January 9, 2018 at 6:36 p.m.
Smaller deficit
Jay finishes $77,594 in the red
Smaller deficit
The ink is still red.
But Jay Schools finished 2017 with a smaller deficit than had been forecast last January.
“The cuts have started to yield some results,” business manager Brad DeRome told Jay School Board on Monday evening.
At the end of the calendar year, the general fund showed $77,594 in deficit spending. That’s a far cry from the $384,000 in red ink that had been projected when the year began.
The general fund cash balance stood at $1.4 million at year-end, while the school corporation’s rainy day fund had been boosted to $471,000.
“You’re feeling the ship turn,” said superintendent Jeremy Gulley, crediting a number of tough decisions by the board for the change in direction. “We’ve cut the deficit in half each of the last two years.”
Board action led to the closing of the Pennville Elementary School building in the spring of 2017 and will lead to the closing of the Judge Haynes Elementary School building at the end of the current school year.
The numbers, said Gulley, are “not yet cause for celebration, but cause for affirmation” that the corporation is headed in the right direction.
Pointing to the earlier projection of a $384,000 deficit in the general fund, Gulley told the board, “That’s where we likely would have been tonight had we kicked the can down the road.”
He noted that further tough decisions lie ahead as Jay Schools continues to cope with declining enrollment and a related decline in state support for the general fund.
In a brief organizational session, Phil Ford was elected board president, Kristi Betts vice president and Ron Laux secretary.
But Jay Schools finished 2017 with a smaller deficit than had been forecast last January.
“The cuts have started to yield some results,” business manager Brad DeRome told Jay School Board on Monday evening.
At the end of the calendar year, the general fund showed $77,594 in deficit spending. That’s a far cry from the $384,000 in red ink that had been projected when the year began.
The general fund cash balance stood at $1.4 million at year-end, while the school corporation’s rainy day fund had been boosted to $471,000.
“You’re feeling the ship turn,” said superintendent Jeremy Gulley, crediting a number of tough decisions by the board for the change in direction. “We’ve cut the deficit in half each of the last two years.”
Board action led to the closing of the Pennville Elementary School building in the spring of 2017 and will lead to the closing of the Judge Haynes Elementary School building at the end of the current school year.
The numbers, said Gulley, are “not yet cause for celebration, but cause for affirmation” that the corporation is headed in the right direction.
Pointing to the earlier projection of a $384,000 deficit in the general fund, Gulley told the board, “That’s where we likely would have been tonight had we kicked the can down the road.”
He noted that further tough decisions lie ahead as Jay Schools continues to cope with declining enrollment and a related decline in state support for the general fund.
In a brief organizational session, Phil Ford was elected board president, Kristi Betts vice president and Ron Laux secretary.
Betts, who had served two years as board president, was unable to attend Monday’s meeting and has been dealing with a series of family crises, including the deaths of her father and her brother-in-law. In a statement read by Gulley, she described her time as board president as “incredibly fulfilling. … I just need to shift my focus to my family.”
In other business, board members Mike Shannon, Beth Krieg, Cory Gundrum. Krista Muhlenkamp, Ford and Laux:
•Appointed Coldren and Frantz of Portland and the Indianapolis firm of Church, Church, Hittle and Antrim as legal counsel.
•Appointed DeRome corporation treasurer and Violet Current as deputy treasurer and authorized them as users of the corporation’s safety deposit box.
•Appointed Lisa Evans and DeRome as the corporation’s representatives in small claims court..
•Accepted 2018 committee assignments that put Laux and Muhlenkamp on the insurance committee, while Ford, Betts and Gundrum will serve on the negotiations committee.
In other business, board members Mike Shannon, Beth Krieg, Cory Gundrum. Krista Muhlenkamp, Ford and Laux:
•Appointed Coldren and Frantz of Portland and the Indianapolis firm of Church, Church, Hittle and Antrim as legal counsel.
•Appointed DeRome corporation treasurer and Violet Current as deputy treasurer and authorized them as users of the corporation’s safety deposit box.
•Appointed Lisa Evans and DeRome as the corporation’s representatives in small claims court..
•Accepted 2018 committee assignments that put Laux and Muhlenkamp on the insurance committee, while Ford, Betts and Gundrum will serve on the negotiations committee.
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