Pearl River Board of Ed Hears Annual Audit

The Pearl River Board of Education met Tuesday with the major focus on its yearly audit and a report on student performance.

At the close of the recent fiscal year on June 30, 2011, the Pearl River School District had $9.8 million in its fund balance. The study also revealed that funds earmarked for teacher retirement costs had risen to between 16% and 18% of the payroll.

Each year a complete financial report is rendered by an external firm based on an audit that takes place the first week in September.  A team of auditors from O’Connor, Davies, Munns & Dobbins presented its findings to the Board about three weeks later and the budget numbers were presented to the public last night.

The detailed overview of the Districts’ budget is divided into revenues and expenditures. The auditors confirmed that the documents fairly represent the district’s operation.

Budget Highlights:

• The fund balance of $9.8 million reflects a positive budget variance of $1.6 million and includes the two percent of the District budget which is essentially a “rainy day fund” as recommended by the New York State Education Department.
• The main categories of the fund balance include:
• Unassigned Fund                   $2,352,532
• Tax Certiorari Fund                $3,295,291
• Retirement Fund                   $1,308,214
• Capital Improvement Fund     $1,254,123
• Teacher retirement costs have risen from $1.4 million two years      ago and are projected to reach between $2.6--$2.7 million this year.

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Sue Wheeler announced that the academic performance of the PRSD has been designated by the New York State Education Department as in good standing under NCLB (No Child Left Behind Act) guidelines. Student performance is consistently above the annual state targets.  

In addition, the district has been designated as “meets requirements” regarding IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) Accountability status which includes student performance and a review of compliance with special education requirements.

“Moving forward we continue to analyze performance data across a range of assessments, including classroom performance, matching instruction to curriculum standards and student learning needs," Wheeler said. "Our target is graduating students who are college and career ready and maximizing the number of students who graduate with an Advance
Regents with Honors.”

The next meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled for December 13. It will be the final regularly-scheduled meeting of the year.