Preston County — Katrina Kerstetter, district treasurer, gave a wide-ranging financial briefing Nov. 10 and warned board members that the district's unrestricted fund balance declined roughly $500,000 compared with last year and that continued reliance on reserves will require program and spending trade-offs.

Ker stetter said unaudited financials show a predictable decline as one-time federal COVID-era funds faded and that the district has not yet received a key sheriff's tax statement needed for some official figures. "The big thing to take away is we did drop $500,000 between the fund balance of last year and this year," Kerstetter said.

Board members pressed for clearer management reports that compare (a) a budget that relies on prior-year reserves and (b) a budget that is balanced only on the district’s projected recurring revenue. One board member said, "If we have $12,000,000 coming in and we're spending $12,500,000, we're eating $500,000 of our reserves each year," and asked for a line-by-line view of where the drains are. Kerstetter replied she can provide the budget summary and monthly reports, and suggested more work is needed among directors to set hard targets for curriculum, technology and personnel lines.

Members and the treasurer discussed specific pressure points: personnel costs (the largest ongoing expense), curriculum and subscription platforms (examples cited: Schoology, I-Ready, Seesaw), transportation and maintenance, and the potential effect of losing levy funding in future years. Kerstetter said she expects the fund balance to decline in the near term and that the district is actively seeking to ‘‘plateau’’ reserves within a two-to-three-year horizon by tightening spending and re-evaluating encumbered items.

Superintendent Martin also noted the district is pursuing capital funding through the School Building Authority to retrofit high-cost sites (an HVAC project at South Preston was discussed) and recommended prioritizing projects that produce energy savings.

What’s next: The treasurer will resubmit the budget summary and provide the board with comparative scenarios showing a budget that does not draw on reserves. Directors will identify the top overruns and options to reduce nonessential recurring costs ahead of the spring budget cycle.