Earlier in the year, it was projected Oxford Schools may end the 2014-15 fiscal year with a $362,000 deficit.
That projection turned out to be wrong as the district actually ended up with an excess of more than $317,000 in its general fund.
In addition to that good news, the district once again revceived a ‘clean unmodified opinion? with regard to its 2014-15 audit report, presented by Jacob Sopczynski of Yeo & Yeo CPAs and Business Consultants at the Oct. 28 school board meeting.
‘Let be the first to congratulate you on your audit opinion. As a clean audit opinion, that’s the highest level of insurance we can give you guys on your financial statement,? Sopczynski said. ‘It’s a great thing to have and I appreciate all your hard work. I know it was a challenge on the finance side (due to staff changes, but you did a great job.?
Oxford Superintendent Tim Throne was ‘elated and ecstatic.?
‘That is huge, he said. ‘That means we’re not carrying over a deficit from last year and that’s a big win.?
Even when things were expected to be in the red, Throne and his team were both confident and hopeful the district would end up in the black.
However, just because things worked out, Throne said that doesn’t mean the district can just start spending money.
‘It just means we have a much better idea of our budget and it will help us moving forward,? he added.
As for where that $317,000 will go, Throne said it’s already been designated for investments designed to help improve student achievement. These investments were based on input from teachers, administrators and the community.
These investments include: an additional section of early fives at Daniel Axford Elementary to keep classroom size down; additional sections at both the high school and middle school for various courses; four elementary intervention specialists; K-5 math coach; para-professional at the middle school; science lab tech at the high school; math teacher at Oxford Virtual Academy (OVA); and a data specialist to work both with curriculum department and OVA.
‘Some of those positions have been filled. Some are open and we’re currently interviewing,? Throne noted. ‘I feel good we can add those positions, knowing that we’re starting to address some of our biggest areas of need and that we can do that without going into the red.?
As far as the rest of the audit, the student population growth once again showed an increase. It was estimated that 2016 growth would be about 90 students more than 2015, which would have put the district at 5,594 students, Oxford’s Oct. 7 preliminary count showed 5,694.
‘Michigan has suffered greatly (in terms of student growth),? Sopczynski explained. ‘It’s the district that can maintain and improve their student count that is doing things right.?
The general fund’s fund balance as of the end of June was $6,160,325. It makes up 12.1 percent of the budget.
According to the budget, $49,774,057 of revenue was brought in. Of that amount, $40,866,876 (82 percent) came from the state, $5,375,976 (11 percent) came from local taxes, $2,082,268 (4percent) and $1,448,937 (3 percent) came from federal.
Of the $49,584,777 in expenditures, employee benefits amount to $15,918,217 (32 percent), salaries amount to $24,777,188 (50 percent), purchased services equal $5,205,301 (10 percent), supplies and materials costed $2,337,605 (5 percent) and other expenses amounted to $1,346,466 (3 percent).
Sopczynski noted the district is going to continue to see employee benefit costs rise due to increases in retirement costs.
While Throne is certainly pleased with the outcome of the aduit, he said, ‘Going into the red wouldn’t have been the end of the world.?
Out of a $50 million budget, having a deficit of approximately $300,000 amounts to 0.6 percent.
‘That’s really a small amount comparatively speaking,? he said. ‘However, it still makes me feel good that we’re not (in the red) because you don’t have to explain that to anybody. As far as going forward, we’re going to continue to work to be better everyday.?