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Finance committee reviews contracts, budget status and eFinance upgrade ahead of Jan. 25 board meeting
Summary
At the Jan. 15 finance committee meeting, staff presented eight contracts for board consideration, reported that the district has spent about 44.3% of its fiscal‑year budget through Dec. 31 and described an eFinance upgrade required to bring systems up to date; staff also said a network penetration test (IntegraOne) is required by the district’s
On Jan. 15, 2025, the Wallingford‑Swarthmore School District finance committee reviewed contract recommendations for the Jan. 25 board meeting, presented budget‑to‑actual figures through Dec. 31, 2024, and described urgent IT and payroll‑system work needed before tax‑reporting deadlines.
Contracts and procurements Finance staff said eight contracts were being forwarded to the board on Jan. 25 for approval (summary provided to the committee): - Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL): professional development engagements beginning May 2025 (in‑person sessions and webinar registration). - Meltwater/Netwater (media monitoring): described as a multi‑year contract not to exceed $29,000 over three years, with an annual invoice of $9,750 (staff provided those figures in the meeting). - Everyday Speech: one‑year licensing for a social‑skills curriculum for students with pragmatic language needs. - IntegraOne (listed as “Integra 1”): a network penetration test vendor; staff said the penetration test is required by the district’s cybersecurity insurance policy. - Trinity Cooperative Day Nursery: a five‑year lease extension with a 3% annual rent increase for space at SRS (staff said the tenant has been satisfactory). - PowerSchool secure file renewal: a six‑month renewal to align multiple vendor renewal dates. - PowerSchool eFinance upgrade: staff said an upgrade is necessary (current district version is behind) and that the vendor offered a discount; the meeting transcript included a cutoff phrase for the upgrade ceiling amount and the precise contract ceiling was not clearly transcribed.
Staff emphasized the IntegraOne penetration test as insurance‑driven: “I would support that wholeheartedly,” a committee member said, noting the small cost compared with the potential damage from a cyber incident.
Budget‑to‑actuals through Dec. 31 Finance staff provided a month‑by‑month budget report. Key figures staff cited for fund 10 (general fund) through Dec. 31, 2024: total adopted expenditure budget $102,437,505; year‑to‑date expenditures about $39,000,000; available/residual approximately $57,000,000; and a year‑to‑date spending rate of 44.29%. Staff noted roughly $6,400,000 in encumbrances (committed purchase orders) at year‑end and explained that some high‑percentage line items (for example, leased technology equipment and transportation rentals) reflect payment timing rather than overspending.
Payroll systems and eFinance upgrade Finance staff told the committee that the district must produce W‑2s and 1099s on schedule and that the district would generate those forms from its current eFinance instance while executing a separate upgrade and migration. Staff gave a projected migration window in late March–early April and said the upgrade will include testing, training and additional integrations across departments.
Other budget items and projections Staff described preliminary projections and confirmed items affecting fiscal 2025–26 budget planning: employer pension contribution projections (current rate 33.9% vs. a projected 34.72% used in initial planning), a projected increase in electrical capacity charges tied to utility auctions, and an early phase‑1 budget submission of approximately $24,200,000 (phase 1 projects for 2025–26). Finance staff noted roughly $750,000 already in the draft budget for initial plan implementation and described a multi‑phase submission schedule that will culminate in final recommendations in April.
Next steps The committee will forward the contracts to the Jan. 25 board meeting for action. Staff said negotiations with employee groups (Act 93 and support staff) are ongoing, with related personnel and benefit items to be incorporated into the spring budget cycle.
