LEXINGTON — Lexington Local Schools treasurer Jason Whitesel said he believes the district is on strong financial footing following the release of the latest five-year forecast.
Whitesel gave an overview of the forecast during Wednesday’s board of education meeting. The Ohio Department of Education requires school districts to submit a five-year forecast twice annually. These forecasts provide a snapshot of a district’s general operating expenses.
Whitesel said the forecast is more of a helpful tool than a firm prediction.
“This is a moment in time,” he said of the forecast. “Five years is a long way out. A lot can change in five years.”
The forecast assumed steadily increasing health insurance premium costs and no change in salary amounts from the current negotiated agreements with the teachers’ and support staff unions.
The district’s unreserved fund balance is projected to stay in the black through fiscal year 2027, assuming the passage of two emergency levy renewals in 2024 and 2026.
FY2023 Lexington 5 Year Forecast.pdf
“Each of those renewals generates $2.7 million (annually) for our district,” Whitesel told the board. “Between the two, that’s $5.4 million, which represents about 22.5 percent of our total revenues currently.”
The projected unreserved fund balance for the end of fiscal year 2023 is $9,549,318 and $1,763,703 at the end of fiscal year 2027.
Treasurers are not allowed to assume that renewal levies will pass when calculating other line items, including projected expenditures, revenues and cash balances.
Whitesel forecasted the district will end fiscal year 2023 (July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023) with an operating deficit of $631,020. The forecast projected a growing deficit in subsequent fiscal years.
Since the forecast deals with the general fund, it only includes revenues and expenditures related to operations. The district has separate funds for athletics, food services, federally-mandated and funded programs like Title 1 and permanent improvements, which would include the bond issue for the new elementary school.
Supt. Jeremy Secrist said the forecast made him feel “cautiously optimistic” about the district’s finances.
“Right now you just can’t tell what’s coming from the state or what’s coming from our economy, but one of the things that’s obvious in the forecast is that the renewal levies for 2024 and 2026 are going to be extremely important,” he said.
Secrist, Whitesel and board members also expressed hope that state legislators will continue phasing the Fair School Funding Plan into Ohio’s next biennial budget.
Administrators pointed out that the goal of school funding is to remain fiscally responsible while still providing the best education.
“It’s finding that balance and making sure that we remain financially healthy and do the important work of educating the kids and serving our families,” Whitesel said.
The board also:
• Voted to renew a contract with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield for medical, prescription, and dental insurance administrative services.
• Approved specific stop loss coverage through Voya.
• Approved funding rates for 2023 medical, dental and vision insurance. The rates included a 10% increase for medical and a 4.5% increase for dental.
During the public comment session, parent Mallory Westerheide said her son, who has special needs, hasn’t been able to attend school for more than two hours per day since his aide quite five and a half weeks ago.
Westerheide tearfully asked the board and administrators what they were doing to find a new aide and get her son back in school.
Secrist said he would not discuss the education of specific students during a public meeting, but told Westerheide that assistant superintendent Kevin Young and special education director Julie Borchers were “working on it.”
“We’re going to continue to work until he gets here,” Secrist said later. “We’re scheduling some appointments for folks to come in.”
