Mount Healthy board hears treasurer say $3.5 million general-fund cash was misstated; approves revised forecast and financial recovery plan

Mount Healthy City Schools board members voted unanimously Thursday to submit a revised five-year forecast and a financial recovery plan to the Ohio Department of Education after the district’s acting treasurer said the general-fund cash balance for June 30, 2023 had been misstated by about $3.5 million.

The acting treasurer, Sandra Gris Grisman, told the board she compared the forecast’s reported cash balance of roughly $8,000,004.96 to an in‑state accounting query that showed an actual general‑fund balance near $4,900,000, and that the error was later corrected in a February resubmission. “I called it cash misrepresentation,” Gris Grisman said. “You just lost $3,500,000 in cash in a moment, basically.”

Gris Grisman said the corrected figure reduces cash carryover that feeds into each year of the five‑year forecast, deepening projected deficits. The district’s current-year forecast presented to the board showed a deficit before accounting adjustments and included a two‑year payback schedule for a state advance. The treasurer’s materials also showed a scenario using a 10‑year payback; Gris Grisman said the decision to extend a state advance to 10 years would rest with the state commission, not the local board.

The board approved the forecast as required by the Ohio Department of Education with the two‑year payback reflected and added the financial recovery plan workbook and accompanying narrative to the items being submitted to the state. Gris Grisman said the district had already submitted a version of the forecast in November 2023 that reported a larger cash balance and that the February correction reduced the district’s available cash by about $3.5 million.

Board members asked how the public could verify forecast numbers. Gris Grisman said anyone can access five‑year forecasts on the Ohio Department of Education website and search for Mount Healthy, but added that interpreting the statements requires some familiarity with the reports. Anna Mary Thomas of the Auditor of State’s office provided the certified numbers the district used for the current‑year forecast, Gris Grisman said.

In other business tied to district finances and operations, the board approved continuing tax rates for 2026 and voted on multiple personnel and contract items listed on the agenda. Board members agreed to postpone a memorandum of understanding tied to a retirement‑incentive clause — board members and union representatives said the MOU is linked to a separate, not‑yet‑finalized contract rollover for classified staff and will be considered at a special meeting once the full contract language is available.

The board also voted to enter executive session earlier in the evening to consider the employment of a public employee and collective‑bargaining matters; that motion was moved and seconded and the roll call to enter executive session carried. The board’s formal votes on the forecast, the financial recovery plan workbook, tax rates and listed personnel/contracts were unanimous among voting members present.

Next steps the board discussed include submitting the approved five‑year forecast and financial recovery plan to the Ohio Department of Education, continuing monthly financial reconciliations, and requesting that the state commission consider whether the district’s state advance could be repaid over a longer period (a 10‑year payback scenario appears in the treasurer’s attachment and would materially improve the outlook if the commission granted it). Gris Grisman provided a written statement she called “cash misrepresentation” and offered to share that document with the superintendent (Valerie), acting treasurer Chuck Sowell, and board staff.

Votes at a glance - Motion to accept agenda — Mover: Mister Kilgore; Second: Miss Bryant; Vote: Anderson yes, Bryant yes, Carter yes, Kilgore yes; Outcome: approved. - Motion to accept minutes for 04/14/2025 — Mover: Mister Kilgore; Second: Miss Bryant; Vote: Anderson yes, Bryant yes, Carter yes, Kilgore yes; Outcome: approved. - Motion to enter executive session (employment and bargaining) — Mover: Mister Carter; Second: Mister Kilgore; Vote: Anderson yes, Bryant yes, Carter yes, Kilgore yes; Outcome: approved; entered at 06:39 p.m. - Motion to approve and submit the five‑year forecast (as revised, reflecting two‑year state advance payback) to ODE — Vote: Anderson yes, Bryant yes, Carter yes, Kilgore yes; Outcome: approved (to be submitted to ODE). - Motion to add and approve the Financial Recovery Plan (workbook + narrative) to the agenda and submit as required to the state commission/ODE — Vote: Anderson yes, Bryant yes, Carter yes, Kilgore yes; Outcome: approved. - Motion to approve 2026 tax rates (continuing levies) — Vote: Anderson yes, Bryant yes, Carter yes, Kilgore yes; Outcome: approved. - Motion to approve routine personnel, administrative contracts, limited contracts, continuing contracts, and related items listed on the agenda (grouped approvals) — Vote: Anderson yes, Bryant yes, Carter yes, Kilgore yes; Outcome: approved as listed in the meeting packet. - Action on the retirement‑incentive MOU (linked to contract rollover) — Deferred; board agreed to consider at a special meeting once related contract language is available. - Motion to adopt special‑education model policies and procedures (resolution) — Vote: Anderson yes, Bryant yes, Carter yes, Kilgore yes; Outcome: approved.

Sources and attribution Quotes and attributions in this article come from the meeting transcript: Sandra Gris Grisman, acting treasurer (financial presentation and Q&A), members of the Mount Healthy City Schools Board of Education (Stephanie Anderson; Miss Bryant; Mister Carter; Mister Kilgore), and Julie Wakefield (union president) during the MOU discussion. The district cited certified numbers from the Auditor of State’s office and forecast documents available on the Ohio Department of Education website.

Ending The board’s approvals send the revised forecast and the financial recovery plan to state review. Board members said they will continue monthly monitoring of reconciliations and may ask the state commission to consider a 10‑year repayment schedule for the state advance, which the treasurer’s attachments show would improve the district’s multi‑year outlook.