Brandywine school board learns both good and bad news
Published 5:25 am Wednesday, October 20, 2004
By By SPIROS GALLOS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The Brandywine Public Schools board of education received some mixed news Monday night when presented with the annual audit of last years budget.
The district's fund balance decreased from $2.7 million to just over $2.2 over the course of the fiscal year, which ended June 30, 2004.
The good news, Robert Gerbel, an accountant from St. Joseph who conducted the district's independent audit, told the board, is the district took about $220,000 less out of the rainy day fund balance than it initially projected.
The district originally planned to take about 720,000 out of the fund balance to cover expenses in the 2003-04 fiscal year, but only took out about 500,000.
Gerbel told the board the $2.7 million in the fund balance would cover expenses for approximately three months if the district received no other revenue.
Gerbel said there were a few "black clouds" accompanying the news, most notably the state employee retirement plan. The plan, which is underfunded by about $1.6 billion, affects school districts statewide, Gerbel said.
This year, the district increased its contribution to the plan by approximately 14 percent. Brandywine could expect more increases this year and next year, Gerbel told the board.
Brandywine Director of Finance Gus Damaske told the board temporary heat was being provided at Brandywine Elementary School, thanks to a combination of an external gas-forced air furnace and internal commercial space heaters.
One of the new boilers for the school is expected to be shipped Nov. 6, and will be ready to heat the school after it's installed, which takes one to two weeks, Damaske said.
The second boiler is expected to be shipped Nov. 13.
Heat at Brandywine Middle-High School was turned on at 11 a.m. Monday. A representative from the boiler company was needed to assist in the initial start-up, otherwise the boiler's warranty would have been voided. The temperatures in the building ranged between 58 and 68 degrees in the school, Damaske told the board.