The Schoolcraft Board of Education reviewed the good-news results of its annual audit at an October board meeting. The Portage accounting firm of Yeo & Yeo performed the audit for the district in early August. One of its CPAs, Michael Evrard, presented the results to the board.
The audit found no material weaknesses, and no significant deficiencies during the audit.
“Those are the two highest levels of finding we can give as an auditor,” Evrard said.
He said there were also no material misstatements and no uncorrected misstatements. Evrard said the firm had no difficulties in performing the audit. He added that staff was prepared and had good explanations and documentation for everything. Yeo & Yeo didn’t need to propose any kind of adjustments to the district’s bookkeeping.
Evrard noted that the district had initially anticipated a loss of $153,000 in the final budget at the end of the fiscal year in June. It came in under that at $148,536.
“That ranks up there with the closest budget I’ve ever seen,” Evrard said.
He also gave the board a look at the current health of its general fund. Current fund balance and expenditures are running at 20.96% for the year. The district was at 24.5% at this same time last year. Evrard said most districts of similar size are running at 24 to 25%.
Another interesting trend Evrard showcased was student enrollment compared to the rest of the state. Most districts stay on trend with overall statewide enrollment numbers. Schoolcraft’s enrollment has continued a mostly upward trend in recent years.
“We really defy the statewide trend and have been showing good increases ever since 2020,” Evrard said.
In other news, Superintendent Nate Ledlow briefly touched upon challenges faced in staffing the transportation department this year. It’s a logistical problem that’s not isolated to Schoolcraft. Many districts across the state are feeling the pressure.
“I’m not going to sugar-coat, it’s been hard, it’s been tough,” Ledlow said. “Those people have been working their tails off. Shout out to Chris (Futrell) and the team. We are going to have to change some things. What we’re doing now isn’t sustainable.”
He said they will be having more meetings and discussions about the issue in the coming weeks. Ledlow added that he will be having conversations with Finance Director Taylor Mikel to come up with solutions and look at potential funding options.
