Jackson School District receives good audit report

The Jackson School District received a clean bill of health on the 2003-2004 year audit, which was presented to school board members this week.

The audit, which was conducted this fall by Larson, Allen, Weishair & Co. LLP, covers everything from net assets to expenditures to compliance with state and federal mandates.

Total revenue for the district decreased by almost four-tenths of a percentage point last year, or around $100,320.

The 2004 budget, which was prepared in the summer of 2003, varied considerably from the actual revenue and expenses incurred.

In all, the district actually ended up with $932,270 more in fund balances than originally predicted. Assistant superintendent of finance Jim Welker said the difference is due to changes in state funding.

"When the budget was developed, we were assuming the worst with the governor withholding funds," Welker said.

Those funds were released last year, but Welker said the district's state funding for the 2003-2004 still decreased 9.9 percent from the 2002-2003 year.

As with many school districts around Missouri, Jackson made heavy cutbacks to offset the state funding loss.

The district did not fill teaching positions and put off major purchases, such as technology.

Superintendent Dr. Ron Anderson said during this week's board meeting that the district will continue to be conservative given the current state of Missouri's funding system, which is involved in an on-going lawsuit.

"We're pretty much in a holding pattern," Anderson said.

The 2003-2004 audit include compliance reports for several areas of the budget, including financial statements and federal funding. No occurrences of noncompliance were found.

cclark@semissourian.com

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