Finance director reports $858,000 projected surplus; cafeteria posts month profit but is slightly negative YTD

The Wallingford School District operations committee heard April financials on April 20 from Mr. Baron, who reported an $858,000 projected surplus for April, a decline of $83,000 from the prior month.

Baron said the primary downward driver was a recalculation of an excess-cost tuition grant that reduced expectations by about $250,000. He also reported a $68,000 reduction in the benefits account due to transfers and some employees dropping insurance, a $70,000 positive contribution to surplus from transportation savings tied to a reduced school day and avoided out-of-district van costs, and a $165,000 increase to wages that includes roughly $95,000 related to new unpaid leaves paired with vacancy savings.

On utilities, Baron said the district had incomplete invoicing from its oil vendor and the timing of deliveries made accurate monthly reconciliation difficult. He also noted an unemployment credit that provided a positive adjustment.

On food service, Baron reported the cafeteria made about $97,000 in profit for the month but is negative $8,146 for the fiscal year to date. A state breakfast grant payment of roughly $30,000 improved April's results, and participation rates reported were 14.3% for breakfast districtwide (higher at the elementary schools) and 48.5% for lunch (with the middle schools showing the highest lunch participation).

The committee voted by voice consensus to forward the financial reports and cafeteria reports to the full-board agenda for the April meeting.