In January 2023, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office released its annual Fiscal Stress Monitoring System report. His office evaluated school districts statewide with fiscal years ending on June 30, 2022. The report classified the Arkport Central School District in “moderate stress.” The district received a score of 45% out of 100%.
The score is based on financial information that is submitted as part of each district’s ST-3 report, which was filed with the State Education Department, as of Dec. 31, 2022. These scores stem from factors such as year-end fund balance, operating deficits, surpluses and how much the district relies on short-term loans.
- The following three factors led to the “moderate stress” designation:
- The district overspent the 2021-22 budget by approximately $550,000. This overspending was a combination of planned expenditures to support the COVID-19 recovery effort, as well as unplanned legacy costs of the pandemic. In the 2020-21 school year, the district incorrectly projected the 2021-22 school year to have far lower COVID-19 expenses and moved $900,000 into reserves.
- Following overspending, the district drew from the unrestricted “emergency” fund balance, leading to a fiscal stress score of “moderate.”
“We have been discussing the overspending openly at board meetings since September,” said Superintendent Jesse Harper. “We’re committed to being fiscally responsible to our taxpayers and being a good steward of our financial resources.”
The district has enacted a financial stability plan to help prevent overspending and the need to use the 4% unrestricted fund balance in the future and the district has already identified cost savings in the current budget to replenish unrestricted reserves.
“We’re continuously monitoring our current budget to ensure it is available for next school year,” added Harper.