouldn't be entering posos in on June 28th just to earmark that money um because if it's not really a liability then we can't encumber that money that's a great point all right thank thank you any more questions on the financial stat if not then let's move on to the branch yeah um uh Angela I know you're um you're on here if you want to jump in at any time you can um I'll give um an introduction so th this uh this sheet here um is what we've been reporting on um previously since certainly since I've started um and it essentially it lists each one of the grants
032um what the what the budget was um the year-to-date amount spent the encumbrance and kind of that budget balance um and as I was running this report after I ran it a few times I said well it's it's kind of confusing because some of these grants are one year some of them are two years some of them end in December December some end in uh you know May 31st some of them um have other different dates um and then to to further that it was pointed out that some of these are are State um grants some of these are federal some of these are private grants um so we knew now for for some time that the way that we report our grants kind of needed to be changed so as I was uh discussing
033this with Angela um Angela said well I have a great idea I I used to keep track just as you're saying um in the other District I was at and it seemed to be very helpful why don't we kind of repeat that here let me put everything together it took some time uh and then present it to to the board and get their feedback um and that's what we did so we've included both of them um this is our our report here that we usually have it's the last three pages um but the report I want to look at is the new one and this is uh let's see this is uh page 10 and essentially it has your entitlement funding so your um first section here um are your grants it has listed out
034whether it's state or federal who the person is here that kind of oversees that the award period the length of the grant so whether it is like I said that onee or two-year Grant or perhaps something else the date that it expires and the current uh the current budget um here and I think maybe the only piece that we might want to add to this is um year-to date what we've expended so far so we kind of H know where we are um the second column here is the carryovers so from the previous year if there is any carryover again listed the grant um here we'll see that these are um are all federal but again to the extent that we have the person responsible for a grant listed the award period the length expiration
035date and um and what the the carryover budget was um and then lastly there are some um miscellaneous grants that we had listed here um we tried to keep it consistent with uh the grand type the person period length expiration um and and budget so um with that I turn it over to the the board andless Angela you want to add anything on you know what can you pull up the one I sent you through email that's the one I sent to Rich last week we separated uh federal and state subtotal those and uh made a grand total column um line at the end pulling it up right now um yeah okay so under the entitlement we separated um federal and state subtitled those carryover is all federal subtotal that and miscellaneous Rich called them
036local so I added that and uh gave it a grand total so this further can we have that CH can we have that chart yes yeah this is the most recent that we I've asked Angela to to modify with the the the subtotals U on each of the categories but previously I think it was in the last meeting or the conversation I had with Mike and Angelo about trying to and we've had other discussions periodically with the committee members talking about somehow breaking up the grants in terms of categories so we had a better feel but this what Angela has done has been fantastic because it takes into account you know conversations that I've heard where people wanted to know what the period was who's responsible for it so know I I tend to think
037you know with the exception of and I agree with Mike maybe could add to this another column so that's a year date actual but this really gives us a tremendous insight as to the the grants and who's responsible for them and the period endings uh and this is something that over the course of time we we've been talking about so I'm very happy and thank Angela for for this work welcome but you know I I would think that the in terms of going ahead I off the top of my head we don't have to make a clear decision tonight but the first summary could be made and this one can be continued to to have because it's already reference just adding the a final column next to the budget as to what the Year date
038you know has been so far uh but again we can talk about that in the near future that you know how we want to modify this further or collectively from the committee what they'd like to see in terms of the the reporting um so I'll leave that as a final thought for you and then you can get back to me with emails as to you know how you'd like to see the the format percent but I I think we've come a long way from taking into account conversations that we had putting something together I'm very happy appreciate great great uh great job Angela I think this is exactly what we were we were looking for yeah fantastic and it also goes to show you know when you look at the amount of money that we
039spend for Education it it's not only the appropriation that we get but it's the the the appropriation plus it's the the a grant that that we add to that plus it's how much the city you know spends on on their their maintenance and things for us so when you put those numbers together there's a lot of money that we put together in the city here for to Ed educate our kids and sometimes we don't you know really support that number or show just how much we're you know we're spending on education with the caveat that we're not spending enough but that that being said does anybody have any comments on the Grant I would just like to say that um the grants and the identification the category Angela and um Mike it's great it's great
