New York Government Accuses Trumansburg School Of Financial Problems?
I know it wasn’t the intended reaction, but last night’s story by the Ithaca Journal about a report issued by the New York State Comptroller, accusing the Trumansburg Central School District of financial mismanagement, made me giggle. The Comptroller’s report says that the school district overestimated expenses and didn’t always have the correct account balance.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure those problems ought to be corrected. The main point in my mind, however, is that the financial problems of our school district pale in comparison to the problems the state government has had with its own budget. Many times, school districts across New York have had to guess at their budgets because the state government couldn’t pass a budget on time.
Let this report, and others like it, continue to come from the state. Only, I’d like to see, from now on, the financial organization of our school district reported in relative terms – compared to the financial organization of the state government.
How a public meeting to explain to the taxpayers what the school board adn admin is going to do with this 9+ million dollar surplus?
The school desperately needs sidewalks for safety and real security systems. (9 million will go pretty fast when someone is hit by a car.) The PTO and parents are paying out of pocket for office supplies, such as sign in journals to track visitors, and trying to raise funds to help our children. Last year the 2nd grade class was in desperate need of a teacher. A position was cut and we had the largest class numbers since 1990. The parents came in every day to help teach. Many children’s education suffered, mine included.
And we have a 9 million dollar surplus.
The main point is NOT that our problems aren’t as big as the state government. The main point is that money allotted for our children’s education and safe keeping is not being managed properly. The second problem is that it is illegal to have more than a million dollar surplus. The third problem is that there is a large communication gap between the school administration and the parents doing the foot work to make sure projects get done and our kids have the best they can get. It feels like parents are often being kept in the dark.
It will be interesting to hear what the business administrator says when she is back from paid leave and available for comment. In the article it states former? Why is she no longer in the position? Who is filling it for next year’s budget process? Who is actually looking at the bank accounts? Who is reconciling the accounts versus the budget? Was this done last year? Was the school board aware of the surplus? If not, why not? Many people must have known this money existed. Unless the bookkeeping was inept, it seems impossible not to have been aware.
There are a lot of questions that should be investigated instead of comparing our problems to the state’s problems (apples vs. oranges) and giggling at the mismanagement of our children’s education funds. Maybe all these questions are easily explained. But they need to be explained. This is my child’s future and I want to know what is going on.
I’m not going to say that the administration shouldn’t have known and it’s frustrating that the 2nd graders didn’t get the extra teacher that parents thought was necessary, but really, this is good news for district students. Our little school district has a 9 million dollar surplus. No one embezzled this money. There are no charges of bribery or kickbacks involved. It’s not (thank God) a 9 million dollar deficit. So, let’s take advantage of the situation and figure out what to do with the windfall. Unfortunately, it’s only one-time money, so using it for annual operating budget items likely would not be prudent; where will the future money come from? But I’m sure there are capital budget items that could be addressed, right? Go for it school board!