001We're live. Morning, today is Thursday, April 23rd, 2026. Uh this is a special meeting of the Board of Education Finance Committee. Uh we will start with We don't do public comment, right? Not until >> We'll start with a review of the March 2026 financial report. Which Uh so this is the financial report through March. We do show a positive balance of $342,027, uh which is an increase of $67,248 from the prior month. Uh the changes include $80,000 public tuition for a placement that did not occur. Um athletic transportation is trending below budget by 15,900. Uh some sports didn't use uh less transportation than anticipated. Uh public tuition has a placement savings of 9,754. We have some step and level savings in uh middle school student interest and theater stipends of 6,927. Uh we have some
002step and level savings at um some honor society stipends and student government stipends of 4,666. Uh and then there's a recommendation for a transfer of $50,000 for decodables at the elementary school. Um overall the general education RCs are forecasted in a deficit of 9,685. And the special education RCs are forecasted in a positive 351,711. Uh just moving through the RCs real quick. As I mentioned, RC 1 and 3 has some step and level savings uh for some of those various clubs and student interest clubs. Um in RC 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10, uh we are forecasting that projected deficit of $10,000 to fund decodables at each of the schools. Um RC 11, as I mentioned, um transportation is forecasted uh below budget as there were savings in soccer, basketball, volleyball, football, and cheer in
003terms of transportation. Uh RC 24, as I mentioned, tuition public schools has a positive balance of 89,974. 9,754 came from one placement that was less than anticipated. And then $80,000 from a placement that did not occur. Um estimated revenues for the state of Connecticut for excess cost is still at 67.93%. Um we are waiting for the final installment, which uh we will receive at the end of May. Um and those are the changes for the month. Thanks, Rich. Just a couple quick things. Um one was on uh the athletics RC 11. The $16,000 of savings, roughly, just on transportation, what drove that? Uh so it was uh some of the teams didn't make it as far into the playoffs as one would expect. Um so it's really just usage of uh buses for the various
004sports. And then on the um the state the RC 24 reimbursement, this the 67.93 Is that we're going to get an update at some point on that with an actual when? I can't remember when that is. >> get the last installment the very last week of May. Um so right around Memorial Day, and then that's when it becomes the final amount. Um so we did include in the packet the estimated revenues. It's still at 67.93. We've received 75% of what we're anticipated to spend uh or receive already. That came uh in February, and then that balance comes at the end of May, and then it will be finalized. Great, thank you. Other questions? Hi, Rich. Good morning. Thank you. Uh Decodables, I take it, are some type of phonics type textbook. >> Uh so if
005you recall at a board meeting, I think uh maybe two board meetings ago, uh there was a discussion about the decodables at the school level. Um and so uh there's a request now to kind of speed up that purchase. Um and so we're recommending $10,000 per school. Um if the board approves the transfer. They're they're very small short books with uh phonics patterns built in for repetition for fluency work. Thank you. For it's generally K through third K through two where you would use them. Um on the topic of decodables, um you know, I know that you've been in discussion with the PTOs about maybe them also uh donating some of the decodable some additional decodable books. And I'm wondering since we still have uh you know, a surplus of $342,027, would would the district
006be better served purchasing all of them? Um if it's considered curriculum, usually the PTOs give things that are nice to have, but I would assume that decodables as part of the curriculum are a need to have. Yeah, they're certainly a need to have, and and what we need to have, we do. Um the discussion with the PTOs came as a result of kids not taking them home as frequently as parents would like to see, and frankly as we would like to see. So it is a little more than uh a little more than need, uh but we certainly can. I mean, it's not we can shift it uh if the board supports that. We can modify the transfer um and add the additional funding from there. I mean, that's one thing I would support. >>
007I had requested uh after conversations with CDSP each PTO [clears throat] to consider a $5,000 donation to support uh the purchase of additional decodables. So it would have been $25,000 more uh going to the purchase. So this 50 plus another 25,000. From the PTOs? 25 from the PTOs. >> Yeah. And we can certainly just do it from, you know, we can modify the transfer, make it 75 instead of 50, and go back to the PTOs and say there's no need for the donation. Um I mean, it's just curricular, and I know that, you know, every once in a while this sort of thing comes up. I feel like the last time was maybe about bike racks. Uh the or maybe yeah. >> That was when Duke was chair. Yeah, um the uh high school PTO
008was going to donate more uh bike racks, and the board felt that that is something that should be uh provided by the district. And so they said, "Thank you, but we're going to do it ourselves." Um and I sort of feel like this falls in that same category. Um I mean, it's a good question. How should we be thinking about like PTO money versus money that's spent by the district? Um Is there Are there decodables in next year's budget? We have books in next We won't need We won't need We're already buying decodables. This would be This is covers everything. It's a push on adding decodables. Okay. Um They're They're paperbacks, though. They're They're >> paper So they are essentially consumable, and and having >> [clears throat] >> a good supply because we know that
