Finance committee reviews nutrition services budget and internal service fund rules

The Bridgeport School District finance committee on March 3 discussed the food and nutrition program's current-year budget and a requested increase for next year, and clarified how the program's internal service fund may be used.

Committee members were told the nutrition program's current-year revenues and expenditures are roughly $25 million and that the program has requested about $26 million for the coming year. Finance staff emphasized that any year-end surplus from the program must remain in the nutrition internal service fund and be used only for food-service purposes such as replacing coolers, freezers or trucks, not for general district operating expenses.

Why it matters: The internal service fund (referred to in discussion as fund code O90) allows the nutrition operation to accumulate and spend money for equipment and repairs. Committee members pressed staff for visibility on the fund's reconciliation, how purchases are prioritized across campuses and how large purchases are approved.

Finance staff said the district moved nutrition activity into a separate internal service fund so surplus dollars would be earmarked for nutrition-related capital and equipment needs. "If they do run a surplus, if they do make more money ... it has to be put into nutrition center in terms of this fund," the presenter said, and added that those funds are for food-service purposes only.

Committee Chair Joseph Calvin reminded members of approval rules for purchases, pointing to charter and state requirements: "All contracts over $25,000 must be approved by the board," he said during the discussion, noting that this applies to large equipment purchases even when they are funded from program surpluses.

Members asked for clearer reconciliations and an inventory or plan to prioritize equipment replacements across schools. Finance staff said the most recent internal-service-fund reconciliation showed roughly $5 million in the account at the time of the reconciliation and agreed to resend reconciliation details to the committee for review.

The committee did not take a final vote on the nutrition budget at the meeting; the item was framed as discussion with possible referral to the full board at a later date.

The discussion included follow-up requests from board members for clearer line-item presentation when the nutrition numbers are folded into the overall district budget and for documentation of any bids or state-contract purchases used for equipment replacements.

Next steps: Finance staff said they would provide the internal-service-fund reconciliation and more detailed line-item documentation to committee members before the item is taken to the full board.