Finance team reports stronger-than-projected FY25 preliminary results; FY26 outlook faces tornado costs and funding uncertainty

At the Oct. 14 meeting the Saint Louis Public Schools finance director briefed the Board of Education on preliminary year-end FY25 financials, updated the board on the district’s audit status and a corrected state audit finding, and outlined the FY26 fiscal outlook.

Finance presenter Miss Johnson told the board that the district’s unrestricted fund balance for FY24 was reported at $231 million and that, following end-of-year reconciliation, FY25 revenue and expenditure outcomes appear stronger than earlier projections. “Based on our end of the year reconciliation, our revenue is at 347,000,000… our expenditures at 366,000,000,” Johnson said, describing a revision that lowers projected fund-balance spending from $35 million to about $18 million prior to final audit adjustments.

Johnson summarized revenue sources and variances: local revenues were above budget (377 million collected vs. 356 million budgeted), county receipts were higher than projected, while state revenue came in lower (about $18.4 million actual versus $28.2 million budgeted). Federal grant receipts also trailed projections—for example, some federal and food-service funding flows differed from initial estimates—and the finance team noted those numbers remain subject to reconciliation.

Audits and corrected state finding

Johnson said external auditors from RubinBrown have been on-site since Sept. 22 conducting field work, with an anticipated audit committee review in November and a board review target in mid- to late November; the formal audit submission deadline to the state is Dec. 31. The finance presentation also described correction of a prior state audit data error: the state report originally showed a large fund-balance deficit for FY23, but after the district submitted traceable records the state revised the FY23 figure to reflect a surplus.

FY26 outlook and tornado impact

Johnson and board members discussed the FY26 forecast. Staff presented an FY26 fund-balance spending projection of about $33.4 million but cautioned that estimate excludes tornado-related repair costs, which were projected earlier in the meeting at approximately $77 million and are expected to begin affecting FY26 financials. The finance presenter identified several ongoing risks for FY26: open-enrollment vouchers, potential decreases in federal and state funding, transportation feeder-pathway changes tied to tornado damage, and deferred maintenance needs.

Why it matters

Finance staff framed the reconciliation and audit progress as positive steps that reduce projected fund-balance drawdown for FY25, but they cautioned that ongoing uncertainties—most notably tornado recovery costs and federal grant variances—require continuing monitoring and could affect the FY26 budget.

Board members asked follow-up questions about federal funding categorization (food-service funds vs. operating grants), insurance and FEMA coordination on specific repairs, and whether insurance deductibles would intersect with FEMA or other reimbursements. Staff said they would follow up with insurance staff to clarify specific deductible and reimbursement interactions.