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SLPS finance director: district fund balance strong at $231 million; audit nearly complete
Summary
Executive Director of Finance Stephanie Terry presented second-quarter financials showing an unrestricted fund balance of $231 million (about 54% for FY23–24) and projected FY24–25 fund balance around 45%; audit work on grant balances and revenue testing remains open.
Saint Louis Public Schools’ finance team reported a strong fund balance during a public onboarding meeting that also included a budget primer for new board members.
Stephanie Terry, executive director of finance, told the board the district’s unrestricted fund balance for FY23–24 is $231,000,000 and that SLPS’s internal policy target is 30% (the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education requirement cited in the presentation is 3%). "In 23–24 we are projected at 54.36%, which is well above our 30% requirement for SLPS," Terry said. She added that numbers will be finalized after the financial audit.
Terry walked the board through revenue and expenditure categories, noting the district had collected a smaller share of revenue at the time of the second-quarter snapshot but later ran updated numbers showing a large December/January uptick in property- and sales-tax receipts. On the year the presentation listed projected revenues of $345,000,000 and projected expenditures of $380,000,000, with a projected drawdown of about $35,000,000 from the fund balance. The presentation projected a FY24–25 unrestricted fund balance of roughly 45% of operating budget under current assumptions.
On audit status, Terry said construction-in-progress items have largely been finalized but auditors remain working through unexpected grant balances and revenue-testing items. "We're real close," she said, and acknowledged district staff have been working weekends to complete audit items.
Terry flagged long-term cost pressures including payroll and pension, rising transportation and special-education costs, insurance, and the potential budget effects of open enrollment, vouchers and charter growth. When asked by the new board member about transportation vendors, staff said First Student remains on current contracts for this year but the district plans to move to "Zoom" going forward (staff response in meeting transcript).
Ending: Terry concluded the overview by describing the financial presentation as part of onboarding; she invited follow-up questions and noted remaining audit items will be resolved before finalizing FY23–24 numbers.
