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Brandywine finance report shows $8.83M year-end cash, rising special-education and substitute costs
Summary
District finance presenter McCoy reported an ending cash balance of $8,830,000 for the 2025–26 school year, a $2.68M tuition-tax overspend tied to intensive special-education costs, and increased substitute/para vendor spending that pushed substitute costs to $2.7M.
Mr. McCoy presented the Brandywine School District’s monthly financial statement for June, telling the board the district finished the 2025–26 school year with an ending balance of $8,830,000, slightly below the district goal of $8,850,000.
"You'll see on the far right of the report that the ending balance for the 2025–26 school year is $8,830,000," McCoy said. He noted real estate tax revenues landed at 101.5% of budget and called attention to $721,000 of additional state transportation funding that covered an apparent transportation overage.
McCoy highlighted several cost drivers: tuition tax spending for special-education placements ended the year $2,680,000 overspent due to the increasing number and complexity of students requiring intensive services; substitute and paraprofessional contract spending rose by about $850,000 to a total of $2,700,000 for the year as the vendor improved its fill rate; and local salaries were $2,300,000 over budget amid step increases and lower-than-expected retirements.
On child nutrition, McCoy said the department reduced its operating loss from over $1.3 million the prior year to about a $140,000 net loss after revenue gains and expense reductions, crediting supervisor Colleen Carter and her team for the improvement.
McCoy explained that Wilmington Learning Collaborative funds appear in prior-year appropriations reporting because carryover funds are still being spent; he said $418,000 of WLC funds remain encumbered for items such as playground work and "Magical Monday" expenses.
Board members asked whether the district is locked to one substitute vendor and how often contracts are rebid. McCoy said Kelly Services currently supplies the largest volume of substitutes but that the district has no exclusive long-term contract and would be open to exploring alternatives to reduce district costs.
After discussion, the board voted to accept the June monthly financial report, subject to audit.
