Members of the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Central School District Board of Education pressed administrators Tuesday night for additional information about district funds, including capital reserves, debt service and nearly $1 million that is held in a scholarship fund.
The discussion came during the board’s review of business items, after Trustee Anne Marie Longo said that several of the funds listed on the agenda were unfamiliar and requested a more detailed explanation at an upcoming public meeting.
“I have a bunch of questions about the funds,” Longo said. “There’s just a list of funds here that are new to me, so bear with me as I ask some questions, and hopefully we’ll have an understanding of what a debt service fund is.”
Longo asked specifically about the debt service fund, the scholarship fund and the cafeteria fund, including why the scholarship fund had a balance of almost $1 million and whether the cafeteria fund, as well, was carrying an unusually high balance.
The board agreed that the questions would receive a more extensive public review at the audit meeting in October, and that administrators would also have additional information at the board’s Sept. 29 meeting.
The distinction is important, because money approved by voters for specific projects is transferred from the restricted capital reserve into the capital savings account, and remains there until it is spent on those projects. Any money left over after a project is completed is returned to the capital reserve.
“That is money that is sitting there for purposes yet to be determined,” Raynor explained, “or yet to be approved by the community.”
The board also discussed a separate account that was established after voters approved a $29 million bond referendum in December 2021. The district created the account, Raynor said, to track the bond proceeds separately. It contains about $300,000, most of which, she said, was associated with a project recently discussed by the district, while the exact June 30 figures would be addressed as part of an audit review.
The district’s debt service fund was another focus of discussion. Raynor explained that the district uses the fund to make debt payments, and is still making final payments on an older bond.
The district maintains about $2 million in annual debt service expenses, she said, and moves that money into the debt service fund to make payments. Interest earned on borrowed money is also added to the fund, reducing the amount that needs to come from the district’s operating budget.
Longo also asked about the trust and agency fund. Raynor described it as a custodial account through which money comes in and goes out, citing field trip and driver education money as examples.
“All the accounts, all of these funds are ordered by external auditors,” Raynor said.
The scholarship fund was of particular interest because of its size. Raynor added that more than 95 percent of the fund consists of a perpetual scholarship fund established years ago. Rather than spending down the principal, the district awards scholarships based on interest earned by the fund.
The board plans to examine the district’s finances in greater detail at its upcoming audit discussion.
Funding also came up later in the meeting, when Superintendent Francesco Ianni presented a proposal for an eighth-grade overnight educational trip to Washington, D.C., scheduled for March 11 and 12, 2027.
The trip would be self-funded, and cost $600 to $700 per student, which would include transportation, meals, admissions, professional tour guides, overnight accommodations and hotel security.
Trustee James Rickard supported the educational opportunity, but expressed concern about whether every family could afford the cost.
Ianni said the district would work to make the trip available to students whose families could not afford it, emphasizing that they would not be excluded because of financial circumstances.
The board discussed whether fundraising efforts could help reduce the cost, but Ianni noted that the trip would take place relatively late in the school year, and that families might already be involved in fundraising activities for other school trips.
Rickard urged the district to make an aggressive effort to ensure that all students could participate. “We need to come up with aggressive, creative ideas to fundraise as much as we can,” he said, “to make sure that no student is left behind.”
The board ultimately supported moving forward with the Washington trip, with the cost and the ability of all students to participate remaining central concerns.
Ianni said he would work with the administration to determine the next steps, and report back to the board at future meetings. “The main point is that, from what I am hearing, that the board is in favor,” he said. “The only concern is to make sure that no child is left behind, and we’ll do everything in our power to make sure that that will take place.”
