Fairfield school board hears presentation on finances

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Community School District Board of Directors will meet tonight, Monday, Dec. 18, and one of the topics of discussion will be the district’s finances.

The subject has taken center stage ever since the board learned earlier that projections show the district overspending its revenues by $1.4 million next fiscal year, after having overspent them by $1.3 million last fiscal year.

Earlier this month, the board held a work session with Larry Sigel, an expert from Iowa School Finance Information Systems (ISFIS). Sigel reviewed all the inputs that go into school funding, and the various ways that those streams could be altered. To help improve Fairfield’s financial position, he recommended near-term cuts of $800,000 to $1.6 million.

School board member Mark Porter asked Sigel what would happen if the district made no changes. Sigel said the district could be required to appear before the School Budget Review Committee and provide a plan on how it would “right the ship.”

“If a district is not positive by year three, they could be subject to being closed,” Sigel said. “It’s just an unpleasant process. It doesn’t just bring a financial review to the school district; it also triggers a full accreditation review. It’s nothing to mess around with.”

Interim Superintendent Stephanie Mishler said that enrollment is closely tied to the district’s financial health, since the amount of supplemental aid schools receive from the state depends on enrollment. She said she plans to give an in-depth presentation on the district’s enrollment trends Monday that cover the past two decades or more.

During the work session, Porter mentioned that Fairfield has suffered a net loss in open enrollment in recent years. For instance, 114 students open enrolled into the district, while 197 open enrolled out last year. Porter asked Sigel what would happen to the district’s finances if Fairfield could reverse those figures and become a magnet for students, with more open enrolled in than out.

Sigel said he would applaud any effort to increase enrollment, but cautioned the board not to see it as a silver bullet to solving its finances. He said the district would likely need to cut some expenditures while pursuing a plan to increase enrollment, and that if enrollment did in fact rise after some years, then the district could reinstate the programs or staff it had to cut.

“The one thing that will get districts in trouble is using hope as a strategy,” he said.

Sigel’s presentation to the school board can be found at the following link: https://youtu.be/DD4AQiBgnE0.

Monday’s school board meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. in the ACT Building.

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com