Mt. View board reviews ’12 audit

BY TOM FONTANA

The Mountain View School Board heard an overview of the final draft of a 58-page audit of 2011-12 budget at its regular meeting on Monday night.

Brian Kelly CPA & Associates of Carbondale conducted the audit, and was represented at the meeting by Brian Kelly and Brad Murray.  The firm has been working for the district for the last five years.

“This draft is the last step in the process of your audit,” Kelly told the board.

However, approval of the audit was taken off the agenda at the request of board member Elwood Williams, who stated he wanted more time to review the draft.

Action on the audit is required by March 31.

Murray said much of the work on the audit was conducted with the cooperation of former district business manager Janice Finnochio, who retired at the end of last year, and continued by Joseph Patchcoski, who succeeded her.

Murray said the audit offers the opinion that the district had achieved compliance with all major federal programs.

He stated that the district’s food service operation “broke even.”

“This is what you want,” he said. “It should be self-sustaining.”

“As of June 2012, the district had $11.7 million in total net assets,” Murray said, and $4.3 million in its general fund.  But $3 million of that is already committed to established obligations, such as $1.1 million in retirement payments.

He added that the district maintained its budget outlook for 2012 due to a mild winter, which saved on fuel costs, and its efficient collection of real estate taxes.  The district also received $75,000 in royalties from gas leases.

“The general fund balance is mid-range, not high and not low,” Kelly stated.  “Unassigned assets are good, but the district should be aware that could easily be wiped out by unexpected circumstances in one or two years.”

In other business, the board conducted the first reading of two policies: Food Service and Credit Cards.  Texts of both are expected to be posted on the district’s web site.

The Credit Card policy allows the district a general credit card account for the convenience of making purchases or payments.

“There will be one general credit card,” business manager Joseph Patchcoski explained.  “It can be used to pay for seminars or teacher conferences, or to make purchases on the Internet, where items can sometimes be acquired at considerable savings.”

He said the district already has credit cards for purchases at Shell stations for gas, and at Wegman’s and Weis food markets.  “Expenditures with the cards will be limited to $10,000,” he said, “and can only be made with the approval of superintendent Francine Shea.”

It was reported that TriGuard Security will provide a quote for replacing or updating security systems at both the high school and elementary school, which would include alarms and video cameras.  The company is on the state contractor list, and is already the district’s provider for the current alarm system.  The company will provide an estimated price for the work, not specifications, which will bypass the need for sealed bids.

It was also reported that a sink was damaged in the public restroom and a drinking fountain was vandalized in the boys’  locker room at the high school during a junior high basketball tournament over the weekend of Feb. 16-17.

Two students were honored with “Pride in Mountain View Awards” for reading over 1,000,000 words in the Accelerated Reader program.  They are Alyssa Evans and Jacob Andzulis.  Students of Susquehanna County CTC honored as January Students of the Month were Garrett Adams and Morgan Taylor.