Draft financial audit clean, district outlines $1.1M budget-alignment plan and virtual-hybrid enrollment options

Auditor Chris Pruitt, an audit partner with Pruitt Brown & Hill, presented a draft of the district’s audited financial statements and said the auditor will issue an unmodified ("clean") opinion: "The financial statements, in our professional opinion, are free of material misstatement," he told trustees. He noted the district's unassigned general fund balance was $26,100,000, roughly 28% of annual expenditures, and said that the figure is within the district’s policy target (25%). Pruitt cautioned that finalizing the single audit depends on the federal OMB compliance supplement, which had not been issued at the time of the presentation; auditors used an OMB draft and do not anticipate material changes.

Following the audit presentation, Wesley Brooks reviewed monthly finance tables and enrollment. He said October spending was about 33% of the budget year-to-date, enrollment was down roughly 90 students year-over-year but WADA (weighted average daily attendance) remains strong, and the fiscal year 2025 closed with a $224,000 surplus even though the adopted budget began with a $2.4M deficit.

Superintendent Doctor Allen outlined a budget-alignment package intended to address a preliminary FY27 general-fund deficit projected at roughly $1.8M (assuming no compensation increases). The plan targets roughly $1.1M in expense reductions and $305K in recurring revenue gains through course coding and program realignment. Key proposals included:

- Reconfiguring middle-school schedules to reduce instructional periods (from a 9-period day with lunch to an 8-period day and a 7-period instructional model), which the district estimates could yield about $600,000 in annual personnel savings once fully implemented (conservatively modeled as $300,000 in year one as staff certifications and attrition are managed).

- Realigning middle-school courses (e.g., professional communications, lifetime wellness, robotics, some agriculture classes) into CTE-weighted classes so students earn high-school credit; the district estimated this coding change could generate about $305,000 annually in adjusted state funding.

- Reducing ESL facilitator positions from six to two FTEs due to overlap with classroom ESL-certified teachers, projecting a substantial per-pupil cost reduction.

- Eliminating the AVID program districtwide as a cost-savings measure (estimated savings about $219,000); district leaders said AVID enrollment has been declining.

- Considering operational changes such as eliminating pre-K3 classrooms because HB2 restricts certain tuition practices and because pre-K3 is staff-intensive, and removing the $1,000 out-of-district transfer fee to increase transfers and WADA (the district currently has 144 out-of-district transfer students).

Doctor Allen also described a potential virtual-hybrid program (grades 6–12) to attract nonresident and homeschool students: a model where core courses are taken virtually and in-person electives or CTE/athletics are provided on campus, allowing Midway to receive enrollment-based funding for students participating in the hybrid model. Allen emphasized conservative budgeting — the district did not include virtual program revenue in FY27 projections — and urged engagement with staff and the community before implementation.

Trustees asked for detail on assumptions and phasing; Doctor Allen emphasized implementation by attrition, certification support for staff, and a methodical rollout to avoid disrupting core programs. The board approved consent items later in the meeting by unanimous voice vote; separate votes on appraisal-district candidate support were recorded as a split vote resolution adopted during the meeting.