West Hartford Schools End Year With Surplus

The West Hartford public school district is returning $1.4 million to the town’s general fund, according to the Board of Education.

At the meeting on Tuesday, school board member Jay Sarzen said that several accounts ended the school year with a surplus, including $298,776 in salaries, $144,072 in benefits and $1.07 million in purchased services.

“This was a unique year,” Sarzen said.

The salary surplus was due to the hiring of fewer tutors and paraprofessionals, Sarzen said, while the benefits surplus was a result of fewer unemployment compensation claims.

The purchased services surplus was due to higher reimbursement for excess costs ($600,000) and lower than budgeted interdistrict magnet costs ($340,000).

In addition, the school district also has a balance of $1.8 million - an increase of $260,923 - in the special funds balance. School board Chairman Bruce Putterman said that a discussion item for a later date is to determine what, if anything, can and will be done with the special funds account.

Finally, the Nutrition Services department ended the year with a $88,454 surplus, including interest.

“This breakeven performance was excellent given the tough economy and the imposition of [ a 25-cent] meal price increase based on federal rules,” wrote Chip Ward, director of finance and planning, in a memorandum to the board.

Correction: The original article stated that there was an $828,454 surplus in nutritional services. That was a typographical error. The correct number is $88,454. West Hartford Patch regrets the error.