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Finance committee reviews February report showing $274,779 surplus
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Summary
At a March 19 special meeting, the Darien School District finance committee reviewed the February financial report, which shows a $274,779 positive balance driven by salary and timing savings and excess-cost reimbursements; members asked about snow-removal overtime, ELP tuition reclassifications and an ARP mental-health grant winding down.
The Darien School District finance committee met in a special session on Thursday, March 19, to review the district’s February 2026 financial report and to take questions from committee members.
A district staff member identified in the record as Rich presented the report, saying, “We do show a positive balance of 274,779,” a month-to-month increase of just over $8,000. He attributed the change mainly to salary savings and timing effects from a short month with snow days.
Rich walked through several line items the committee flagged. He said general-education resource centers (RCs) were positive by $12,822, while special-education RCs showed a positive balance the transcript records as $261,009.57 (formatted in the record as “261009 57”). He noted that much of the special-education surplus stems from excess-cost reimbursement timing.
Other line-item details included step-in/level salary savings at the high school for student clubs (about $5,000), a delayed start for a new secretary producing roughly $1,300 in RC24 savings, and RC26 (occupational therapist) showing a positive balance of $26,006.86 due to a delayed start. Rich said some funds had been held in arrears pending a decision about contracting services but that they now fall to the available balance.
On the Early Learning Program (ELP), Rich reported the ELP tuition account was positive $11,003.75. He said the year began with 46 paying students compared with a budgeted 45, and that two students were later reclassified to special education (moving them from paying to non-paying status). In response to a question from the chair about whether the reclassifications would create an ongoing revenue "drag," Rich said tuition was billed in October and February, that some parents pay monthly, and that the affected revenue is already recorded so they do not expect a future decline.
Committee members pressed about overtime tied to winter weather. One member asked whether snow-removal overtime would continue to be a significant cost; Rich said superintendent adjustments were made and, assuming no additional storms, the district should be able to absorb the "few thousand dollars" of extra overtime spent this season.
On special-education reimbursements, Rich said the district received the first installment of excess-cost reimbursement in February and expects the balance in May. He explained that, if unused at year end and absent a board transfer, those funds would be returned to the town.
A committee member asked about an ARP-funded line item of $92,500 for mental-health support and curriculum-writing. Rich said the grant (identified in the record as received by "Alicia Dad") is a three-year award used for professional development, training and curriculum work; the grant is beginning to wind down and the district schedules staff training during the summer.
Rich reported there were no budget transfers for February. The chair opened public comment; none was offered. The chair then called the motion to adjourn; the record shows "Joanna, Bill," and the meeting closed.
The finance committee did not record formal roll-call votes on budget actions during this meeting. The committee’s next procedural step reported in the session is routine monitoring of reimbursements and grant closeouts, with the May reimbursement installment expected to affect year-end balances.
