Board approves unaudited finance report amid concerns over reconciliations

The Rochester City School District Board of Education voted to approve the district’s unaudited finance report for the period presented, while several trustees recorded nays and asked for follow‑up detail.

CFO McDowell opened the financial briefing by reporting an end‑of‑month cash balance “of about $444,000,000” and noting a year‑to‑date general fund revenue increase of roughly $750,000 (unaudited). He cautioned that payroll timing and reconciliation work remain in progress and that the external audit is scheduled to run through September–November before final numbers are confirmed. “When you get to your special aid funds, you see we’ve recorded only 47,000,000 of the estimated 134,000,000,” McDowell said, describing timing and grant‑based nuances such as UPK reimbursements that depend on actual enrollment and spending.

Several trustees pressed administration for specific clarifications. Commissioner Lebron said he had found numerical inconsistencies across report pages and said he would submit written questions to the administration and add items to the board question log for a formal follow‑up. Commissioner Griffin raised questions about whether projected costs for new pre‑K centers included ancillary safety or parking expenses and asked for operations‑level detail, which the superintendent said could be provided in a later presentation or via the question log.

Vice President Malloy moved and Commissioner Feynman seconded approval of the finance report; the chair recorded multiple nays on the public tally before announcing that the motion carried. Trustees asked that reconciliations and audit updates be returned to the board as final figures become available.

The board also approved several consent‑agenda items and a series of clerical amendments to resolutions; one late resolution (No. 85) was pulled from the agenda for later consideration.