Concord finance committee schedules June meeting to weigh FY25 adjustments, food-service shortfall

The Concord School District Finance Committee voted May 19 to recommend that the full Board of Education post a special public meeting the third week of June to consider adjustments to the current fiscal year 2025 budget, including transfers to cover the district’s food-service shortfall.

Committee members said the meeting is intended to give the board time to review payroll runs, final state payments and any end-of-year transfers that will affect the June 30 closeout. Jack Dunn, school district finance staff, told the committee the district will better understand final balances after the last payrolls and “balloon” checks are processed over the next two to three weeks.

The nut graf: The finance office reported several pressure points that could require transfers or drawdowns from expendable trust funds, including more than $600,000 in transportation encumbrances for foster, homeless and special-education transportation, an apparent tuition overrun for private placements and a food-service deficit that staff say must be resolved before July 1.

Dunn reviewed line items that show student services professional contracts about $1 million over budget and nearly $2 million in transportation encumbrances tied to foster, homeless and special-education routes. He noted the district had added roughly $700,000 recently to the transportation encumbrance number and described it as “reflective in this number just to get us through the end of the year.”

On revenue, Dunn said the district is still awaiting final state payments, including the last piece of state tuition-aid and an equitable education grant; the absence of those payments contributes to a reported negative variance of roughly $537,000 on the finance report. Medicaid billing was also incomplete: the district has collected approximately $2.71 million of a budgeted $6.50 million, Dunn said.

Food-service shortfall and meal debt: Dunn reported the district’s meal debt stood at $108,000. About $100,000 of that total is from accounts in a paid status, and staff had proposed transferring $55,000 into the general fund to cover expected shortages. Weekly notifications are sent to households through the LINC system; letters are printed and mailed when email addresses are missing, and phone calls are made for balances over $300, Dunn said.

Dunn said the food-service program will seek a transfer from the general fund into the food-service fund and that the food-service fund will require an appropriation increase for expenditures. He added that a restricted “spend down” from COVID-era balances had been used for allowable equipment upgrades; the food-service unassigned fund balance was reported at about $530,000 and, he said, “so it’s gonna more than cover that $62” thousand of current over-appropriation.

Committee members discussed collection challenges, including parents unaware of smaller purchases such as extra milk or snacks that accumulate on student accounts. “You have kids who get a free lunch, but their friends with their money on their cards get to buy all the snacks and extras,” one committee member observed, a dynamic staff said can create higher unpaid balances.

Next steps and context: The committee approved a motion recommending a public June meeting so the board can review possible transfers from trust funds, adjustments to FY25 appropriations and the potential use of expendable trust balances rather than raising taxes. The motion passed on a voice vote with no recorded opposition.

Ending: District administrators said they will return with updated numbers and proposed transfer motions in June so the board can act before the fiscal year closes on June 30.