South Callaway district accepts clean audit report

An independent audit report on the South Callaway R-2 School District's previous fiscal year indicated no violations and figured the school's balance heading into this year at $9,964,096. The report was accepted Wednesday by the district's Board of Education.

According to the report, South Callaway's revenues during the last year, ending June 30, came to $11,493,798. Its expenditures totaled $9,774,476, leaving $1,718,322 in additional funds which brought the district's balance to almost $10 million.

"In discussion with our auditor, they're incredibly pleased. We have a clean audit," South Callaway Superintendent Kevin Hillman said.

The audit was conducted by Mueller, Walla and Albertson, P.C., of Crestwood, and cost around $4,000.

The report included two findings involving internal control over financial reporting. The first finding recommended improving segregation of duties involving finances, but noted the size and budget constraints of South Callaway limit the number of personnel possible within the accounting department.

Hillman said two people employed by the district currently do the bulk of the accounting work. More employees would have to be hired to better spread the responsibility, which is not reasonable for a district of South Callaway's size, he added.

"Every small school is going to be in that same boat when they talk about internal controls," Hillman said.

The other finding recommended an evaluation of staff and their level of expertise to "determine if an internal control policy over financial reporting is beneficial or necessary."

Hillman said a balance of around $10 million heading into a new year is normal for South Callaway, unlike other districts of its size, because it has most of its funding in the bank before the start of the school year. A large bulk of the district's money comes through value of the nearby nuclear plant, which means if the value of the plant varies significantly, so does the school district's revenue.

"We're different in that 90 percent of our money is coming from one source," Hillman said. "It's just how it works for us, and that's very unusual from most districts. So, totally at the mercy of whatever that number is, then we keep a higher balance than what most schools would have to."

The board also gave approval for the school to bid out several projects, including a replacement of lights over the parking lot with LEDs, which was estimated to save $16,000 annually. Other projects to be bid out involved moving and replacing fencing for the playground areas, concrete work, asphalt coating and repair, and improvements to the frontage of the high school.