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School board tightens fund-balance range, raises procurement threshold and accepts early-learning grant
Summary
At its April 28 meeting the Madison Metropolitan School District board revised its fund-balance policy to set a 12%–18% range, amended procurement rules to use gender-neutral language and raised the purchase threshold to $60,000, and approved a three-year Roots and Wings grant to support 4K programs.
The Madison Metropolitan School District Board of Education on April 28 voted to revise its financial policies, including raising the maximum allowable fund balance and increasing the procurement threshold, and accepted a multi-year grant to support early learning.
The board amended district fund-balance policy 6,071 to set a minimum target of 12 percent and a new maximum of 18 percent of general fund expenditures. The board also approved changes to procurement policy 6,244 that replace gendered pronouns with "their" in the policy text and raised the review threshold for purchases and contracted services to $60,000.
Board members discussed the fund-balance change as a technical update to align the written policy with current reserves and with tools available to manage surplus funds. A district finance official said moving the maximum to 18 percent would increase the maximum by about 1 percentage point of the current budget — roughly $5.3 million based on the 2024–25 expenditure base — but noted the policy itself is a range and does not expend funds.
Regarding procurement, a board member proposed replacing occurrences of "his/her" and similar constructions with the neutral pronoun "their," and a second motion raised the dollar threshold for board-level review from $50,000 to $60,000. The board approved the gender-neutral language amendment unanimously; the increase in the threshold passed on a 6–1 vote.
The board also approved the consent agenda and separately accepted a three-year donation from the Roots and Wings Foundation totaling $570,000 to support Madison's 4K and early learning programming. One board member recused from the donation vote; the item passed with the remaining members voting in favor.
Superintendent Eric Gothard (in his report) and board leaders noted the district had received additional philanthropic commitments: during announcements the board president said Roots and Wings would provide grants totaling $960,000 to the district in funds described during the meeting.
The board adopted the policy revisions and grant acceptance in votes taken during the meeting and said the policies are effective immediately.
The changes add flexibility to the district's financial management and procurement practices while directing staff to continue standard budget and contract controls and to designate funds where appropriate (for example, for facilities repairs or other uses).
