Willow School Board approves revised audit, summer school

The Willow Springs School board of education approved revisions to the most recent audit, summer school dates, and the district assessment plan during its regular meeting held on February 10. A lengthy discussion on the proposed four-day/hybrid schedule can be found ###ON PAGE###. Superintendent Dr. Marty Spence addressed why the school did not cancel classes during the widespread illness that did stop classes at other nearby schools. The school has a 80% district-wide attendance threshold that the school must fall below before canceling classes. “We were right at 80 for a day or two, but we never went below,” said Dr. Spence. “It started climbing back up last week.”

 

Independent auditor Kenny Thomas returned this month to present the revised fiscal year 2024 audit. The revised balance for the unrestricted funds for FY24 is 19%, up from the initial 13.8% reported in January. The revision comes largely from how ESSER funds were allocated. 

 

ESSER stands for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds. This was a federal program that provided billions of dollars to schools to assist with pandemic-related issues. Thomas said that these funds had to be spent on capital expenditures, with 20% spent on learning loss. 

 

“We decided that it would have been more prudent for the district to put that $900,000 in the general and teachers fund rather than put it into the capital projects fund, where it's going to end up just sitting there,” said Thomas. “What we've done is take the $900,000 back and used it to pay for your guidance counselor, your tech, and some elementary salaries in the teachers fund and general fund, which were being paid with unrestricted funds.” This increases the unrestricted balance and reduces the restricted balance. This raises the unrestricted fund percentage to near FY23 levels of 19.85%. 

 

Dates for summer school were announced. Elementary Principal Chris Rodgers told the board that dates have moved up a week, to May 19 through June 12, 8 am to 3:15 pm. “That's a little more consistent with the other districts in the area,” said Rodgers. “I like the fact of having a week off and hit the ground running again and we take two weeks off. I think we're more likely to get more kids coming in doing that, rather than taking two weeks.” He did note the city pool is not scheduled to open until Memorial Day, but he's been talking to the city for a possibility of opening earlier. For clarity, it is noted that summer school follows a 5 day-4 day schedule for a total of 18 days, “a traditional summer school” schedule according to Dr. Spence. This proposal received unanimous approval. 

 

The District Assessment Plan was presented to the board by Chris Waggoner. This outlines assessments and procedures for the district and requires yearly approval. According to Waggoner, nothing has changed from the previous year. This is the schedule for MAP testing, course exams, ACCESS exams for English language learners, elementary assessments and many others. “ACT and ACT WorkKeys will be given toward the end of March,” said Waggoner. ACT WorkKeys is a similar assessment test to the regular ACT but geared for students heading directly into the workforce.