Hazel Park School Board hears budget briefing; staff warns food-service bid, EV bus grant and staffing approvals at risk without quorum

The Hazel Park School Board convened a special workshop at 4:03 p.m., where presenter Don Sobe reviewed the district’s budget process and warned that expiring grants and ongoing legal fees will put pressure on the tentative budget. Because a quorum was not present, the board could not take binding votes on procurement or personnel items and adjourned after the presentation.

Sobe told board members the district is using GFOA (Government Finance Officers Association) guidance and a zero-based budgeting approach to align finance and instruction and to assemble a tentative draft budget. “We’re in the middle of the budget process right now. Today was the first day of having discussions and hearing from the cost center leaders,” Sobe said, noting the exercise is meant to open input that the business office and superintendent will fold into a tentative draft.

Why it matters: Sobe said revenue projections are still being finalized and that the loss or decline of grant funding “is going to have the effect of lowering your revenue going forward,” increasing the difficulty of balancing the budget. He identified categories typically under the board’s budget authority — audit, elections, legal fees and some supplies — and urged members to provide input even though no formal vote could be held at the workshop.

Sobe recommended the audit firm Maner Costerisan, praising the firm’s reputation and fee, and advised the board to cultivate a direct relationship with the auditor so trustees can run questions by them during the year. “You’re the entity that is hiring the auditor. You ought to be able to talk to the auditor,” Sobe said, adding he had provided documentation on creating an audit committee to facilitate that contact.

Board members and staff also discussed legal fees, with Sobe noting the district has spent substantially on legal services over the last 12–18 months and that it is unlikely those costs will fall quickly. He said the business office will include anticipated legal-fee amounts in the tentative budget and adjust them later as actual costs become clearer.

A staff member warned the board that because the workshop lacked a quorum, several time-sensitive items could not be approved and therefore are at risk. “Failure to approve the food service bid tonight will cause us to move that into May,” the staff member said, adding that such a delay could interrupt summer food service and require changes to the bid to comply with state procurement rules. The same staff member listed additional items affected by the lack of quorum: an expiring grant for electric vehicle bus purchases, a security guard whose employment approval has been delayed nearly two months, supplemental pay proposals for teachers working on curriculum initiatives, and approval of staff needed for extended school year services under students’ IEPs.

Because the board lacked a quorum, no votes were taken on those agenda items. The body moved only to adjourn; a roll call to adjourn recorded yes votes from Ruchti, Becker and Eaton, and the meeting ended without action on the procurement or personnel items noted above.

What’s next: The business office will finalize revenue projections and the tentative draft budget; the board will need a future meeting with a quorum to approve the auditor recommendation, the food-service procurement, EV bus grant actions and any staffing approvals. The staff member emphasized that approvals delayed beyond the current schedule could require reworking bids or otherwise risk service continuity.