County schools hit one-month fund reserve goal

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September 30, 2012

County schools hit one-month fund reserve goal

By Trent Moore The Cullman Times The Cullman Times Sun Sep 30, 2012, 01:20 PM CDT

It’s been four years to the day since the Cullman County Board of Education had a one-month operating reserve, as required by the State of Alabama. It’s taken cuts, layoffs and countless nights spent crunching the numbers the past several years — but they’re finally back.

Proration and funding cuts at the state level in recent years have taken a toll on the budget, and the county school system has been below the required fund balance since the 2008-2009 school year.

But, when the 2013 fiscal year kicks off Monday, October 1, the system will once again be in a stable position to move forward.

“It definitely helps you sleep a little easier, that’s for sure,” county schools finance director Randy Dunlap said. “At least we have a little cushion in case of emergencies, plus we’re complying with the law. Typically, keeping at least one or two months is a good practice to have.”

The county system anticipates starting October with about $6 million in reserves, a little above the approximately $5.3 million that constitutes a one-month operating balance.

Dunlap said the system has reached the milestone on the back of some tough but necessary decisions, with a reduction in local teacher units and major cuts to the maintenance budget accounting for most of the savings.

“All the cutbacks we’ve made have helped, most notably reducing the number of local teacher units the past three years,” he said. “We’ve also taken a lot out of the maintenance budget, probably about half a million dollars. There were also some general cutbacks made in other areas to produce some smaller savings, as well. Of course, not having proration this year also helped a lot.”

In 2008, the school system had approximately 45 teachers paid with local funds, not covered under state-earned positions. Now, that number has been reduced to less than 10. The transition came partially through attrition and layoffs, as the school board has moved as many positions as possible over to state-earned units.

Moving into 2013, the recent passage of a countywide half-cent sales tax should help restore at least some of the maintenance department budget, as the system has pledged a percentage of the revenue toward repairing dilapidated roofs systemwide.

The rest of the half-cent revenue will be used to buy school supplies, upgrade technology and fund everything from music programs to art courses.

“We’ll pick back up this year, largely because of those roofing projects, which are a major need,” Dunlap said.

Superintendent Billy Coleman said reaching the one month reserve goal is a major accomplishment, but he hopes its only the first step toward financial stability and further success in the classroom.

“It’s taken a lot of hard work and it’s really a reflection of a lot of things we’ve tried to do,” he said. “We’ll be using the half-cent sales tax to help our kids moving forward. It’s going to be really exciting.”

* Trent Moore can be reached by e-mail at trentm@cullmantimes.com, or by telephone at 734-2131, ext. 220.

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County schools hit one-month fund reserve goal

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