Beloit school committee hears December financial report; staff recommends forwarding full financial package to full board

The School District of Beloit’s Business Operations and Finance Committee reviewed the district’s monthly financial statements for the month ending Dec. 30, 2024, and agreed to forward the report to the full school board.

Finance staff told the committee that revenues for December totaled just over $22 million and expenses were just over $7 million, producing an inflow of roughly $15 million for the month. The improvement in cash and fund balance, staff said, is primarily the result of a large state equalization aid payment received in December.

The finance presentation noted several fund-level details. The general fund (Fund 10) showed roughly $20.8 million in revenues and about $5 million in expenses for December. Special education (Fund 27) continued the pattern of expenditures exceeding monthly revenues; staff reminded the committee that the general fund provides a year-end interfund transfer to Fund 27. The food service fund (Fund 50) had about $539,000 in revenues and roughly $469,000 in expenses for the month and is running a month behind in federal meal-reimbursement processing, staff said.

Committee members asked about the district’s cash and investments report. Staff said two 91‑day certificates of deposit purchased in December totaling $6 million had not been reflected in the posted summary; when added, total cash and investments rise to about $23.7 million. Staff also highlighted the district’s days of liquidity: after being down as low as five days in November, the measure rose to about 35 days following the December inflows.

Special-education costs drew particular attention. Staff flagged rising purchase-service charges in Fund 27, including payments for out‑of‑district placements and contracted specialists (occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech, psychologists). Committee members asked whether the students placed at Richardson (an out‑of‑district program) could return if the district were fully staffed; staff and a special-education representative said many of those placements were for students whose needs include constant adult support, elopement risk, locked-door environments and intensive care that the district cannot provide in-house. Staff emphasized confidentiality when describing student-level needs.

On motion, the committee voted to move the monthly financials and accompanying materials to the full school board for consideration.

Ending: Staff said they will correct the cash-and-investments posting to include the $6 million in CDs and will bring future clarifying material on special-education purchase services and out‑of‑district placements to the board.