Weston's Board of Education has a new draft policy for its reserve fund, the account where the schools keep money left over at the end of a budget year instead of returning it to the town.
The full board is scheduled to take up the policy on Monday, Nov. 16. State law caps what can go into the account at 2% of the prior year's budget, about $1.2 million. The district's finance chief doubts the Board of Finance would agree to that much.
The draft, P 3171.1 Non-Lapsing Education Fund, went before the board's Policy Committee on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Superintendent Erica Forti said the district has had the fund "for the past several years" and that the policy is "in alignment with our current practice."
Under the draft, the board could deposit money left unspent from the year before, up to 2% of that year's budget. The board would have to approve each expenditure, which "shall be made only for educational purposes," and it would report the account's balance, deposits and spending to the state Department of Education every year.
A cap the finance board may not allow
Two percent of the school budget is "just a little over 1.2 million," said David Felton, the board's vice chair, who leads the committee. The state cap had been 1% a few years ago, Chief Finance and Operations Officer Phillip Cross said.
"Even if we did have that much, I don't think that the Board of Finance will ultimately agree to allow us to have the funds because 2% for us is like close to 1.2, 1.3 million dollars," he said.
Asked how the state defines educational purposes, Cross said it is "not ultimately clearly defined," as long as the Board of Education approves the expenditure.
"You've taxed me for the schools," Felton said. "If you're going to keep my money, keep it restricted to the schools."
A deal, then a refill
The account grew out of a deal between the two boards. At the Board of Finance's Oct. 8 meeting, its chair, Michael Imber, said the finance board "always took the posture of, we don't want non-lapsing accounts." A couple of years ago, he said, the schools agreed to give back all surpluses in the future in exchange for a fund of about $327,000.
At the Oct. 8 meeting, the finance board voted to add $535,584. It was "really the first time that they've asked to replenish the account," Imber said. The school board had been told in September that a change in state law meant the district no longer needed the finance board's approval, but that "we like to have conversations."
On Nov. 16, at 7 p.m., the policy is scheduled for a first reading, the full board's first look at it.