Caledonia Argus

Auditor assesses school district's financial situation

Posted: 10/8/02

by Andrew Miller
Argus News Reporter

Reducing the districtís fund balance deficit and reaching ìa realistic fund balance goalî in the coming years are attainable aims for ISD 299, said Darwin Viker, district auditor from Larson Allen, an independent auditing firm hired to assess the districtís financial situation. Viker presented the results of Larson Allenís assessment to the school board on Monday, October 7.

ìI think Iíve got some pretty good news,î Viker said. ìThis (the financial situation) has taken a bit of a turnaround.î

Though the districtís fund balance decreased between June 30, 2001 and June 30, 2002, the districtís capital loan will prevent this deficit from becoming more serious.

In June 2001 the districtís fund balance was $7.7 million in the black and, as of June 30, 2002, it was $1.9 million in the red. The deficit, however, should not be a cause for concern, Viker said.

ìThis is a temporary deficit,î Viker said. ìThe bulk of this will be covered as you draw from your capital loan.î

Viker also mentioned that a fund balance goal between $500,000-$550,000 is not an unrealistic aim in the coming years.

In closing, Viker reiterated a notion that Superintendent Jim Tool has stressed in the past monthñ ìif things are going southî financially, Viker said, then ìyou have two things at your disposal: one, the operating levy referendum, and two, you can cut expenditures.î

Budget cuts have been made in the past year to reduce the deficit in the general fund. If the operating levy is ratified by voters, the amount of cuts could be curtailed.

Special education funding update

Also at Monday nightís meeting, Gary Woodward of the Hiawatha Valley Education District was present to discuss funding for special education.

Local funding for special education in Caledonia schools was roughly $58,000 for 2002-2003. This figure is a fraction of what it costs to run the program, Woodward noted. The remainder of the financial support for the program is provided by state and federal funding. So, relative to what it costs to maintain the special education program in Caledonia, local funding is comparatively little.

Referendum Steering Committee addresses school board

The Citizens for ISD #299 Referendum Steering Committee met with the school board on Wednesday, October 2 to report the results of a survey they had conducted to gather citizen input regarding the school district. Results from the survey indicated the publicís perception of the districtís strengths, how the district can rectify past mistakes, as well as what is needed to gain the support of citizens in order to pass the operating levy referendum.

The survey consisted of focus group interviews with nine groups of adults and five groups of youth from the district; roughly 150 people participated.

Participants in the survey cited good teachers, the new school facilities, and a supportive community as strengths of the district. Suggested ways to ìmove forward from past mistakesî included making the public more aware of the financial status of the district, improving communication with the public, and holding ìadministrators and peers on the board accountable for their actions.î

The Citizens for ISD #299 recommended measures that the school board should consider undertaking in order for the public to pass the operating levy referendum. Based on participant responses, the group found that ìin order to gain the confidence and support of its citizens to pass a referendum, the school board and administration need to re-establish trust, explain how the money will be spent, use a variety of methods to educate the public about the referendum, and develop a public relations/communication plan.î

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