💸 Where Did the Money Go? A Closer Look at the Non-Lapsing Fund Mystery in Our School District

A recurring theme has been surfacing in our Board of Education meetings and in the meeting minutes — and it’s one that should concern every taxpayer, parent, and community member in town: the mystery surrounding the Board of Education’s non-lapsing fund.

Before we dive into the details, it’s important to understand what a non-lapsing fund actually is.

What Is a Non-Lapsing Fund?

The Board of Education Non-Lapsing Surplus Fund, as described in official documents, is a component of the town’s General Fund. It’s made up of unexpected funds left over from the school’s previous fiscal year budget — essentially, unspent money from the school budget that rolls over instead of disappearing at the end of the year. By state law, the amount transferred cannot exceed 2% of the BOE’s adopted budget for that year, and it must be used solely for educational purposes.

Additionally, any use of those funds requires Board of Finance approval.

This is a good system in theory — it allows our schools to save for emergencies, invest in future needs, and provide financial stability. But what’s happening with this particular fund is anything but reassuring.

The Numbers Don’t Add Up

Here’s where things become deeply concerning:

Emails between the 2 boards show confusion around the balance discrepancies

📊 According to the town’s audit report, the BOE Non-Lapsing Fund had a balance of $155,319 as of June 30, 2024.

💰 According to the Board of Education’s own records, the balance in their account at that same time was only $37,527.43.

That’s a discrepancy of more than $117,000.

After some unclear back-and-forth communication between the boards, the situation only grew murkier. At the September 24th Board of Education meeting, the board voted to set the non-lapsing fund amount at $31,939.19 — a reduction of nearly $124,000 from what the town audit showed.

When a BOE member (who also happens to serve as the liaison with the Board of Finance) asked the very reasonable question — “Where did the rest of the money go?” — the response from several board members was deeply troubling. Comments included:

• “We’re not getting into that.”

• “It’s getting late.”

• And perhaps most shockingly: “Our rainy day fund ran into some rain.”

They also made it clear that the money was under the town’s management at the time, suggesting that neither the Board of Education nor the Board of Finance is willing to explain where the funds went.

Why This Should Alarm Every Taxpayer

Imagine hiring a financial advisor to manage your savings — and one day, you notice tens of thousands of dollars missing. Would you accept “we’re not getting into that” as an answer? Of course not. Yet that’s exactly what’s happening with our tax dollars.

This isn’t just an accounting error or a minor oversight. It’s a glaring example of financial mismanagement and lack of transparency — and it has real consequences for our schools, our children, and our wallets.

Here’s what’s at stake:

• 💵 Taxpayer Trust: If funds meant for education can quietly disappear without explanation, how can residents trust any part of our local budget process?

• 🏫 School Funding: That missing money could have been used for classroom resources, student programs, building improvements, or unexpected costs.

• 📉 Accountability: Without clear oversight, there’s nothing stopping this from happening again — or happening on an even larger scale.

What We Can — and Must — Do Next

This situation didn’t happen overnight, and it won’t be fixed overnight. But there are steps we, as community members, can take to make sure it never happens again:

1. Demand Full Transparency. Request a detailed, line-by-line accounting of the non-lapsing fund transactions — from both the town and the BOE — and push for a public explanation of where the missing funds went.

2. Establish Clear Oversight . Advocate for policies requiring regular public reports on non-lapsing fund balances and expenditures, reviewed by independent auditors or citizen financial committees.

3. Elect Board Members Who Will Ask Hard Questions. We need people on both the Board of Education and the Board of Finance who are not afraid to dig into discrepancies, demand accountability, and represent the taxpayers’ best interests — even when the answers are uncomfortable.

4. Show Up and Speak Out. Attend board meetings. Ask questions. Submit public comment. Silence is what allows this kind of mismanagement to continue unchecked.

It’s hard to believe that, in a small town like ours, over $100,000 could simply “go missing” without explanation — but that’s exactly what’s happened. And if we don’t demand answers now, we’re sending a message that this is acceptable.

It’s not.

Our children deserve better. Our schools deserve better. And our tax dollars deserve the same level of care and accountability that we would expect from any financial institution.

The question is simple: Where did the money go — and when will we get a straight answer?

To learn more about the confusion around the non-lapsing fund, reference the past meeting notes published on our BOE section of our school's website here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/17nXAyY3sW8xFlDPdKb0af3McT8Ws4jA5/view