By Diana Whittle
Study sessions held by the Kyrene School District give Governing Board members a chance to ask questions of staff, learn more about the operations of the district, and maybe—just every once in a while—an opportunity to hear unexpected good news.
This was the case at the board’s recent meeting, when the members formally heard why the financial reserves for the district ended up as $6 million to the positive for the past fiscal year.
Called the “$6 million surprise” by Ross Robb, board president, the windfall’s origin caused some of the members to question why—especially in the light of reports at previous planning sessions—the district’s chief financial officer Jeremy Calles had painted a bleaker picture.
It was in the process of closing the books on fiscal 2014-15 that the additional funds were discovered, Calles revealed.
Using several charts to display actual spending versus anticipated costs, Calles said it had been fiscally prudent to plan for the impact of the certain costs, such as the federal mandate known as affordable health care.
“Since this was a new government program that we had to participate in by law, we had no real way to project the effect on the budget,” said Calles.
Bottom line: It’s not always easy to project the exact expenses or income of a district with 25 schools, says Calles.
“We currently have a reserve of about $25.5 million, which is an average amount for the Kyrene District. What is unique in the last year is that we benefitted from some other revenue sources that we were not able to predict,” said Calles.
The district’s actual expenditures were less than revenue streams, which included additional earnings from the fees of Community Education classes, salary savings due to attrition and hiring vacancies, and the profitable sale of an 11-acre property known as Club West.
The parcel was purchased years ago and held in reserve as a lot for a future school site. It’s located near the Ahwatukee Foothills community, across the street from a golf course, on Chandler Boulevard and 11th Avenue.
When it was determined the school was not needed, the property went on the market and sold for $4.4 million, which is nearly double the initial appraisal.
Board president Robb said that the extra reserve money is a good problem for the board to have and that during his eight years on the board, the budget has always received close scrutiny.
“As a board, we have always wanted to retain special electives for our students, fair compensation for employees and reasonable class sizes. In the upcoming months, we will look at the best ways to allocate the $6 million.”
Several ideas for the money are already on the table, such as restoring recent cuts, adding contract days for teachers, and boosting compensation ranges for those positions found to be paying less than market average.
Last year, the leadership teams from each of the 25 schools in the district assisted in the budget planning by identifying areas to save money.
Upcoming Governing Board meetings will undoubtedly become lively as the discussion continues on how best to allocate the “surprise” funds.