040to see this because over the last four years as committees and board members has asked to have this formated like this and it it's taken almost four years to get to this court so I just want to say thank you yeah you know to to your point glad it's I haven't been on the board as long as you have but when I first got on the board being a Private Industry I thought the transition in in understanding when you make a recommendation to it it fulfillment would be quickly you know reasonably quickly as it is in Private Industry then after 17 or whatever the years I'm on the board it's a slow process you know uh to to really get something to get something changed or to get something done but as long as they'll
041make them progress I think that's that's a good thing so job well done guys I appreciate it it was all Angela but even on the statements Mike I know the audits have taken a long time and and getting familiar with the you know with the district being new uh the you under um you know I think we're getting there and and it's so important to me that we have the numbers under our belts and be assured of them because we're at the same time we're coming up the presentation to defend our own budget uh and so I I think that's very important that we know where we are as opposed to where we want to go absolutely okay so the second item on the agenda that I have is audit and the reason I put
042the audit on there I know you get tired of hearing the the that the audit and the 23 audit was completed but my point was in just last I think it was last night I couldn't make it there was an ad hoc committee um on the the audit committee which I believe Mike attended the reason I put this on is because the 24 audit is is to be completed and we don't have to have monthly updates on the audit but since it's a very time consuming manh hour type of type of venture I I think it's important for us to know the status period periodically as to where we stand on that so that that's why I just stuck it on here knowing that we had the ad Hawkin might can fill us in on
043some of any information last night that was C I'd appreciate it yeah sure um Dr casmiro and I attended the meeting last night um and it was the first part of it at least was Scott Basset who is the partner at RSM presenting um a um a slide deck on on the actual audit itself I have a copy of it um if anyone would like I could make a photoc copy or Rich if you'd like to come pick one up I I took one for you as well um as far as um the the audits go um in respect to DPS the only thing that was mentioned um was a material weakness for danburry public schools um and that was relating to the Cyber incident um which keeps coming back to us um so and
044that's just to note the the Control process that the Cyber incident happened um other than that there were no major findings um for for DPS um the meeting was um restricted to talk talking just about the 2023 audit but I think it's a good idea to um for us to present and just let you know where we stand um the the next audit will be 2024 we're hoping to kick it off shortly um we expect that to be done within uh six months the city uh has their team fully staffed um we've bridged a significant Gap in building a relationship between the finance team at the city and our team um we currently host um Joe anster um who is the assistant over there um she was here today she's here um tries to be
045here at least once a week um and her and I and Angela talk um on a daily basis to try to get these um these requests fulfilled as quickly as possible um and while we were doing the 2023 audit um to the extent that we could we were getting the 2024 um Affairs in order so that when we do kick off uh shortly um we're we're ready to go um and we can make that six-month um six-month deadline um so I think there will be a final Scott Basset said there will be a final audit report issued um either Thursday which is tomorrow or Friday the following day um and that should be available for a public release Mike let me ask you the the issue of bank reconciliations is is that progressing so that
046they're getting to a point where they're almost up to date or what do we stand on yeah so when I when I first found out that the bank reconciliations weren't being done um the the closest that I saw that one was being attempted was back to um 2021 there was a um one done for the financial audit in 2022 but it wasn't by month um we worked with uh CLA who is our um audit partner um to help us get those done um they did 23 free for us um there are as you know or may not know there are several bank accounts that um that we reconcile in addition to having all of the Student Activity accounts which are kind of on the side um we have separate accounts for um Educational Services uh
047a separate account for school lunch separate account for Grants and then DPS general fund has two accounts one for operating and one for payroll so those are the five um accounts that have to get reconciled um and each one of them um are reconciled by month now um and Devin who is the individual from um CLA who's helping um he is um up to date on the 2024 um the plan is um we have someone here that's we have under um an agency contract and she's helping with um a lot of the minutia but she's also helping with um the audit work um the idea is to have her trained by the individual at CLA on how to perform the bank reconciliations um and then when we can finally backfill that position have her train
