District reports $6.73 million education balance, operations drop tied to bond reimbursement transfer

Franklin County Community School Corp. financial staff reported the district’s fund balances as of June 30 and explained year-over-year changes, including a transfer tied to a bond reimbursement.

Kendra, representing the business office, said the education fund balance was $6,729,846.58 as of June 30, up from $5,898,368.38 a year earlier. The operations fund balance was $2,159,876.70, a decline from $5,276,346.10 the previous year. The rainy day fund balance was $4,164,641.37, up from $1,068,712.84. Investment interest earned year to date was $228,764.71, compared with $311,552.75 a year earlier.

Kendra told the board the principal reason the operations balance was lower was a reimbursed bond of roughly $3,500,000 that had been held in the operations fund the prior year and subsequently moved to the rainy day fund. "We did have the reimbursed bond sitting in the operations fund at this time last year, and it was roughly about 3,500,000.0. So that got moved to the rainy day fund," she said.

Board member Mister Simonson pressed for clarification about the operations fund decline and asked whether the operations amount covered salaries and utilities. Kendra said operations covers utilities, bus costs, custodial and administrative office expenses; teacher salaries and benefits come from the education fund.

On teacher-pay benchmarks, Kendra said Indiana statute requires districts to allocate 65% of education fund revenues to teacher salaries and benefits. "Last year, we were at 64.5, I think. We almost met it. We were just a little shy," she said. She clarified that the 64.5 percent figure applies to certified teaching staff and bargaining-unit staff; administrative salaries are not included in that percentage.

Board members asked for additional detail. One member requested a statement showing total dollars spent on salaries; Kendra said she would provide that. The board also discussed interest receipts and the possibility of moving rainy day funds into higher-yield accounts; Kendra said most interest posts back to the education fund but that recent statutory changes made some allocations unclear and she would verify the current rule.

The business office also reported on the cafeteria and latch key funds. The cafeteria fund balance as of June 30 was $62,380.53, down from $556,941.58 a year earlier; the latch key fund balance was $14,506.68, down from $23,181.73. Summer meals participation produced $16,287 in breakfast and lunch revenue this summer, about $3,744 more than the prior summer.

Board discussion of these financial reports was for information only; no formal motions or policy changes were recorded during that segment.