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Ridgefield committee to test "period 13" for year‑end accounting; April snapshot shows $282,756 operating deficit
Summary
At its May 7 meeting the Ridgefield School District Budget, Finance and Operations Committee reviewed auditors' recommendation to add a "period 13" to the financial system to capture June and post‑June activity, and received an April 30 budget snapshot showing a $282,756 operating deficit that officials said is likely to be covered by roughly $1.1 million in anticipated revenues.
The Ridgefield School District Budget, Finance and Operations Committee on May 7 heard plans to add a year‑end accounting period and reviewed an April 30 operating snapshot that shows a $282,756 deficit but is expected to be offset by anticipated revenues.
Miss Brown, an administration finance lead, told the committee auditors had recommended a ‘‘clean cutoff’’ for the district’s June 30 balance sheet and that the district is testing a provisional "period 13" in its financial management system so accounts can reflect both June 30 and late summer (August) activity in the same system. ‘‘We’ll continue to test it as we go through May, and we expect it to be ready for June,’’ she said.
The period 13 change follows work to restore system testing after a cyber event last summer; Miss Brown said March and April data have been used in the provisional database to model July and August activity and that Nick Karas, the district’s assistant director of finance, has been leading technical testing.
On the district’s finances, Miss Brown said the April 30 operating snapshot ‘‘actually reflects a deficit of $282,756’’ but emphasized that snapshot is a point‑in‑time view that does not include several expected revenue items. She listed an excess cost reimbursement of a little more than $300,000, anticipated employee and retiree insurance contributions totaling about $700,000, and revenues from RBA funding, gym rentals and participation and gate fees. ‘‘We calculate or estimate that we’ve got about 1.1 or a little greater than that revenue still to enter our stream,’’ she said, and reiterated the district continues to forecast closing the year with a modest surplus.
Committee members pressed for more detail about drivers of the month‑to‑month movement; Miss Brown said special education and per‑pupil services account for roughly $150,000 of the recent swing and that several upcoming administrative separations, with vacation‑bank payouts, are also affecting the projection. The district confirmed administrators may accumulate vacation bank days up to 25 days and are paid for unused banked days upon separation; Miss Brown said the district does not carry a liability or specific contingency in the budget for those payouts.
A member asked for a future breakout of legal expenses; Miss Brown said legal costs are recorded in two places — general legal services (including union negotiations) and special education legal — and offered to provide a year‑to‑date and historical comparison to the committee.
Miss Brown also presented three small transfers processed in April: $8,000 moved from a flame‑proofing line to HVAC supplies to buy HEPA filters for the high school and Scotts Ridge; $4,250 reallocated from a Ridgebury projects line to Barlow Mountain for painting after water damage; and $3,000 moved within the high school science budget to replace a water distiller. The chair noted these transfers fall below the district's $50,000 policy threshold and do not require full board approval.
The committee reviewed a long list of gifts and donations, mostly from PTAs, and Miss Brown flagged two Scotland Elementary items that exceed the $2,000 approval threshold — a school enrichment program called Curious Creatures and an author visit (just under $2,600) — and noted Principal Kat Kosen will present those items for full‑board approval Monday night.
The chair closed the meeting with a reminder about the town referendum on Tuesday, May 12. A motion to adjourn passed unanimously.
The committee asked administration to provide (1) a breakout of legal expenses by category and year‑to‑date totals, (2) additional detail on maximum potential exposure from administrator vacation‑bank payouts, and (3) continued status updates on period 13 testing as the district works to have it operational by June.
