Stillwater School Board Notes: October 25, 2012

The School Board Notes from Oct. 25 are provided by the Stillwater Area School District.

Click here to look at the School Board Learning Session agenda.

Click here for the School Board Business Meeting Agenda; and follow this link for the School Board packet.

During the school board meeting Thursday evening:

Superintendent Corey Lunn introduced Maria Alejandra Porte LaBorde, who is visiting Stillwater and shadowing Chuck Ochocki as part of the Argentina Administrator Exchange Program. Ochocki will host the educator from Argentina for three weeks this fall and will then travel to Argentina for two weeks this summer.

Lunn also shared an update on Strategic Planning.

More than 200 volunteers attended the Action Team Kick-Off event on Monday evening. The volunteers are serving on 10 different action teams, which will construct detailed action plans to help meet objectives of the new strategic plan. The action teams are made up of staff and community members and formed around the 10 strategies established by the Strategic Planning Team. Action team will identify the specific tasks and timelines needed to meet the district’s goals. Action Planning Teams will meet from late October through early January.

The school board recognized the district’s 17 principals and assistant principals as part of Principal Recognition month.

State of the District

Lunn presented the State of the District, which included the latest enrollment trends, student demographic information, achievement results, and financial forecasts. Lunn will be sharing the same presentation with community groups and organizations in the coming months.

Financial Statements Fiscal Year 2012

Financial statements from the previous school year were shared with board members. The 2011-2012 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, upon which the annual audit is based, shows that the district ended fiscal year 2012 positively – with expenditures coming in very close to budget and revenues coming in just slightly over budget.

The school district has the most control of its expenditures and realized a variance from budget to actual of less than one percent. Revenue, which comes largely from state sources, is more difficult to predict and had a variance of 2.3 percent. The district closed the books with an unassigned fund balance $1.5 million above the projected amount, which equates to 1.7 percent of total expenditures. This variance equals approximately one week of expenditures. The board will vote to approve the financial statements during the Nov. 8 board meeting.

Youth Development Plan

Board members approved the Youth Development Plan for the 2012-2013 school year. The board must annually approve a plan detailing how Youth Service Revenue (provided by the state) will be used. This year’s plan focuses on four key components: service learning, career exploration and college preparation, leadership development and community building.