048um the new person so that this never happens again and then they'll be reviewed on a on a monthly basis going forward so um yeah very very pleased um to have just about two years worth of B insulations done in in a few months so it's still a work in progress to get us up to a current is that correct yeah it'll it'll always be you know we'll always be lagging about a month behind just okay the other question I have is there were some conversations earlier way earlier in the year relative to schedule pable schedule trial balances and some negative comments relative to the The District in terms of the inability to have these sary records you know reconciled for the control phes that been at least cleaned up for you're comfortable that the
049subsidiary records are at a point where TR out of the control yeah a big part of that rich was actually the bank reconciliations not being done because what was happening is there were transactions that were hitting the bank that were not hitting the general ledger so the the ledgers that were being reported to the city weren't accurate because the entries weren't done so as we clean up these um these Bank reconciliations we're doing the entries so that that they're um ready to ready to to go um the other thing is um Joanne at the city um has access now to um our financial database so she's able to see and make sure that the numbers on their side and our side tick and tie um so yeah no they they they will uh that will
050not hold us up um this time and and in addition um in speaking with uh RSM the the auditor they were asking in the very beginning for the trial balances and um the city has asked that we are able to deliver the trial balances at the the second portion I don't know if you remembered enough so not during the um the initial findings but kind of in the um in the audit work in the field work as we as we go so I think we're very um very well poised for this audit and there's nothing um that I can see that would hold us up past that uh six-month part and none of the adjustments or any material adjustments that are going to affect any of our numbers so far correct um so for 2023
051there there was a balance General in the educational account right now it's about 7.9 million dollar favorable um and that was due to some entries that were put in that were subsequently reversed um when we when we actually closed out and had the statement audited okay um Teresa uh excuse me Teresa been had her hand up for the longest I just want to be clear the 2023 audit is done is that correct yes um we will final report on on Thursday or Friday from RSM and now we started the 2024 audit correct uh we haven't kicked it off yet but it it is um coming very shortly why isn't it kicked off uh there needs to be an um an engagement letter signed between RSM and the city so as soon as they're done issuing
052that they'll um I guess the city and RSM will come together get an engagement letter and sign we'll do the kickoff okay so we're done with 2023 so we're good thank you yes ma that's why I put that on there Teresa they could sleep nights all right the next I want to make sure I understood I didn't get that wrong yeah yeah and gladus keeps saying why do you keep putting the audits on there when it's over so the the the next item on the agenda is what I refer to is the reserve summary the reason I I asked for that was not necessarily Mike that you have the schedule tonight but I think it's important that we as a district and as a board get a Reconciliation between what the district and the City
053of Danbury has as a reserve number five specific items and the reason I say that is one we should be in agreement with with these numbers number two you know it it I might my personal feeling that we're over reserved on the insurance but that that's only an assumption on my part but and thirdly depending on where we end this budget year it may be if we need funding that may be something if we have reserves in there that are not necessary for us to keep those reserves we may be able to request them you know to be part of an allocation to us to to mitigate some of the differences if there any so that was the the reason for it and whenever you timetable allows if you and Dan can get together reconcile
054it and then present that schedule to us I'd appreciate it sure the other account is the indicated that we were going to hold off funding that um right now at least the the my last estimate was about $2.1 million that we could want you make the entry put into that account where do we stand on uh opening that account or getting close to the funding it on your comfortability of the financial statement yeah so the uh the account is open um it is uh in the same institution that the rest of our accounts are in um it is uh ready uh ready to be funded um and I I think it was uh last meeting perhaps the one before where we said we were going to um to wait until we began this audit and
055really got a much better um understanding of the 2024 final number um to make that transfer okay all right so still working progress the next item I guess I address to Dr casamera as as we stand right now with with the uncertainty of the the appropriation that we were asking for are we still on target to open the Westside campus next September or do you think there's a are I mean so unless I get an indication from the city otherwise um you know we we have to open that building uh you know and and we're Slow Rolling we're are slow rolling up the grade so as I mentioned before instead of going you know all grades 10 11 and 12 we're doing grades 10 and 11 that cuts back a little bit on some of
056the Staffing so it kind of saves a little bit um not a ton saves a little bit and then it also helps a little bit with the busing uh although the kids you know the kids are still here whether they're on either campus but um there could be some cost savings there but um you know we're definitely you know I I haven't got received any you know kind of word yet at all on on what the you know broad numbers could be um you know I know that there's folks working very hard to do everything that they can but it remains to be seen you know the our funding levels will dictate our ability to to move forward with a lot of things so right now we're still on schedule we're still on schedule I'm
