Mt. Healthy board approves Financial Recovery Plan, adopts budget controls and transportation reductions

The Mount Healthy City School District Board of Education voted July 21 to approve a Financial Recovery Plan (FRP) package that trustees and staff say aligns the district’s budget, purchasing policies and operating practices with the commission’s requirements.

Treasurer Chuck Soule presented the district’s June close and an FRP workbook showing an FY25 fund balance and current encumbrances. Soule told trustees the district closed the year with a fund-balance figure that, after encumbrances, left about $669,083 unencumbered and that staff identified approximately $1.8 million in large-year-end encumbrances that will be analyzed and reconciled.

“Once we identify where that is actually at, we'll be able to do one of two things: present that as a one-time adjustment or make the adjustment depending on what fiscal year it really falls into,” Soule said, describing reconciliations and adjustments drawn down to object codes and building-level detail.

Why it matters: Board members and district staff said the FRP package is intended to stabilize cash flow while meeting statutory requirements for operating in fiscal emergency and to create transparency for the commission and the auditor of state.

Key elements approved

- Procurement and controls: The board endorsed tighter purchasing controls and a rollout of a Strategic Solutions control tool (SCU/SCView) that the treasurer’s office said will automate requisition, purchase-order and invoice approvals, store contract documentation, and provide time-stamped audit trails.

- Facilities and lease: The board confirmed a five-year lease of the district’s Early Learning Center (ELC) for $300,000 per year with a five-year extension option; district calculations presented by staff estimated core cost savings of about $471,000 annually after $171,000 in utilities and operations costs.

- Transportation changes: The board reviewed a consultant analysis from Pete Japixi (engaged via the district’s law firm) that modeled three-tiered bell times and route consolidations to reach state-minimum transportation levels. Staff reported net transportation savings of approximately $904,724 and a total transportation savings figure shown in materials of $916,396 for shifting services. The district also negotiated an amendment to its Peterman transportation contract tied to a clause allowing renegotiation if the fleet drops below 21 buses.

- Special-education audit: The board accepted a School Works review of special-education programming that identified strengths (K–6 MTSS, IDEA compliance, caregiver engagement) and recommended expanding MTSS into grades 7–12, improving budget transparency and exploring internalization of some contracted services. The district completed corrective actions on two state-identified items (intellectual-disability identification disproportionality and out-of-school suspension disproportionality) and submitted improvement plans that were approved by the state; systemic corrections are due in September.

Board action and next steps

Trustees moved and seconded the FRP package for approval; the roll-call vote was recorded as affirmative by the members present and the FRP was adopted. Staff said the FRP workbook will be updated monthly, reconciled to FY25 actuals, and submitted to the commission as required. The treasurer warned that some assumptions tied to the state’s biennial budget will not be finalized until October and that the district will avoid entering speculative figures into the workbook until official numbers are available.

What’s next: District staff will continue monthly FRP reporting to the commission, refine encumbrance reconciliations, implement SCU controls for requisitions and POs, and phase recommended changes from the School Works report into the Ohio Improvement Plan.