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Gadsden finance director says missing external data and staff gaps delayed AFR; board warned of longer December pay gap

Gadsden School Board · November 18, 2025
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Summary

Finance director Miss Bruner told the board the district’s Annual Financial Report (AFR) and cost report are delayed by missing data from CHP and a key consultant’s illness; she warned employees will have a longer pay gap between Dec. 23 and end of January and said Head Start funding may be prorated pending federal award letters.

Miss Bruner, the district’s finance director, told the school board at a Nov. 13 financial workshop that the Annual Financial Report and cost report are incomplete because staff have not received required data from CHP and a consultant who supports the work is temporarily unavailable due to illness.

Bruner said the actuarial vendor has “everything as far as he can get it without that data” and that CHP has sent files the district cannot open because they require network access or a password. She said she has requested three-month invoice estimates from the construction contractor on the DAG project so the district can plan grant drawdowns rather than using general fund money.

Bruner said the Florida Department of Education would like AFR submissions before the Thanksgiving break, but the district may miss that deadline. She said DOE will exclude districts that do not submit in time and mark them with an asterisk in federal reporting if their records arrive late.

On federal funding, Bruner said a federal funding lapse ended Nov. 12 and that Head Start funding is expected at least in a prorated amount; the district has not yet received an award letter. She said Head Start’s federal review that would have started in December or January may be pushed back to March because districts active at the time of the shutdown will be prioritized.

Bruner also outlined year-end payroll timing: payroll will run on Dec. 23, and the next regular payday will be at the end of January, creating an extended gap between paychecks. She said the district will issue a districtwide memo so employees can plan.

Board members asked for more detailed expenditure reporting to understand line-item spending such as food service and training. Bruner said staff are building a tool to allow drill-down by department but that effort is on hold while AFR and cost-report priorities are completed. The chair pledged a post–New Year budget workshop to set board priorities and to work with staff on budgeting timelines.

The district did not take formal action on these items at the workshop; several business items were deferred to the regular board meeting.