Board of Education Looks to RTM to Close 'Substantial Deficit'

The Board of Education anticipates it will end the current fiscal year with a substantial deficit, but members are less certain as to how much money they'll need to close the gap. It's a number that the board says is almost impossible to predict, but necessary to present to the Representative Town Meeting and Board of Finance in the hopes of a bailout.

"The reality is we've been running a substantial deficit since December, and it seems it would be difficult to make up that kind of money between now and June," said Board of Education Chair Kim Westcott at a special meeting held Tuesday evening.

Board of Education Director of Finance Richard Huot has predicted a $234,239 shortfall.

"Predicting these costs is very difficult. I looked at previous years and added some money to the budget in anticipation of expenses that may or may not arise," said Huot.

The Board of Education has actually run nearly $621,000 over its approved $68.7 million budget for the current year—the result of short funding from the state, mounting legal fees and series of budgetary blunders that took place in March.

Over the course of a month, Huot faced an unintentional misposting of $191,000 that caused speech pathology account to soar, an employee's return from maternity leave and a $50,000 encumbrance fee.

"These helped to transform the special education budget by almost $500,000 in a 30-day period, which is really huge and surprising," said Huot.

The good news is that an odd $230,000 in stabilization funds and about $156,000 from the town's OPEB trust (money used to cover a portion of post employment benefits) has helped to close the gap to the predicted $234,236, said Huot.

Based on that prediction, asking the RTM for an appropriation of $250,000 could foot the bill.

 "But we do have some moving parts," said Westcott.

The major moving parts—summer school revenue and legal fees—could see Huot's deficit grow to over $375,000 or shrink significantly before the RTM's Annual Budget Meeting, May 10.

Five special education suits were in mediation in late March. Confidentiality makes communicating details of expenditures challenging, even between Huot and the rest of the board. Nonetheless, legal fees are significant and settlements sometimes result in a Darien-funded tuition elsewhere, said Huot.

"Based on experience, $150,000 in legal fees a month isn't unreasonable," said Huot.

A second question mark looms over summer school revenue. Tuition is more expensive this year, and revenue to date is lagging by about 15 percent, said Westcott.

"It's hard to know where those kids will go this summer—if anywhere," said Susan Perticone.

Board of Finance Chair Murry Stegelmann who was sitting in the audience, encouraged the board to pick a reasonable number.

"Don't get too hung up on 240, 250, 260. If you get hit in June, there's a reserve that we can use to help you," he said.

Stegelmann can dip into the $365,000 special education reserve in case of emergency, but Stegelemann discouraged using the funds to close the gap entirely.

"If you sneeze much it's gone. I would hate to be a position where we start next year with nothing," sid Stegelmann.

Only five members attended Tuesday's meeting, and while the majority felt comfortable with aking the RTM for a "no more than $300,000" appropriation, Westcott decided to schedule a second, special meeting for Friday morning to firm up a figure.

"I'd like the board to have a good number that it can defend and feel comfortable with before going to the RTM."

The Board of Education will meet on Friday morning at 8 a.m., and the Board of Finance will discuss the predicted shortfall once again at a special meeting scheduled for next Tuesday.

__

*The above article has been revised to reflect the following correction: Director of Finance Richard Huot faced an unintentional "misposting" of $191,000 in a special education account, not a "misappropriation" as previously reported.