The Winchester Common Council on Nov. 5 voted to forward to a future meeting a resolution authorizing Winchester Public Schools to retain unexpected FY2025 operating funds totaling roughly $1,800,000.

Molly, a Winchester Public Schools representative, told the council the change reflects a state code update and a new way of executing the memorandum of understanding between the city and the school division. "So this year, we did not take the funds back. We did not do that journal entry. Instead, we had the auditors verify the number, which you have in your packet. It's roughly 1,800,000.0," she said.

Jason (Superintendent, Winchester Public Schools) described the retention as part of sound fiscal stewardship and said the money will be used for one-time priorities rather than recurring costs. "We're not spending money just to spend money," he said, adding that much of the remainder will go to the division's capital improvement plan. He told council the district expects to review the full capital improvement plan at the January joint meeting and noted an asset-inventory vendor identified roughly $65,000,000 in life-cycle replacement needs across school facilities over the next decade.

Under the distribution discussed, $200,000 was identified for instructional resources (the agenda used the older term "textbooks") and approximately $1,600,000 would be routed to the schools' capital improvement fund for projects such as HVAC, roofs and other facility work. Council members asked staff to clarify line-item descriptions and the schedule for future joint CIP discussions.

The motion to forward the resolution carried on a voice vote; the mover and second were not specified on the record and the item will return to council for final action. No formal appropriation was adopted at the Nov. 5 session.

City staff provided the draft resolution and the revised MOU as attachments for the record. The council and school division agreed the retained funds should be applied to primarily one-time capital or one-time nonrecurring uses rather than ongoing operating commitments.