Conn. schools have thousands, perhaps millions of dollars, in unclaimed funds, data shows

A box of 72 Ticonderoga brand wood-cased No. 2 pencils runs about $16 on Amazon. There’s a pool of money sitting untouched, held by the state treasurer for Waterbury Public Schools, for example, to buy 2,500 boxes of pencils.

It’s Waterbury’s money: Unclaimed funds being held by the state Treasury Department, a total of $39,043.21 made up by 27 individual assets. Some are small — 2 cents here, 50 cents there, $1.35 — but a few are far larger.

One asset is worth $15,582.71. Another is worth $14,420.65, both held by the state since 2011, and the Waterbury Public School District is not alone.

A CT Insider review of Connecticut’s “Big List” of unclaimed property revealed many thousands of dollars, perhaps millions, that belong to public and private schools across the state.

There’s an asset worth $13,059.74 being held by the state treasurer for New London Public Schools. There’s another worth $11,645 held for Hartford Public Schools, two assets totaling more than $20,000 held for Middletown High School, and the list goes on.

The largest single sum is $241,352.06 being held by the state for a school called the Kolburne School in Wilton, which, according to state records, was incorporated in 1965 and was dissolved 20 years later.

“The list was a little more difficult in the past to navigate and to find,” said state Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. “But now that it’s easier, thanks to the treasurer’s office and pressure from the legislature, that money can go back in the districts’ hands because as we do know, every dollar matters and every penny counts, especially when there’s been shortages over the years.”

The so-called “Big List” is a database of assets turned over to the state treasurer: money residents and organizations are owed that for whatever reason did not get deposited. To claim it, a person or organization must do so online and submit their claim and any supportive documentation proving their ownership. By law, that money is held by the state treasurer until it’s claimed, perhaps indefinitely.

“Unclaimed assets include, but are not limited to: savings or checking accounts, un-cashed checks, matured certificates of deposit, stocks, bonds or mutual funds, travelers’ checks or money orders, and proceeds from life insurance policies,” according to the Treasury Department website. “These assets are held in the custody of the treasurer until claimants come forward to claim their property.”