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The Westport Board of Education is set to turn back $32,707 from its 2005-06 budget into the town’s General Fund despite high costs in fuel, electricity and special education.
Nancy Harris: turnback comes despite high costs. WN photo
Assistant Superintendent for Business Nancy Harris said during Monday’s school board meeting that the school district spent 99.7 percent of the $78.6 million 2005-06 budget.
The school board’s purchased property, which includes heating fuel and electricity, other purchased services, which includes special education costs, equipment, and other expenses accounts, were all over budget.
The board will need to vote to transfer surpluses from other accounts to cover the deficits but did not take action during its meeting Monday night.
The purchased property account was about $10,000 over budget at the end of the school year, but the board had transferred $200,000 into the account earlier this year.
Harris said the district came out better in the heating and electricity costs than her “worse case scenario.”
District officials practiced a series of energy conservation steps, she said, including no longer using halogen lights that take several minutes to heat and turn on.
“Now we can just turn those lights off,” she said.
The district fell approximately $173,500 over budget in other purchased services, which includes special education costs.
The school board transferred $150,000 into the account earlier this year.
The deficit in special education tuition alone was nearly $178,600 over budget, and that was despite the district receiving nearly $581,000 in state reimbursements for special education costs.
Harris pointed out the deficit in the account could have been $320,000 had a transfer not been made earlier this year.
The current budget for 2006-07, she said, has $100,000 more in the other purchased services account, she said, which would leave the account about $250,000 in deficit if there are no changes.
