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Colton SD 53 finance update: revenues stable but board questions large negative student activity balances
Summary
The business manager told the board revenues are steady and some expenditures exceed budget, but a board member flagged large negative balances in student body accounts (estimated in the meeting at $8–9k and possibly $15–18k), prompting follow-up from the business office.
The district's business manager (S10) told the Colton School Board that overall revenues are largely unchanged since the last meeting and that the district began the year with a higher beginning fund balance than budgeted, giving some cushion amid state funding uncertainty.
During the financial review, board member (S3) pressed the business manager about "an awful lot of negatives" in student body account lines and asked, "Where do we — how can we have negatives?" The board member cited figures that appeared as negative beginning balances; he initially referenced about $8,000–$9,000 and then estimated the actual shortfall could be "closer to $15 to $18,000." The business manager (S10) said the likely cause is posts to incorrect account codes and pledged to work with school secretaries to identify mispostings or, if expenses were properly approved, to make adjustments from available funds. "They will need to look at their ... accounts," S10 said, recommending account review and adjustments.
S10 also told the board that some grant allocations are delayed amid broader state and federal budget uncertainty (the speaker cited a government shutdown as causing later release of final grant numbers). The business office reported lower-than-expected costs for some food-service work because repairs replaced planned replacements, and noted ongoing encumbrances for two projects (including a COPS grant-related door-access and lighting project and exterior wrestling wall repairs).
Why it matters: negative balances in student activity accounts could affect school-level programs and require district-level adjustments or reallocation to correct bookkeeping errors or cover approved overspending.
What the board asked for: the business manager committed to sending email requests to secretaries overseeing those accounts to locate mispostings and to propose corrective journal entries or transfers so the accounts do not continue to show negative balances.
Next steps: the business office will follow up with account reconciliations and report back to the board at a future meeting; no formal action or vote on corrective transfers was recorded in the transcript.
