Business administrator: preliminary FY26 figures show district about $59,000 under budget

Business administrator Dawn presented the school district's preliminary FY26 reconciliation and said the general fund came in slightly under the approved budget.

Dawn reported a general-fund budget figure listed in the materials as $5,000,008.59 and preliminary actual expenditures of about $5,000,007.99, which she summarized as "being under budget by about 59,000." She explained that the net underrun reflects multiple line-item variances: roughly $131,000 spread across about 40 lines that were under budget and about $72,000 across around 20 lines that were over budget. Dawn said these figures remain preliminary because the town accountant still needs to post all revenues and final reconciliation is expected the following week.

Dawn also described offsets from grants and revolving accounts that reduced the town contribution and flagged roughly $51,000 identified in earlier grants (FY24and FY25) by a consultant performing a historical reconciliation. Committee members discussed preserving school-choice offsets so the funds remain available to the schools rather than returning them to the town as free cash; Dawn said the committee's preference would be accommodated once final numbers are reconciled.

Next steps: Dawn will report final reconciled numbers after the town accountant posts revenue entries; committee members may then decide whether to reallocate offsets or return funds as free cash.