The remaining donation money in the Sandy Hook Special Revenue Fund has now been allocated. The Newtown Board of Selectmen met on Thursday to discuss the $17,500. The undesignated funding came into the town after 12-14.
A parent group supporting the Newtown High School marching band would receive the money, as long as it's approved by the Board of Finance and the Legislative Council. The Council is set to meet tonight.
First Selectman Pat Llodra said during the Selectmen meeting last week that it's a meritorious request. She noted that now nearly three years out from the tragedy, the town should spend down the remaining money.
The request was first considered in July when the Newtown High School Band and Guard Parent Board asked if the town could maintain and insure a box truck the group was looking to purchase for use during weekly road trips. Currently, the parent group rents a U-Haul to take equipment to regional competitions.
There was a proposal that donations controlled by the Board of Education, totalling about $7,500 be combined with the $17,500 to meet the $25,000 request. But some Board of Ed members didn't know about the two small funds, and denied the allocation from their accounts.
Llodra says the Board of Ed had a lot of good discussion about the issue, but because they didn't know about some of this funding she understands they weren't ready to take action. She notes that there was never any question about the merit of the request.
Llodra says overall, there's about $133,000 that the Board of Ed controls and that magnitude might allow them to do something bigger and more persuasive to their charge. A Selectman said that this request at least brought to the Board of Ed's attention their undesignated funds which previously were not on their radar, for good or for bad.
Parent Board President Scott Reiss says they don't have the balance in reserve, so they are tooking to do a seller finance approach. He says they have discussed that in concept with the seller, who seems amiable to it.