009some of them are not going to make it back to school when they go back and forth. So I I I like your idea, Joanna. I I I think that's warranted. So you're suggesting you agree with the idea of increasing to 75,000, going back to the PTOs saying we don't need the 25, or Yes. And And or I mean, it's a it's a kind of a fine line between we asking maybe the PTOs they're going to raise that money. Like where else would that money go, I guess, like the 25,000 from the PTOs? >> not our money. It's the PTOs' money. >> And they hadn't gotten back to me to say whether all five schools were able to do it. So that was at the last meeting, which was two weeks ago, last week. The
010week before >> Week before break. I think they were fairly optimistic that they'd be able to, from what I could tell. >> we Why don't we hear back so we've got full information, and then we can decide when we're going to >> think it's the principle of it. They all have The PTOs don't need me to defend them. They all have tons of money in their reserve that they need to spend down for their 501(c)(3) um status. I just don't know if it's appropriate to have them um subsidize curriculum. Cuz these are books not just to keep in the library that the Like if you have a book fair, a teacher might have a wish list. And then you go and you buy >> sort of like a bigger topic though around PTO spending and
011where that money should be going if cuz there's it goes to other places, right, that are involved in >> Uh it goes to nice to have. So like recently the Hinley PTO donated money to redo the teachers' lounge. That's not something necessarily that as a board, I think we would count as a priority. And if it was not um redone, then I nothing bad would happen, right? It's literally a nice to have. That's what the PTO money um should be used for. >> So is there another nice to have that we could >> I mean I I would go back to our principals and have that conversation. Okay. Would So, Joanna, would you see the like supplementing classroom libraries like at the book fair that I mean, that's like one book by one parent. This
012is asking an organization that has raised money from parents already to take their funds to support our curriculum, um which I think in principle is not in the spirit of how things should be done. If we feel as a district that these books are necessary, and I think we've been told in more than one meeting that they are, then as a district we should be >> Did we Did we ask the PTOs Did we initiate the ask, or did they come to us? >> initiated the discussion. And then I went to them the ask >> Okay. after identifying $50,000 on our end as like a cost share thing. So that's obviously that's a this is new learning for me cuz this is my first instance of this kind of discussion. >> Yeah. Um I I
013I don't disagree with what you're saying, John. I just like if if we also shouldn't be telling them how they should use their cash. If they're saying we want to provide additional support for this, what what why are we saying no? Right, but we could ask them for something else that we need. >> else. Yeah, there's something else. There's always something else. >> [laughter] >> Yes. It's just a matter of I can have follow up with the principals and find out what that something else is. >> Okay. Like, you know, extra playground equipment, extra recess stuff, things that won't affect our child children's education. Yes. Yes. Like the distinction base education I would agree like we we should be providing that, but if there's money that's been offered like yeah, maybe there's some way to
014redirect that towards something else that's a nice to have. That would be I could certainly go back to the principals and then come back to the PTOs. But I I think, you know, based on our conversation we're actually doing a 75,000 instead of 50 doesn't seem to be problematic with the surplus that we have. So if there's a consensus of the committee, we would amend the transfer to 75 before Tuesday when the board actually votes transfer. Yeah, I I I I yes. Yeah, I think we do that and then yeah, maybe we'll find out if there's something else. And it's kind of a fine line, too, right? We can't tell the PTOs what to do. But and I'm sure they have no shortage of ideas of their own. So uh Right. That's the other side
015of the coin, right? Like if they have an idea that the principal doesn't want, then you know Right. The the money is going to come in the district just in a different form. Yeah, I would if I I'm in agreement. Okay. Same. Thank you. I mean, especially because it's not like we're zero. So we're just holding about 370. Right. Thank you. Okay. And there's no other transfers, right? I don't have any, sir. Okay. Excellent. Uh motion to adjourn. Oh, I have another question. >> Oh, sorry. Um just um you know, in the uh superintendent adjustments, there's a lot of movement. Seems like a lot of money's being spent on subs. I'm just wondering is this typical, over, under, like where are we compared to past years? Um we're a little bit higher than last year
016and we're kind of more in line with the year before. Um and so what this reflects is when we have uh long-term leaves and typically it's like maternity leaves, um the money has to get released from the the teacher who's out on leave and then it has to go to a long-term sub account so we have to pay for that sub. Um but we are a little higher than last year, but we're in line with the year before. Okay. So it's not like outrageous. It's Okay. [clears throat] Thank you. It does tend to happen in, you know, the second half of the year more than the first half of the year. Um so you do tend to see it more towards that. Thank you. Okay. Other Anything else? Other questions? Public comment? There are no
017members of the public present for public comment. Uh motion to adjourn. Bill? Brian?