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Committee recommends revised MOU allowing school carryforward funds be retained under specified conditions
Summary
Finance Committee reviewed a redlined MOU with Winchester Public Schools that relies on a recent state-code change allowing schools to retain end-of-year unspent funds in designated buckets; the committee forwarded the MOU with a recommendation for approval, noting continued annual reporting and audit triggers.
The Winchester City Finance Committee on Aug. 6 forwarded a revised memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Winchester Public Schools to the full council with a recommendation for approval. Mary Blow, deputy city manager, and Superintendent Jason Van Hoeklum presented the redlined MOU and explained it implements a recent state code change that permits schools to retain carryforward funds in designated capital, technology or textbook buckets while preserving council oversight via annual reporting and appropriation.
Blow told the committee the city and school division review the MOU every two years; the auditors provide the carryforward amount after the fiscal year close and the city will use a resolution (rather than an ordinance) to appropriate those funds following the December audit. She said the MOU preserves council decision points and that the change reduces procedural steps when schools need to spend carryforward funds.
Superintendent Van Hoeklum summarized recent uses of carryforward funds and the financial scale they enable. He said, "Just in the last 5 years alone ... that's a total of about $9,000,000" used for items ranging from security vestibules and playgrounds to buses, HVAC and a major renovation at Douglas School. He described carryforward as a tool to address both planned capital work and emergency repairs—examples included boilers and chillers that required rapid funding.
Committee members asked for clarity on how funds are designated and whether money can be moved between buckets; presenters said state rules require designation (capital, technology, textbooks) and moving funds across buckets would require school-board approval and city concurrence, so reallocation would be possible but constrained. Several members welcomed the procedural simplification while noting council would still receive annual public reporting and retain appropriation authority.
A motion to forward the redlined MOU to full council with a recommendation for approval was made, seconded and passed by voice vote. The committee forwarded the MOU and expects the item to return to council with the auditor's December figure inserted for final appropriation action.
