Source
At the September 13, 2023 Board of Education meeting the board learned the terms on which its paving project could go ahead. The town would not accept a check made out to the contractor; the money had to be payable to the Town of Andover. The mechanism, as the town administrator relayed it from the town attorney and the auditor: the school must vote to unencumber its own budgeted funds and return them to the town, "they have to put it in their general fund, and then they have to spend the money. It becomes their money first," after which the town would book the work as an education-related capital expense and pay the bill (~1:21:58, ~1:47:45). The school's own budget would then close the year showing a surplus of roughly $125,000 that it had not in fact saved (~1:49:43). The board chair said on the record: "it is ridiculous what has happened with regard to the denial of a permit with regard to paving in a spot in our school that is under our jurisdiction that requires that it be done for safety purposes and could have been done months ago before the school year even started" (~1:29:04). The board voted 4-3 to comply.