Fresh Produce Fed Deficit In Burlington Schools Cafeteria Account

BURLINGTON, MA -- What's the price of eating healthy? About $70,000, according to a blog post by Burlington Public Schools Superintendent Eric Conti. In the most recent in a series of posts outlining school system finances, Conti said an emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables caused about 70% of a $100,000 deficit in the school system's cafeteria revolving account.

Because revolving accounts cannot carry deficits from one fiscal year to the next, the deficit will need to be covered with funds from the school system's operating budget. Conti said funds have been identified to close the cafeteria revolving account deficit, and the school committee will vote on December 19 on whether or not to transfer money from the international student choice account.

"A negative balance in a revolving account typically indicates a budgeting problem or, in the case of the cafeteria, may indicate the need to increase the price of lunches," Conti wrote.

In a typical year, the cafeteria revolving account runs a deficit of $25,000 to $30,000. The district typically spends $1 million per year on food service, which includes money students pay for breakfast and lunch.

The post was the latest in a series Conti has been writing to clarify problems that came up in an audit of the student activities and performing arts funds. In January, town meeting will consider whether or not to spend $70,000 for a complete audit of the school system finances.

At its November 14 meeting, school committee members were pressured by several town meeting members to be more transparent after the two smaller audits raised questions about how the school was overseeing the student activity fund and the performing arts fund.

Among the findings in the audit of student activity accounts:

• Commissions from student photos were used to fund teacher parties and pay for gift cards.
• There was no policy in place to handle how teachers collect cash from students to accounts, which numbered as many as 10 per school.
• In 20 years, many of the accounts had never been reconciled and the checking accounts had never been balanced.
• The school committee failed to turn over all of the information Roselli, Clark and Associates needed to complete a comprehensive audit.

Among the findings in the audit of the music program, which is expected to be discussed at the school committee's meeting on December 19:

• Tickets that were sold for cash on the day of the show were listed as "comp," or free tickets. The price those tickets were sold for was not recorded. The audit was unclear on whether or not receipts from those ticket sales were deposited into the account.
• A cash box the department keeps to make change for tickets sold on the night of performances was not recorded on the town's general ledger, meaning "at some point in the past these funds were collected and not turned over to the Town Treasurer."
• The auditors could not ascertain whether some money from fees charged to students was deposited back into the fund.
• The four-show Burlington Community Concert Series lost between $35,000 and $40,000 in fiscal year 2017. On average, the shows generated $6,000 in ticket sales while paying $10,000 in talent fees, on top of hotel, meal and transportation expenses. "These losses are one of the main drivers of the Revolving Fund deficit," the audit concluded.
• The district should not have paid for the deficit incurred for the concert series out of the fund, which is only to be used for extracurricular educational programs.

"I cannot tell you how mortifying this is," Joan Kennedy Contsant, a former town meeting member, said at the school committee's November 14 meeting. "If you cannot tell where cash has gone - if it's been mishandled, misplaced, lost or misappropriated -- you're getting into the realm of felonious conduct."

In his most recent post, Conti also tried to clarify some of the problems with the performing arts fund. He said a community concert series sponsored by the school department had fueled 78% of a $58,322 deficit in that fund. The school committee will also consider using funds from the international student choice account to zero out that fund when it meets December 19.

"We did not calculate the impact of the community concert series on prior year music revolving account deficits; however, the deficits in the music revolving account correlate to the initiation of the community concert series three years ago," Conti wrote. "With the series cancelled, I believe that the music revolving account will come back into balance as has been typical."

In an earlier entry on his blog, Conti posted some documents on his blog and clarified some of the points that had been raised at the November 14 meeting. But town meeting members have maintained that the audit is not complete because, as noted in the report, school officials did not turn over a complete set of records to the independent auditing firm.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).