Stafford, CT – July 22, 2024
At Monday’s Board of Education (BOE) meeting, Superintendent Steven. A. Moccio had some good news for the board. While Moccio stressed that there are still outstanding invoices and payments to be made, he presented the board with a financial report that looked very different from the previous version. Ultimately, the district is projecting a surplus of just under $655,000 when the books are closed.
In addition to excess cost reimbursements and increased Medicaid reimbursements (due in part to pupil services working with families to get permission to charge Medicaid for services provided), Moccio gave credit for a big positive balance to Director of Finance and Operations Charmaine Bradshaw-Hill for being persistent with M+J Transportation in hunting down credits that the district was owed for times when M+J could not provide service or for charging for time in the middle of the day that was already part of the district’s contract. Bradshaw-Hill said she did not release the funds for payment to M+J until they gave the district the appropriate credits.
Moccio reminded the BOE members that the board owes the town for overages in the self-funded insurance plan. At the June Board of Finance meeting, Stafford’s CFO, John Lund, estimated that the general fund had loaned the school’s self-insured fund about $1 million as claims outpaced contributions. While state regulations say the district can shift up to 2% of its overall budget to the non-lapsing account (which was the subject of much discussion during the budget season), Moccio and the BOE have agreed to pay back the town.
First Selectman Bill Morrison was in the audience, and Moccio said he had hinted at some good news for Morrison, and he would be sharing the numbers with the Board of Finance at the next tri-board meeting. “You’re welcome, Mr. Morrison,” BOE Chair Sara Kelley quipped. Clearly, the roughly $655,000 will go a long way to paying back the $1 million or so owed to the town’s general fund.
