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Board approves FY26 budget amendment after hearing cash‑flow update; finance staff emphasize austerity and May 1 stop‑payment control
Summary
Finance presented a consolidated January report and explained use of a state short‑term loan to smooth tax‑receipt timing; the board approved Budget Amendment #1 (VSA transfer for Crystal Run, new private grants/donations, and a midyear unit‑count revenue correction) and internal accounts; staff said a May 1 stop‑payment will help ensure required carryover.
The Appoquinimink School District Board approved a FY26 budget amendment and accepted January financial reports on March 10 after a detailed review of cash flow and a new consolidated reporting format.
Finance Director Miss Stewart presented the consolidated January revenue and expenditure package and explained that the district received a larger tax receipt inflow in January (about $63.6 million) that included a county advance. To bridge temporary timing differences in receipts, the district used a state loan option for charter and tuition obligations earlier in the year and then reconciled transfers internally.
Stewart said the district remains in an "austerity mode," only authorizing essential purchases, and described a May 1 stop‑payment control that will require any late‑season purchase requests to run through finance to protect projected carryover. Stewart told the board a projected discretionary year‑end carryover target remains under active management and will be validated after May 1 projections.
Budget Amendment #1 included three items: a $700,000 VSA transfer for the Crystal Run project; approximately $48,000 of newly recorded private grants and donations (including two DCJC grants and private contributions) with corresponding expenditure lines; and a $40,620 downward correction to discretionary state revenue to reflect a smaller midyear unit‑count transfer than originally budgeted. Board members asked clarifying questions about deferred recognition of donations and accounting coding; Stewart explained such revenues are effectively restricted and will be tracked and reconciled as restricted funds until spent.
On motions recommended by the Financial Advisory Committee, the board approved the revenue/expenditure report, internal accounts, and Budget Amendment #1. The board also approved two overnight field trips and multiple construction change orders presented by Mr. Hopkins.
Miss Stewart said monthly reporting and FAC oversight will continue and that staff will provide a focused carryover projection as May 1 approaches. "We will work together to actualize the carryover and we won't know 100% until May," she told the board.