057I'm operating as if we are opening we have in my mind there's no plan B um you know yeah yeah and the next question again to you is with all of the the publicity that you're hearing on a national level about the the Department of Education the possibility of federal funding being there and not being there um is is there anything that youve heard that's definitive or is it still business as usual until we we heard yeah well you know we are we're we're on pins and needles a little bit with with with hearing if there's you know what else is developing we we know that there was a a College sart University got a program kind of wiped out from underneath them because it was very much focused on um on uh you know
058diversity in hiring and special education so they I think they lost several million dollars um but you know right now we haven't received anything what we have received is a letter that most um districts have received uh which I'll be sharing in the board packet it's a dear colleague letter from the Department of Education Office of civil rights that basically states that if anybody is engaging in any related Dei activities or makes any decisions based on race hiring scholarships supplements um extra supports you know admissions testing anything that they could lose their funding uh we have two grants that um by by just by the name of the title alone um would probably be flagged and that's the increasing educator diversity grants we have two of those uh We've contracted with a teacher Residency program
059that that has taken a long time to get off the ground the state has been very slow to so this this Pro teacher residency program that we're supposed to use has been now now available we've contracted with them uh for a couple of teachers it's like maybe 50,000 a teacher uh We've signed a contract so you know I think we're on the hook for that but yet we haven't in they have we have not been invoiced because the program hasn't started the pro program doesn't start until the end of the year so um it remains to be seen whether that money gets clawed back um or if it's your money but you know if you spend it you can get yourself into into trouble so we have a lot of questions I have a list
060of questions that I'll be sending to some of our state representatives uh we accepted money for a grant for an ed Rising program which is also kind of part of a minority pipeline I don't know if that's going to continue to be funded um so I'm just trying to tread we're kind of in a holding pattern with treading on further committing to programs because we don't want to sign contracts and do things if the if the money's not going to be there or if it puts us in jeopardy for federal loss of federal funding so um you know I had some other superintendant calling me I had some other folks in districts calling me just yesterday and today to talk it through we're all sort of in this similar boat um one thing that's interesting
061to note is that you know I know that there's been some things out there written that title one wouldn't be affected however Connecticut Title One and the entitlement grants title um Connecticut overlays an additional layer in the Grant and I know know this because these are some of my grants that I that I operate um and they make you sign you have to have an affirmative action uh packet on file with the state all of your assurances they're called and so uh we have that and whenever we do sign off on any the entitlement grants I have to sign an ATT test as an insurance that we have an affirmative action and that we follow these this this um we follow that edict and um I don't know you know if kinetic is going to
062have to reissue their grants and minus those assurances or if that's going to affect the money that pass through from the feds um again all remains to be seen but um you know we we're in a bit of a holding pattern the letter that we were sent states that we have two weeks to review are policies grants third-party vendors that we might be dealing with that engage in Dei practices so a third-party vendor uh could put us in Jeopardy for their practices is if we sign contracts with them so I'm not sure how you know we have to go back and look at all of our contracts to see what their mission and vision and mantras are um for their practices but um it's very complicated and um you know we're working through it horrendous
063in addition to the possibility of loss of funding we've got manh hour law oh it's it's incredible it's incredible I thank you for the update you know it was just something that because of the current event is very very current and so I appreciate the update and as you move along and know more just keep us in yeah hand up I think Anita has her hand up yes thank you um I'm glad you're feeling better carara so a question for you um are you hearing anything out there or are you aware of um any unfunded mandated programs that may be coming down the pike um that may affect our budget unfunded mandated programs well there's a lot right now in legislation um there's a there's a bunch of things you know it's hard to it's
064hard to really know what has legs yet you know just yet um there's a lot of folks you know testing to you know testifying on special education um there are some things um the PA professional there was a there was something on the table around PA of professionals that the minimum salary had to be $61,000 um to pay a fair wage I mean even what we're proposing in our budget doesn't even get close to that I don't even think we're at half the halfway mark there um but something like that could be pretty pretty big for us and but like also most other districts it would put people out of business and so those while they're scary in terms of the the Financial cost because they're so extreme um and they don't you know there's
