By Nathan Prewett
LEEDS – The Leeds Board of Education heard a 2020 fiscal year audit report concerning the school system’s revenue and finances at a regular meeting on Tuesday, July 13.
Among the highlights of the report were that cash and cash equivalents was $3.6 million and property taxes receivable of $4.3 million by the end of 2020. The regular receivable was $668,000 and inventories, such as child nutrition items, was at $44,000. Total assets were $67.8 million.
Total liabilities were at $75 million. The total net position was negative $14 million but the report stated that this is common among school boards throughout the state. $8.7 million in revenue came locally, helping to reduce any deficit that had accrued. The general fund was found to have $6.7 million in assets.
The report found that the financial situation at the Leeds City Schools was overall favorable.
“So in layman’s terms, we made an ‘A’,” joked board member Kathy Dutton.
Audit reports are uploaded at the Business and Finance section of the Leeds City Schools website under “resources”.
Afterward, Chief School Financial Officer Ryan Miller gave the financial report for May, the eighth month of the fiscal year. In his report, Miller stated that the general revenue was at 72.49%. The local revenue was at 91.3%, which is up 2.25% from May last year.
Expenditures were 62%, which Miller described as being good as the aim would be to keep it at under 66%. Accounts payable were $509,000 and the excess of revenues over expenditures was 2.3%. The unreserved fund balance was $4.5 million.
Superintendent John Moore mentioned that 11 teachers in the school system opted to sign up for the TEAMS salary schedule that was discussed at the previous meeting that would increase salaries for teachers of math and science. Moore said that two declined while one teacher was unqualified.
In his comments, Moore also mentioned that the head nurse, Melissa Lail, is currently working with Christ Health Center to get COVID vaccines for students of ages 12 to 18.
A three-year grant that the system received was discussed briefly with Moore saying that an item of expenditure from the grant may be used to extend after-school services, in particular for childcare “with an academic focus” in the next school year.
Progress at the Leeds Middle School stadium was also discussed briefly with Maintenance Manager Jim Simpson saying that there are concrete piers being installed. He said that progress on the stadium should be complete before the football season though he said that “everything’s safe and ready to go” now.
The board passed seven action items on its agenda with most of them being related to services for special needs students. Contracts were approved for Elizabeth Johnson Myers, Crescent Counseling Services, the Woolley Institute for Spoken-Language, Mary-Margaret Newland and two contracts for Impact Family Counseling Services.
In other business, the board approved a contract extension with Emcor for water treatment at the schools.
The next meeting of the Leeds Board of Education will be held at 6 p.m. in the library of Leeds Middle School on Aug. 10.