State officials will continue monitoring the financial condition of the Alpena and Hartford school districts through the fall, then announce a determination about their status in November.
The Arkansas Department of Education’s fiscal distress unit is reviewing ending balances for the 2012-13 budget year for both districts, department spokesman Gayle Morris said.
The two Northwest Arkansas school districts are among nine districts from across the state classified in fiscal distress, a classification given by the State Board of Education for districts in financial trouble.The others are Brinkley, Helena-West Helena, Hermitage, Hughes, Mineral Springs, Pulaski County Special and Western Yell County.
In Alpena, ongoing concerns include a thinned staff, leaner student schedule and fewer course offerings for students because of staff cuts, said Andrea Martin, who became the district’s superintendent July 1.
In Hartford, Superintendent Teresa Ragsdale foresees another tight year for the district’s 350 students.
When positions open, such as when a teacher’s aide resigned at the end of the school year, Ragsdale evaluates whether to fill the vacancy. She won’t fill the teacher’s aide position.
“When we f ill positions, we try to fill them with someone who costs less than the one who left,” Ragsdale said.
The State Board of Education classified the Alpena and Hartford school districts as being in fiscal distress during the spring of 2012 because both districts had declining end of year fund balances.
ALPENA PROJECTIONS
In Alpena, declining balances occurred because of declining student enrollment, which resulted in state funding losses. The district also was overstaffed for the number of students enrolled.
Alpena School District’s balances steadily declined over at least four years from an ending balance of $591,396 for the 2008-09 school year to $331,796 in the 2011-12 school year, but the district projects an ending balance of $553,091 for the 2012-13 school year, Martin said.
The district’s plan to improve its finances included eliminating two full-time teaching positions, changing four full-time teachers to half time and eliminating bonus pay given for teachers with at least 28 years of experience, Martin said. The district also monitored transportation, supply purchases and monthly spending.
Martin said she has met with Hazel Burnett, the state’s coordinator of the fiscal distress unit, to learn more about the district’s prognosis, and she hopes that the district will be released from fiscal distress in November.
Enrollment in Alpena stands at about 560 students, and so far enrollment is eight students higher than the 2012-13 school year, Martin said. The district anticipates the resulting increase in state aid will help.
Martin hopes to work toward building a budget that will allow the district to replace buses and pay staff bonuses, she said. District officials also will encourage parents to complete applications for free and reduced-priced lunches. Higher percentages of students who qualify for federally subsidized meals can mean additional state funding.
HARTFORD DISTRICT
In Hartford, the district’s tax assessments rose 18 percent between 2011 and 2012,and the 2012 tax base was valued at $29.2 million. That will benefit the district for the 2013-14 school year, said Angie Michael, the district bookkeeper and treasurer.
The district had a higher percentage of children qualify for free and reduced-price meals in 2012-13, which will mean more state money for low-income children. National School Lunch Act money the district receives from the state is projected to increase to $265,481 from $139,073 last school year, she said.
The district’s balances also have improved. The ending balance for 2013 was $466,990, up from $290,040 in 2012, Michael said.
State officials want to see that the district can budget with the revenue it receives,Ragsdale said.
The district also is watching enrollment, she said.
Hartford school officials faced a difficult situation when enrollment dropped to 343 students in the 2010-11 school year. Had the district’s enrollment remained under 350, the district would have been forced to merge with another district.
Instead, school officials spent $130,000 on incentives, such as offering free preschool and free lunches, to boost enrollment and avoid a merger. Enrollment reached 399 students, but the spending led to declining balances and caught the state’s attention.
The district began charging $50 per week for preschool last fall as part of a plan to improve its finances, and the district encouraged families to apply for the free and reduced-priced meals to increase the federal reimbursement the district received for meals, Ragsdale said. This year, a grant from the Department of Human Services will allow the district to offer scholarships for some children to attend preschool.
Even though finances are improving, enrollment is dropping again, Ragsdale said.
The district finished the year with 350 students, and Ragsdale knows some families have moved.
“We’ll be lucky if we have 350 when school starts,” she said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 07/22/2013