Special School District CFO outlines FY25 forecast, proposes FY26 ASBO-based budget format and cash-basis reporting

Cindy Romann, chief financial officer for the Special School District of St. Louis County, updated the Board of Education on the district—s reconciled fiscal year 2025 financials and outlined plans for the FY26 budget document, including a move to cash-basis reporting and a timeline that would bring a final budget to the board in May.

Romann told the board the FY25 statements have been reconciled through December monthly financials and said the district is tracking toward a board goal of maintaining about a 35% fund balance. She said the slides presented show both all-funds totals and operating funds (general and special revenue) and that the presentation will continue monthly as the finance team fine-tunes forecasts.

"I want to remind the board that we were on a trajectory downward. We're going our goal is to stay around that 35% fund balance goal," Romann said, and later added that she will "keep monitoring these percentages throughout the year as we fine tune our forecast."

Romann introduced a proposed format for the FY26 budget based on guidance from the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO). She described four main parts of the proposed budget document: an executive summary intended to be a standalone, an organizational section (history, maps, school directory), a multi-level financial section (all funds, operating funds, individual funds and optionally program/building detail), and an informational section (assessed valuation, tax rate history and projections, enrollment and staffing data, glossary of terms).

"By following this format and checklist, and the standard, it increases our credibility. It provides clarity and transparency as well as communicates any future budget concerns or challenges Special School District might have," Romann said.

Romann also said the district plans to present FY26 financials on a cash basis during the year. She explained the state requires fund financial statements and the district will present modified accrual audit work, but will move away from a full-accrual operational presentation (which includes depreciation and full GASB accruals) to make the year-to-year budget-to-actual results more "explainable and understandable." "So we'll move away from a full accrual presentation," Romann said, "which means we won't have to do, like depreciation of assets and those kind of GASB standards in the future. We'll just present on a modified accrual statement, which is still in alignment with GAAP."

Board members asked clarifying questions about the audit and timing. Romann said auditors will perform an interim audit in June on FY25, while the FY26 budget document is developed concurrently, and she summarized a timeline the district intends to follow: a full draft by April 30; a finance-committee review May 9; a work-study presentation to the board May 13; adoption at the May 27 board business meeting; and ratification at the June 2 governing council meeting.

The presentation closed with an invitation for questions; the meeting then proceeded to other superintendent reports and later adjourned.