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Pender County Schools finance staff report steady spending; district to analyze post‑contract electric use
Summary
District finance staff told the board that overall spending is on track at roughly half of budgeted levels and that administrators will analyze electricity use after ending an energy‑management contract with Synergisix about a year ago.
Pender County Schools finance staff reported to the Board of Education that district spending is approximately 50–63% expended across major funds and that they will run a targeted analysis of electric usage after canceling an outside energy contract last year.
The board heard the finance summary during the board’s regular meeting. Finance staff said Fund 1 (general fund) is about 50% expended overall, local funds about 58% and federal funds about 63%, and that some federal allotments were pending from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
The report noted that Fund 4 (capital outlay) was nearly 50% expended, Fund 5 (child nutrition) about 52% and Fund 8 (grant funding for items such as nurses, JROTC, Head Start and pre‑K) at roughly 51% expended. “Overall, we’re 51% expended as the district, which is right where we should be,” a staff presenter said.
Administrators also described a temporary freeze and rapid response when a federal funding cut was announced and then reversed; district leaders said they stopped discretionary federal spending until they had confirmation of the reversal. The presenter said the district has “almost $2,000,000 in payroll for federal personnel” and that available reserves allowed the district to cover payroll while the situation was clarified.
The board was told the district ended its Synergisix energy management contract a little over a year ago and has since hired staff to manage energy internally. “We are in the process of analyzing that data to look at kilowatts,” a staff member said, adding that prior‑year data issues have slowed the work. A second staff member told the board they will combine salary costs of the staff position with payments previously made to Synergisix and present a thorough analysis at the next board meeting.
District staff reminded board members that local bus fuel currently showed no expenses in the reports but that local costs would be shifted into that line in coming months. Board members were invited to ask questions about budget amendments and to request more detailed reporting.
Ending: Finance staff said they will tighten spending as needed and present a detailed electricity usage analysis at the next meeting.
