Cheney district gets some good financial news

CHENEY – School board directors received some good news at their Sept. 30 meeting when it comes to the district's finances.

The first came in the form of enrollment – which is showing a rebound from the first official count date figures from Sept. 11 that showed enrollment down almost 300 full-time equivalent students. That early number of 4,778.81 FTEs was 279.14 FTEs below the budgeted 5,053, with much of the decline came in lower grades

At the Sept. 30 meeting, Finance Director Jamie Weingart said the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction had provided school districts with some flexibility, recognizing difficulties most districts were having with returning enrollment due to limitations on students attending class in-person because of coronavirus health protocols. The new guidelines allow districts to count students who were not yet in the system and participating by that fourth day of class.

"We're actually able to count any kid who enrolls and participates during the month of September," Weingart said.

The new guidelines helped the district add 68.9 FTEs back into the system, giving the district a Sept. 28 count of 4,837.71 FTEs. That's still well below the budgeted 5,053 FTEs, which could reduce the amount the district receives from the state for operating expenses, which would have been about $2.1 million based on the Sept. 11 enrollment numbers.

Most of the enrollment growth stems from kindergarten, but Weingart said they're also seeing it at every level, and would have more information at the board's Oct. 14 meeting.

The second piece of good news came from the district's ending fund balance for the 2019-2020 school year. The district is still in the process of wrapping up its financial ledger for last year, receiving some additional expected funding and finalizing expenses, but Weingart said she expects the final ending fund to total just short of $6.357 million

That amount represents 9.28 % of the district's nearly $69 million 2019-2020 budget, and while well short of 2018-2019's almost $7.578 million ending balance - representing 11.52 % of that year's operating budget - it's also well above the 5 % minimum established several years ago by the board.

Weingart said that having an 8.3% ending fund balance means the district could cover one month of operating expenses if for some reason it lost all revenues.

"Which is where we expected to be ending last year and in a good financial situation going into the coming school year where we know there's a lot of uncertainty around the financial outlook and the challenges we might face throughout the year," she added.

The final piece of good news came in the district's bond assessed valuation. Numbers from the Spokane County Treasurer's Office show the West Plains, and hence the school district, continues to grow, increasing to almost $4.87 billion in 2021 from $4.401 billion in 2020.

That represents a 10.6 % increase, but what was impressive about that growth is that 31.5 % of it came from new construction.

"That's not just the places we have and the infrastructure we have in place growing in value," Weingart said. "That's actually new things coming into the district being built."

Board Director Mitch Swenson noted the increase in assessed value actually dropped the bond levy rate, which now stands at $1.95 per every $1,000 of assessed property valuation. The rate was $2.09 per $1,000 per APV in 2020.

Weingart said how that would affect over parts of the district's tax pie, including the education and learning levy and the capital projects levy would be a subject of the Oct. 14 meeting.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.