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SAU board hears about roughly $100,000 unassigned fund balance as preschool nears capacity
Summary
Business administrator Heather Sherwood told the joint SAU board the district currently has a positive fund balance—partly because a preschool payer position was unfilled—indirect costs of about 33,000 through April, and preschool enrollment at about 17 of a possible 18 slots.
Heather Sherwood, the SAU business administrator, reported to the joint board that the district is carrying a positive fund balance that could amount to “potentially a 100,000 unassigned” dollars while noting that a preschool payer position remained open for part of the year. "The fund balance is well, we have a fund balance again slightly due to not having a pre having a preschool payer position open," Sherwood said.
Sherwood told the board that indirect costs for the SAU were "about 33,000 so far" through April and that preschool revenue is running slightly below projections: "Our preschool revenue, and I can rotate this for a minute, is slightly under what I projected. We're in collected 32 so far." She said she expects additional bills and collections and that she is still reconciling parts of the budget.
The board pressed staff for enrollment and identification counts. Sherwood and a staff member, Mike, gave a breakdown across the three towns: five preschool seats in Freedom (one identified), eight in Madison (two identified, one with a referral in process), and four in Tamworth (one identified), with staff describing total enrollment discussion at 17 of a possible 18 slots. Mike summarized the figures as "17" and Sherwood concurred that they were near capacity.
Sherwood also raised a personnel concern: the SAU has not yet hired a second paraprofessional for the preschool and doing so could increase health insurance expenses because the group has already had one change in health census. "If we do go with the 2nd paraprofessional, we've already had 1 change in health census in that preschool group... potentially a 2nd," she said, describing a possible upward pressure on benefits costs.
On facilities, Sherwood said the SAU office air conditioning has not been fixed and that she is waiting for an estimate; she described temporary measures to keep the copier and paper from overheating.
Why it matters: The board said it usually decides how to handle unassigned fund balances at the August meeting; Sherwood noted SAU policy limits carryover to $50,000. The board will consider whether to return funds to the three towns or use them for SAU needs when financials are finalized.
Actions at the meeting: the board approved an amended agenda that removed approval of minutes from the packet (motion on the floor, recorded as "Motion by Deb, 2nd by Jeremy," followed by a voice "Aye"), and at the end of the recorded transcript a motion to enter nonpublic session was made but no vote appears before the transcript ends.
