Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the School Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CFO warns of FY26 shortfall, outlines seven strategies and fund-balance plan
Summary
Sumter School District CFO Shetika Spearman reported July financials showing a projected $3.1M revenue shortfall for FY26 and outlined seven strategies (expenditure controls, procurement discipline, new revenue streams, monitoring to 85% budget use) and a plan to shift some projects to bond proceeds to restore fund-balance months to policy compliance.
Chief Financial Officer Shetika Spearman told trustees on Aug. 10 that July receipts for fiscal-year 2026 totaled about $5.5 million to date and represented “a 97% collection for the year thus far,” but that the district is projecting a revenue shortfall and will require the use of fund balance under current assumptions.
Spearman said the district currently faces a roughly $3.1 million shortfall on FY26 collections and is estimating a 10.1% use of fund balance unless expenditures are controlled. She outlined seven strategies to reduce the gap, including limiting budget use to 85% of allocations, strengthening procurement competition, creating new revenue streams (a proposed bank-sweeping program that might yield about $200,000 annually pending state treasurer and audit approval), and reviewing ratifications that bypass purchase orders. On projected FY27 numbers she noted the approved budget of $176,000,005.74 and an approved fund-balance need of $6.4 million; shifting a small set of capital projects into the fall 2026 bond would raise available fund balance and improve the months-on-hand metric.
"To date, for the month of July related to fiscal year 2026, we received 5,500,000, dollars, and that represents a 97% collection for the year thus far," Spearman said. She recommended regular tracking of state-aid-to-classroom allocations and monthly forecasts to detect allocation dips and to keep the board informed.
