Portsmouth school finance director Mark Dunham explains restricted funds.

There were just 6 people in attendance at the Portsmouth School Finance subcommittee meeting tonight, and despite the somewhat theatrical buildup given in the Newport Daily News (who didn't bother to send a reporter) there were no secret pots of money discovered, no moment where a school committee member leaped up and said, "Aha! It was Colonel Mustard, in the Conservatory, with the Candlestick."

Rather, it was a prosaic but instructional two hour meeting in which Finance Director Mark Dunham walked through spreadsheets describing each of the restricted accounts (Federal Title I, Title II, Title IV, IDEA, state Article 18), while Asst. Supt. Colleen Jermain, and Supt. Susan Lusi provided any necessary backup on the nature of the fund and the and its restrictions.

Finance subcommittee chair Mike Buddemeyer explained why he wanted everything in so much detail. "I only want to do this once," he said.

At the end of the meeting, the subcommittee voted to direct the administration to produce the same reports on a quarterly basis for the school committtee's review. I would urge anyone who still has questions to watch the tape on Channel 18.

Full disclosure: I am a candidate for Portsmouth School Committee.