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District says $52.3 million carryover is legally restricted, cannot simply fund raises
Summary
Topeka Public Schools finance staff explained a reported $52.3 million carryover is split across legally restricted funds (bond payments, capital outlay, reserves and insurance) and therefore unavailable to free up for immediate salary increases.
An agency official from Topeka Public Schools told negotiators that a widely circulated $52,300,000 figure represents a July 1 carryover but is divided among funds that cannot be repurposed for salary increases.
"There's not money that's being hidden," the agency official said, adding that the $52.3 million comes from last fiscal-year reporting and is already allocated across bond and interest, capital outlay, special reserves and other accounts. The official said, for example, about $6,700,000 is in the bond and interest fund and must be used to meet voter-approved bond payments.
The official also described a special reserve (roughly $11,600,000) that includes self-administered flexible spending accounts and self-funded dental insurance, and noted the district maintains liability and insurance reserves to cover storm and property losses affecting dozens of school facilities. The official said the general fund carryover shown on the form was zero, meaning the district cannot hold general fund dollars from one year to the next to finance additional raises.
The district framed these fund restrictions as the reason it cannot simply redirect the cited balance into compensation increases, and urged that communications to members and the public reflect the legal constraints on each fund.
