Audit: School District had $8.9 Million Surplus

The Bethlehem Area School District finished its last fiscal year with a surplus of more than $8.9 million, the school board’s independent auditor told directors at their regular monthly meeting Monday night.

William H. Gorman Jr., principal of Gorman & Associates, Northampton, also gave the district’s finance office a clean bill of health, with some minor exceptions on a few accounting practices.

Despite a generally positive report, some school board members acted displeased with the problems that remained, apparent carryovers from the previous administration.

Director Loretta Leeson asked if the board’s vote to “accept” the report meant it “approved” the report. Gorman said that was not necessarily the case, though state law requires the board to acknowledge that it has received a completed audit.

Director Benjamin Tenaglia moved to change the language of the motion to “accept” the report to say the board “acknowledges receipt” of the report. That motion was approved by an 8-0 vote, with Director Rosario Amato absent from the meeting.

It was unclear what had board members concerned. The vote was necessary before the report could be made public. Superintendent Joseph J. Roy said the 170-page audit would be posted on the district’s website today.

The board will be discussing the audit’s specifics at its next Finance Committee meeting, which will be next Monday at 6 p.m. in the Education Center on Sycamore Street.

What is clear is that the district’s business office has fallen behind in some tasks. It is currently short two staff members and the administration requested a temporary hire to help catch up. But at $2,040 a week, the appointment of retired Quakertown Business Administrator Sylvia Lenz also proved to be somewhat controversial.

Leeson voted no, calling the appointment “excessive” in a “difficult budget year.”

Roy defended the appointment, saying it would be less expensive than hiring two temporary workers from an agency. Lenz would likely only work for the district for one week. The district plans to hire a permanent assistant business manager in April, Roy said.

The board voted for Lenz’s temporary appointment by a 7-1 vote.

Gorman’s audit was a far cry from the one offered a year ago, when the district found itself more than $1 million in the red in its operating budget, or two years ago, when Gorman offered some scathing criticism of then Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Administration Stan Majewski.

Nonetheless, the school district still finds itself in a difficult budget cycle. The district is currently anticipating the that it received a year ago, though no one knows for certain what new Gov. Tom Corbett will propose when he unveils his next budget later this month.

To meet the school board’s goal of keeping the next tax increase to 1.7 percent or less, the district will need to identify $4 million more in cuts or other revenue. Administrators have already recommended on Linden Street to cut expenses.