Delivered to the 6-30-05 School Board Meeting
In the current year 2004-2005, the superintendent, without Board approval, encumbered $180,000+ to move modulars to Meadowlark. The ending balance in this account, even if you do not today reverse the encumbrance for the bathroom installation, which was Board approved, would be $180,000 carrying forward into the 2005-2006 budget. If you cancel the bathroom installation contract, the carry forward will be nearly $400,000, or 2/3 of the alleged shortage for the next year.
In the 2005-2006 budget, LACOE advised the District that since they were applying for a Hardship Grant, they should claim no income in Fund 25, because the state would take all of these funds if the Hardship Application were granted. This income has been historically from $300,000 to $850,000 per year.
This advise, along with the superintendent improperly encumbering funds effectively guarantees LACOE taking over the District. LACOE's advise to ignore the revenue in Fund 25 because “the state will take it” may approach criminal because they would receive a fee for operating the District.
Then it just may be that LACOE is just so stupid that they do not understand that accounting is to actually track money rather than enforce a political agenda. None of this advise from LACOE would even begin to be in conformity to accounting standards for schools.
I thank Jennifer Noga for sharing the numbers and LACOE's advise with me so I could better understand what occurred.
The bottom line is, with proper accounting and budgeting, the sky is not falling on September 8th. If the state grants you a Hardship Application, The board would then need to review its financial impact on the District before it was accepted and incorporated into the budget.