See You In Court! CABE Monthly Column
“See You In Court!” is written by Thomas Mooney and appears in the CABE Journal, a publication of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education.
Mr. Superintendent was getting nervous. The end of June was rapidly approaching, and it was looking like the Nutmeg Board of Education was going to run a deficit when the balloon payments to teachers are made on the last day of school. Though he dreaded the likely recrimination, he asked Ms. Chairperson to call a special meeting so that he could give the Board members a heads-up.
The special meeting was posted as “Budget Discussion,” but when Ms. Chairperson convened the meeting, Mr. Superintendent urged her to move the meeting into executive session, given the sensitivity of the information he would be sharing. Ms. Chairperson shrugged and promptly called for a vote to go into executive session. Despite some quizzical looks from the other members, the Board voted unanimously to go into executive session.
“So what’s so secret that we have to be in executive session?” asked veteran Board member Bob Bombast once the Board members settled in for the executive session.
“We are projecting a deficit of over $1,000,000, and with two weeks left in the fiscal year, I don’t see how we can end the year in the black. My bad,” responded Mr. Superintendent. As Mr. Superintendent had feared, the Board members did not take the news well, and several Board members started talking at the same time.
“Hold on, hold on!” exhorted Ms. Chairperson. “Give Mr. Superintendent a chance to explain how he got us into this mess and how he is planning to get us out of it.”
With that introduction, Mr. Superintendent launched into a lengthy discussion about the budget. The main problem, he explained, was unanticipated special education costs. A number of children with special needs moved into Nutmeg over the course of the year, and the district incurred unanticipated and unavoidable costs for the services they needed.
While the Board members understood that special education costs can be volatile, they were upset that they were just finding out about this problem now, so late in the fiscal year. Mr. Superintendent explained that he had been making transfers from other budget categories to augment the budget allocation for special education since January, but he was just about out of options because the other accounts were almost completely expended as well.
Board member Mal Content did his best to lighten the mood. “It is an imperfect world,” he observed. “If we overspend our budget, what can they do to us anyway?”
Board member Penny Pincher disagreed. “I went to a CABE Workshop last fall, and running a deficit is strictly prohibited. Also, Mayor Megillah told me that Board members can be personally liable if we authorize spending in excess of the funds appropriated to the Board.
“Oh, don’t be such a crepehanger,” Mal responded. “To be sure, Mr. Superintendent should have told us sooner, but we are where we are. At some point, the auditors will tell us and the Town that we overspent this year. By that time, it will be water under the bridge.”
Penny Pincher, however, was not having it. “The law is the law, and we can’t spend more than the budget appropriation. Mr. Superintendent, do I have to resign from the Board to avoid personal liability?”
“I wish I knew,” responded Mr. Superintendent.
What should the Board members do now? What should the Board members have done before?
