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Audit shows FY25 near break‑even; board reviews FY27 budget previews and approves administrator contracts
Summary
Auditor presented FY25 drafts with a clean opinion but two significant deficiencies (high school activity fund controls, school lunch reconciliations). Transportation, nutrition and adult‑ed leaders previewed FY27 budgets; the board then unanimously approved administrator contracts and appointments.
At its Feb. 25 meeting, the Winthrop School Board received the FY25 audit overview and heard departmental budget previews for FY27 before unanimously electing administrators.
Jennifer Connors, the district auditor, told the board the FY25 school financial statements are in draft and would carry an unmodified (clean) opinion once the town audit is complete. She said revenues exceeded budget by roughly $163,000 (about 1% of the budget) and expenditures were under budget by about $261,000 (about 2%), leaving the general fund nearly break‑even and producing a modest $29,000 increase in fund balance for FY25.
Connors identified two significant deficiencies that require corrective action: (1) high school activity fund procedures—of 40 sampled disbursements, 35 lacked the required approval voucher, and multiple deposit forms were missing secondary count signatures; and (2) school lunch bank reconciliations—some reconciliations were not signed by the finance director, limiting verification and weakening segregation of duties.
"The financial statements are currently a draft... those would have an unmodified opinion," Connors said, and she detailed the control gaps that led to the two significant deficiencies.
Administrators then presented high‑level FY27 previews. Interim transportation director Colleen Soua said the transportation budget (Article 8) is down more than 16% from prior budgeting driven by reduced positions, lower contracted services and corrected overtime coding; expected increases include equipment maintenance, electricity for electric buses (buses are being maintained at roughly 25–75% state of charge per EPA guidance) and drug testing costs. Nutrition director Sam Baldwin said the child nutrition program’s FY27 costs are expected to rise about 5.88%, largely because of higher food costs and more meals served; she emphasized no local operating subsidy was being requested. Adult education director Josh Farar reported a modest drop in state subsidy (about $2,000) and said the program will continue to use some unallocated enrichment funds and shift staffing hours to maintain services.
After an executive session on administrators’ goals, the board returned and unanimously voted to approve two‑year contracts for administrators (2026–2028) and to elect administrators for the 2026–2027 school year; the record names Teresa Violet as Winter Grade School principal for 2026–27.
Votes at a glance
- Approval of Feb. 4, 2026 minutes: unanimously approved. - Motion to enter executive session (personnel/administrator goals): unanimously approved. - Two‑year administrator contracts (2026–2028) and 2026–2027 administrator elections (including Teresa Violet as Winter Grade School principal): unanimously approved.
Next steps: finance and building leaders will respond to audit recommendations (corrective steps for activity funds and reconciliations) and the policy committee will return with drafts and comparative policy language for the transgender/gender‑expansive student discussion.