065no phase in they usually don't get enough traction to get voted in um but there there are some things on there and I can go back and look um there was nothing on there that jumped out just yet but there's so many bills on the table right now uh and they and they morph through the course of the session based on testimony and so we'll know a little bit more as the session comes to a close what looks like it's has some teeth thank you of course any other questions before we move on if not my last question again you directed Dr with regard to the a budget what I call advocacy advocacy plan have you scheduled any any presentation to to groups particularly as you did last year and such a great job to
066the ad hoc Committee of the council or the council and other people to you know Enlighten them about the budget and get more support from our budget is there any timetable or or events that you have currently put together or will put together sure so we just recently did a presentation through in conjunction with PT with the Citywide PTO um so some folks uh were able to to watch that and it was videotaped so that's been circulating around a bit um which is good I would like to see that linked on to our website um we have I know uh Mike seeling is not on but um we wanted to schedule two at least two Community conversations I think we're going to talk about that in the community subcommittee community relations subcommittee to have a
067a community conversations in the in the same manner that we have done before um to do one in English but then also to host kind of a a multicultural uh event where uh we have you know we're a chalk full of uh translators and folks that can help with with translating um so that we're you know we're able to reach uh more of our parents um I have a at my next admin council meeting coming up with all of the administrative staff we have a presentation going through there and then um of course I have some something planned for the internal school system as a whole um but I think what's going to be key I think this year is as we get closer to the city uh Citywide presentation um that's when um I
068think some additional you know some additional opportunities to engage um the other thing I'm doing is is I have some uh appointments scheduled individual schools to to work with principales but then also to be available to the staff members as well um for open dialogue just conversation mostly around a budget but but just to kind of hear concerns that they have particularly around climate and Staffing which are very big right now so I think in the in the community uh Relations Committee I think the goal there is to identify some dates and some other some other events out in the community uh that work for the board and and also work with my schedule okay great one one thought years ago uh South pest gella I remember dur one year had a TV we did
069it somewhere in the the building building or at the high school I forget where where he filmed different different subjects with different people is is and then it it died it was never never resurrected after after that um maybe Ken knows the the medium and how to do that but it's that may be is a thought that may be something where you could do the presentation of the budget there and put it on a website so that it's you know that people could see it and yeah again now reach the audience sorry Rich um you just triggered a memory last year I sent a community letter out um and I embedded the link to the city council presentation and I got so much of a response from that from the par you know because they
070clicked it it was a letter it was kind of an all call please kind of watch the video and that went over well and that might be I definitely would like to replicate that and we were able to send it out in multiple languages we did the the um our folks at the registration Center did the voiceover that was important because you know all of the community heard for the budget so um that's another thing but I agree you know one really good well filmed uh presentation gets a lot of viral traction and can be posted on multiple sites so I think that might be a really good strategy great thank you um is there to the committee members are there any other questions that you want to have relative to the agenda tonight if
071not I don't know I thought I saw Al but if there are any other committee non-committee members or board members who want to ask a question are there any out there who has a question it's not then Mrs Cooper before I entertain a motion to to adjourn I say it's 7:05 and I had seven items on the agenda so I kept it with five minutes after one hour so well quickly try to be as efficient as possible you did great it was great can I I just want to say that uh Dr um the superintendent did a present ation to Citywide PTO and we had had a workshop before that and I really enjoyed the uh presentation made as Citywide PTO and as I spoke to her about it and we talked about that presentation
072and how it was very clear and it came to me and she says well you know it's hard to try to manage this the meeting and you know keeping up with people and I really got a good feeling and understanding at that presentation and I just want to give kudos to her and the way she presented it and Mike was there and I also I forgot to uh to announce Wanita and I forgot Wanita was on the thing and Wanita I'm sorry but uh it was a good presentation to Citywide PTO thank you thank you very much could we entertain a motion to aduring come on 36 give me one so mov great thank you wait a minute who who Moved wait a minute oneita moved okay favor