(From the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education)
The Normandy School District will not draw down an additional $2 million in state funds that was appropriated in the Missouri state budget to help the district finish the school year. Department and district review of financial statements, outstanding bills and bank balances shows that the district will not have a negative balance at the end of June.
“Normandy’s financial situation was fragile this year with the added expense of the transfer tuition and transportation,” said Deputy Commissioner of Finance Ron Lankford. “Major cuts as the result of closing an elementary school and reducing staff at mid-year, along with careful financial management, allowed the children to finish school and kept Normandy solvent.”
The Normandy School District should end the year with a small but positive balance in the bank before transitioning to the Normandy Schools Collaborative on July 1. Language in the supplemental budget item for Normandy states that the funding would only be used to the extent required to complete the 2013-14 school year.
In February, the State Board of Education approved a recommendation from the Department to impose financial oversight over the Normandy School District. All expenditures, contracts, and financial obligations were approved by Department staff. This oversight helped ensure that any and all monies appropriated through the legislature would be monitored and expended judiciously, and that any and all measures necessary to ensure the completion of the year would be taken.
1 comment:
The Department of Education makes it appear as if Normandy School District mishandled funds. The problem with Normandy's finances happened when the district had to pay for transportation for students that opted to transfer to other districts. I think the Department of Education's decision to allow students to transfer would have been better accepted by the public had the members carefully thought through the repercussions of those transfers. Now, the district has been stripped of great teachers and programs. Let's see what happens next. We're watching.
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