School finance was the main topic of discussion during the final regular monthly meeting of the year of Rochelle Township High School Board of Directors Monday night.
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ROCHELLE — School finance was the main topic of discussion during the final regular monthly meeting of the year of Rochelle Township High School Board of Directors Monday night.
According to Rory Sohn, an auditor with the WIPFLI firm of Dixon, the RTHS school district “is in good financial shape…You are right where you want to be.”
“It is well run,” fellow auditor Tonya Lofgren agreed.
During their annual auditor’s report, the two said the RTHS district took in approximately $12.3 million in revenue while spending approximately $12 million (an average of one million dollars per month) in expenses for a surplus of $236,000.
Sohn noted that Rochelle is one of few school districts in the state that receive property taxes earlier, which resulted in approximately $5.3 million.
Overall, Lofgren said the district is spending $12,789 in operating costs per student, compared to $11,919 last year.
Because of rising costs, two areas the board will want to monitor as they move forward, Sohn said, are health insurance and teachers’ retirement funds.
In an unrelated matter, the board heard a brief overview from superintendent Jason Harper and business manager Kevin Dale on the state’s new Evidence Based Funding program for school districts. Based on several criteria, RTHS is in what is classified as Tier Two of a four tier system. Tier Two school districts are at 65 to 90 percent of adequate funding.
Harper said RTHS is at 68.6 percent.
Money will be dispersed to school districts based on need rather than the number of students it has.
The board also approved a waiver to exceed the limit of its administrative costs, which exceeded the limit of five percent. Since it did, a special hearing was held prior to the regular board meeting. Although offered the chance, no one from the public spoke at the hearing.
Bus bids
In another matter, the board agreed to accept bus bids for their fleet of buses which turns over every three years. The bids will be opened on Feb. 1.
In two non-financial moves, the board accepted the resignations of Mark Zilis as assistant cross country coach and John Pfaff as assistant volleyball coach while approving the hiring of Zilis as the head cross country coach, Kimberly Ekes as assistant speech coach, Kevin Smith as substitute bus driver and Mat Gillam as assistant girls’ track coach.
It was announced that final exams will be held this week, Dec. 19 to 21, and following the Christmas break, school will resume Jan. 8, 2019.
