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Conway schools report higher food-service costs, insurance reimbursements and enrollment-linked funding dip
Summary
District finance staff told the board the spread of free breakfast to all students has increased food-service expenditures and that the district is pursuing insurance reimbursements for Conway Junior High building damage. Staff also flagged a revenue shortfall tied to lost state funds and a 27-student decline that reduced ESA funding.
Dr. Andy Ashley, director of finance for Conway School District, presented the district—s financial report at the Oct. 14 board meeting and described several items affecting year-to-date revenue and expenditures.
Ashley said the district is now providing breakfast to all students, which has increased food-service expenditures; those costs are reimbursable but payments can be delayed. "We're serving about a thousand more breakfasts this year than we did last year at the same time," Ashley said. The district also has started to receive bills related to damage at Conway Junior High; insurance has approved the reimbursable amounts and the district has received an initial reimbursement of about $1 million to cover early payments to contractors; the deductible remains in effect.
Ashley explained timing patterns for property-tax revenue and debt-service, noting some categories will appear to lag until larger, scheduled payments arrive. He also called attention to a revenue decline compared with last year: the district no longer receives an employee compensation reform fund (about $400,000) and timing of certain state ABC payments shifted. In addition, Arkansas—s ESA funding is linked to average-daily-membership counts; Ashley said the district is down 27 students, primarily free-and-reduced-lunch students, which affects ESA revenue.
Board members asked for a breakdown of some larger vendors on the bills list; staff said they would provide itemized detail after the meeting. The board approved the financial report by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting minutes.
