Danbury School District finance committee reviews preliminary unaudited June finances, recommends acceptance

The Danbury School District Finance Committee on an evening meeting reviewed preliminary, unaudited financial statements for the year ending June 30 and recommended that the full board accept the report as a preliminary, unaudited statement.

Angela Walsh, finance staff, said, "For as of June 30, we are at $2,600,000 favorable," and walked the committee through reclassifications and timing issues that produced the variance. Walsh told the committee the accounting team is still recording deposits and journal entries, and that the $2.66 million favorable variance could change as late invoices and encumbrances are resolved.

The committee heard a range of operational explanations for the variance. Walsh and another finance presenter said several large reclassifications during the fiscal year moved roughly $3.8 million from professional services into para/tutor salary accounts, and about $500,000 related to movement between grant and general-fund coding. The presenters said miscodings earlier in the year—especially tutors charged to professional services instead of salaries—were corrected at year end.

Committee members pressed for more timely, reliable monthly reporting. One committee member described a monthly position report run from the district payroll system that lists each employee’s gross salary, title and ledger location; Mike (finance staff) said he runs that report and can share a redacted version with board members so they can confirm coding. Walsh said the team will run those reconciliations monthly going forward to reduce late-year adjustments.

Discussion also covered benefits accounting. The finance staff explained that benefit estimates booked during payroll are later reversed and replaced with actual bills (for example, Cigna charges), a process that historically was done annually but will now be done monthly to improve visibility. The presenters also said amounts for pharmaceutical rebates, employer-withholdings and conservative unemployment budgeting contributed to large swings in the benefits line.

The committee received an update on the external audit timeline. Finance staff said the 2024 audit remains in process with a few outstanding items; RSM’s internal review and finalization steps mean the district expects audited financials in roughly four weeks, with the 2025 audit to follow. Staff emphasized the outstanding items are not expected to materially change the district’s reported results.

Committee members and Superintendent Dr. Casimiro discussed differences between the superintendent’s proposed budget and the district allocation for 2025–26. Dr. Casimiro said the final budget contains about $8 million less in salaries than the original proposal, limiting planned staffing changes such as additional paraprofessionals and other student supports. She said some one-time ARPA funds and prior surpluses helped implement some priorities but that ongoing staffing and class-size reductions remain constrained.

Staff told the committee there are roughly $3 million in encumbrances that will move from encumbrance to actuals as purchase orders are paid; closing unneeded POs will increase the favorable balance. The finance team also said the district has opened an unfunded 2% reserve account at Union Savings Bank and can place the surplus in an interest-bearing money market account once audit and procedural steps are completed.

At the meeting’s close a committee member moved to recommend that the full board accept the June 2025 finance committee report as a preliminary, unaudited statement; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The committee directed staff to continue monthly reconciliations, to circulate a payroll/position report with redacted names for review, and to present a closing-calendar proposal and a short list of finance-committee goals at the next meeting.

The committee did not approve a final audited statement; staff reiterated the figures presented were unaudited and subject to adjustment during final audit work and as outstanding invoices and encumbrances are resolved.