FARMINGTON — Farmington Public Schools finished the 2025-26 fiscal year with $248,435 it did not spend. It let $100,000 of that go back to the town and moved the other $148,435 into a reserve account the Board of Education controls. That account now holds $457,646.15, and the district's finance chief told the board on Sept. 14 that he plans to lean on it so next year's budget request can come in lower.
Dan Zittoun, the assistant superintendent of finance and operations, called it "the large story of last year." The budget carried three kindergarten teachers the district turned out not to need, and it found that out before hiring anyone. At $75,000 apiece, that put the year about $225,000 ahead from the start, and nothing that came along later, a water heater at the central office included, ate into it.
Money a school district has not spent by June 30 normally lapses, which is to say it returns to the town. The non-lapsing account is the exception, a reserve the board keeps from one year to the next and can spend only by its own vote. Leaving $100,000 to lapse, Zittoun said, was "a good faith gesture with the town who had given this money thinking we were there."
Every year the district budgets a teacher it does not assign to a classroom, in case a grade at one school comes in too large in August. Some years the position is used; some years it is not. With the reserve where it is, Zittoun said, the district does not really need to build that into the budget anymore. If a class comes in large, or a water heater fails, the reserve can cover it. "So now we can reduce the anticipated request budget that we're going to be asking for the town," he said.
The current budget, for 2026-27, is $86,858,554, adopted in February at 4.35 percent over the prior year. The town, separately, is preparing a community survey that will ask residents how high a priority it should be to increase tax dollars for the schools. The survey is still a draft.
The board also accepted a $50,000 anonymous donation, split across the four elementary schools as a student assistance fund, from the same family that gave the same amount last year. Zittoun said last year's gift paid off school lunch debt, bought winter clothing, books and school supplies, and covered field trips, in one case for a whole grade. The family has a child in one of the elementary schools and would like the gift to follow the child to West Woods when the time comes.
The board approved the May and June financial statements on voice votes with no one opposed. The next budget request comes after December, when an outside firm's updated report on the condition of the six elementary and middle school buildings is due.
Also from the Sept. 14 meeting: the district is fining its bus contractor $100 a run, and it will measure classroom screen time before cutting it.
This coverage is supported by Farmington Storage, 155 Scott Swamp Road, the only storage facility in Connecticut with Museum air. A non-lapsing account keeps something from one year to the next in good condition. Farmington Storage does the same for the rest of your basement. 860.777.4001 📦
Jack Beckett has covered Farmington's school budget through enough Februarys to know "non-lapsing" is the most interesting word on the agenda. He is on his third coffee. ☕
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