Finance committee approves transfers to reduce school meals shortfall; FY27 request still faces $3.8M gap

The Board of Education Finance Committee on March 18 approved transfers to shore up the Norwalk School District’s food-services account and received a year-to-date financial update showing pressure from salaries, benefits and special-education costs.

Christian Carsman, the district’s budget director, told the committee the transfers include $66,000 charged to a grant to cover part of a nurse’s salary for the 910 food-services account; $35,000 moved from a reserve-teacher account to pay part of a BCBA pipeline salary; $31,000 (salary) and $3,000 (travel) reclaimed from a maintenance vacancy; and additional line-item savings that together produced gross savings the presentation described as roughly $351,000. "We were able to transfer $66,000 to cover the food service deficit for the 910 account," Carsman said. The packet and discussion indicated that $316,000 of the identified savings were transferred into food services at this time.

"We would need about $2 million this year to make up to offset the cost this year and from the prior year," Linda Osmani, the district chief financial officer, told the committee when describing the food-services shortfall. Osmani said the food-services budget is $7.89 million; roughly $5 million is expected from federal, state and grant sources and the district estimates the local share needed this year will be about $2 million. With the transfers just approved, the district expects to bring local support this year to approximately $1.3 million, leaving a remaining local need.

Osmani also presented a year-to-date review through Feb. 28 showing that salaries and benefits account for roughly 75% of general-fund spending and that the general fund is about 5.9% higher year-over-year, largely because of contractual salary increases and timing differences in payroll. She identified other cost drivers including special education (noting its volatility and prior reliance on transfers), higher health-insurance costs, and increases in property-services items such as water and sewer.

On grant revenue, Osmani reported a decline in available grants: year-to-date grant funding stood at $18.3 million versus about $23 million at the same time last year.

Committee members asked about longer-term approaches to the food-service shortfall. Carsman and Osmani said the district has discussed options such as the Community Eligibility Provision and other eligibility changes, whether families could be charged (a politically sensitive option that drew community pushback previously) and proposals in the governor’s budget to fund student breakfast. "That will help offset some of the needs for the transfers," Osmani said, while noting eligibility rules and interactions with other programs still need calculation.

Osmani also updated the committee on FY27 budget development: the board’s tentative budget approved in December totaled $263 million (a 6.5% increase). The mayor recommended $257 million (4%); the council’s preliminary cap would allow about $259.3 million (4.9%), leaving a $3.8 million gap compared with the board’s request. Osmani warned that teacher-health-insurance costs could widen the gap: the agents for the teachers’ plan returned a best-and-final offer of approximately a 32% premium increase after an initial 33% notice; the district is bargaining to move teachers to the state plan, which she said would be closer to a 12.5% increase. If the district cannot reach a different insurance arrangement, Osmani said the additional insurance cost could add roughly $3 million to $3.5 million to the shortfall.

Osmani told the committee that staff’s directive is to "keep the teachers and those that work in our classrooms whole" and that the district is prioritizing classroom positions while examining non-classroom reductions and other options to reconcile the gap. She said the district will present FY27 options to the board in the weeks ahead and will continue discussions with the Board of Estimate and Taxation (BET) and the city.

The committee approved the budget transfers and will forward them to the full Board of Education for final approval at the next business meeting; the transfers will be effectuated after board approval. Osmani and members also confirmed that the BET public hearing on the city cap is scheduled for March 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the council chambers (hybrid). The finance committee adjourned at 6:35 p.m.

Votes at a glance: the committee approved the Feb. 11 minutes (motion by Diana Carpio; second by Marcus Haime), approved the listed budget transfers (motion by Diana Carpio; second by Marcus Haime) and approved adjournment (motion by Garrett Oliver; second by Marcus Haime). No roll-call tallies were recorded in the committee transcript.