Recently the New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli’s Fiscal Stress Monitoring System (FSMS) report of school districts statewide was issued and the Arkport Central School District received a “no designation” status for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. This is an improvement over the previous year’s designation of “moderate stress” and a return for the district to “no designation” status.
The one-year designation of “moderate stress” was a deviation and an exception to many years of ACS receiving “no designation” status. This designation had no impact on programs, staffing or students’ experience and learning and is simply a mechanism for the comptroller’s office to provide fiscal transparency as well as track trends in stress conditions.
When ACS was designated as under “moderate stress” in last year’s report, the administration and district leaders took action to correct this anomaly. The district, with the full backing of the ACS Board of Education, was committed to full transparency when it came to financial reporting. Several information sessions for the community to learn about the district’s financial position were held. At these forums, the board of education and district leaders explained the district’s finances for previous and upcoming fiscal years, impactful factors and their effects on the budget. At each of these meetings, school community members were provided the opportunity to ask questions, voice concerns and participate in an open and transparent discussion of district finances. The purpose of these meetings was to give the Arkport community the chance to gain clarity and for the district to answer questions and to clarify misconceptions.
While the recent designation from the NYS Comptroller’s Office is an improvement compared to last year, the district’s financial work is never complete. As we shared last year, ACS district leaders are committed to being fiscally responsible to taxpayers and good stewards of our district’s financial resources. By doing so, we can ensure students continue to receive the comprehensive educational opportunities they have always had access to at Arkport.
About the FSMS report
Each year, the comptroller’s office releases an annual FSMS report. This report evaluates the fiscal wellness of school districts and municipalities by examining finances and external environments and then assigning a fiscal score. Based on their fiscal score, school districts are assigned into one of four categories: no designation; susceptible to fiscal stress; moderate fiscal stress; and significant fiscal stress.
Several fiscal indicators are used to assess and designate the financial health of a school district. These indicators include fund balance levels, operating deficits, cash-on-hand and reliance on short-term cash-flow borrowing. The comptroller’s report also identifies several environmental indicators that are largely outside school officials’ control, but may impact finances. These include the percentage of economically disadvantaged students, class size, teacher turnover rates, changes in property values, school budget vote approvals and the percentage of students who are English language learners.