Board schedules closed session with Plante Moran; finance team lays out fund-balance pressures

Trustees pressed for a timely presentation of the district's independent Plante Moran review before the board finalizes the 2024-25 budget. Staff said the Plante Moran presenter was unexpectedly unavailable this evening, and the board agreed to schedule a closed attorney-client session at 6 p.m. on June 26 to review the report confidentially if it is covered by privilege; counsel said that if privileged materials exist they would be distributed in the board's confidential board-docs area and that the board could later vote to waive privilege if members chose.

Finance staff then presented the district's monthly budget monitoring packet through May 31. Key points included a year-to-date draw on the general fund of about $7.2 million and an end-of-May fund balance of about $5.6 million. The finance presentation showed expenditures running above budgeted levels, identified timing and methodological factors, and proposed new monthly monitoring charts, FTE-by-category reporting and more frequent budget amendments to detect and correct variances earlier in the fiscal year.

Staff explained that the district had received a fiscal-stress letter from the Michigan Treasury; the district has 60 days to choose state technical assistance or an ISD-led corrective engagement, and will be reporting periodically to the Treasury until reserves exceed 5% for two consecutive years. Finance staff projected that, under the administration's recommended 2024-25 assumptions (conservative state funding and enrollment), the district could restore the fund balance to above the 5% threshold next year. Trustees asked for additional, non-identifying reporting and recommended scheduling the Plante Moran closed session as soon as the firm and counsel are available.