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RSU 23 audit shows improved fund balance; superintendent freezes discretionary spending after teacher-salary pressure
Summary
An audit showed RSU 23's cash balance rose from $1.3M to $2.8M, but rising obligations — including a projected 5.2% teacher-salary increase — prompted Superintendent Lloyd Crocker to impose a discretionary budget freeze while student programs are protected.
An auditor's review and new salary projections prompted RSU 23 Superintendent Lloyd Crocker to impose a discretionary budget freeze Thursday as the district plans for next year.
Roger Lebreux, presenting the 2013–14 audit for RSU 23 (Saco, Old Orchard Beach and Dayton), told the board the district's cash balance increased from $1.3 million to $2.8 million, which he said makes the fund easier to manage. He also said receivables fell by about $300,000 because the State of Maine paid subsidies on time this year after delays in 2013.
Lebreux noted general-fund liabilities rose roughly $340,000, which he attributed to the end of a contract with Thornton Academy and a true-up of tuition payments. He said testing of internal controls revealed no significant or severe deficiencies, though management did receive a set of comments and was asked to provide corrective action.
After a meeting of the finance committee, Crocker told the board the district expects a substantial increase — about 5.2 percent — in teacher salaries for next year. "Because of that projection we are instituting a discretionary budget freeze for the remainder of the year," Crocker said, adding that student programs are not included in the freeze and that a letter was sent to staff explaining the measure.
Crocker also said he and board member Carol Marcotte will schedule a workshop on proficiency-based education for the board; he reported the district received a waiver giving extra time to meet proficiency-based expectations. He said the district will meet with Sue Reed of the Maine Department of Education to discuss start-up funding for a potential pre-K program.
Board member Michelle Violette asked for a status update on the corrective-action items raised in the audit and requested staff identify the policies that apply to those items.
Procedural votes during the meeting included approval of the Dec. 17, 2014 minutes (motion by Peter Flaherty, seconded by Jerome Plante) and the board's acceptance of the resignation/retirement letter from Don Blodgett (motion by Michelle Violette, seconded by Jerome Plante). Both motions were recorded as passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:31 p.m. after a motion by Jerome Plante and second by Peter Flaherty.
The board did not take further budget actions at the meeting; Crocker framed the freeze as an interim measure while administrators and the finance committee refine projections and report back to the board.
