Dublin schools to ask state for more help with cash crunch

The Dublin City Schools ended the month of August with a $2.1 million general fund deficit and will face another cashflow shortfall next month.

Reports from the months of July and August were presented to the new City Board of Education at its first official meeting Monday night, providing an improved but still concerning snapshot of the district’s finances. The system struggled through a yearlong financial crisis, surviving only through midyear layoffs, spending cuts and monthly advances of its Quality Basic Education funding from the state.

August’s report was better, as the district began the current fiscal year in July with a $3.8 million deficit in its general fund. However, officials are bracing for a lean next few months, until local property taxes can be collected, which could mean seeking more help from the state.

“Are we going to have to ask for advances on QBE funds to make our payroll in October?” board member D’Andrea King asked.

“Yes, we are,” answered Chief Financial Officer Teresa Lounder.

August’s report includes $5.3 million in liabilities, most of which is owed toward delinquent payments to the State Health Benefit Plan. The system is making monthly installments of almost $300,000 to the state plan.

The latest financial reports are “alarming on paper,” Lounder admitted, but added that spending has been significantly reduced through financial controls that include finally requiring purchase orders before expenditures are approved. The district has spent about $1 million less than at this time last year, she said. 

“We could possibly clear our deficit this fiscal year, rather than 2028.”

The new board also voted on July’s financial report, but was careful to word the motion so as not to “approve” it. The report had been reviewed by the previous board, but never voted on, prior to its suspension and removal by the governor last month.

“We’re signing off on something that was before this board,” said board member Doug Eaves, who later made a motion to “acknowledge” that the current board received and reviewed the report.

“I just want to acknowledge it, rather than approve it,” he said.

Improper paperwork delays vote on tax rate

The school board has been expected to vote on advertising a millage rate, but tabled action until tax digest documents can be filed correctly. Interim School Superintendent Marcee Pool said county officials told her on Monday that consolidation sheets – a summary of taxable property in the city – did not include exemptions.

Eaves suggested the board hold a called meeting on the millage rate, noting that waiting until the board meets next month could delay the tax collection process.

2024 audit submitted to state

Among the revelations from Dublin City’s financial crisis was that the district had not completed an annual audit since 2021. Pool reported Monday that the 2024 audit has been submitted to the state and is undergoing suggested revisions.

“Hopefully we’ll be getting that back soon,” Pool said. “We have started the FY25 audit. That is in progress now.”

The deadline to submit an annual audit to the state is Dec. 31. “I’m not sure we’re going to make that because we were behind,” Pool said.

Going ‘old school’ after ransomeware attack

An apparent cyberattack in Sept. 16, described as an “outage” and “networking issues” by district officials, succeeded in knocking the district out of the digital age but failed to compromise any personal information of students or staffers, Pool told the board.

“Our student and staff information is held in the cloud and not any of our servers.”

Pool said officials hoped to be back online by Wednesday. In the meantime, teachers continued to go “old school,” including “regular, good instruction using some worksheets,” she said.

The school district notified teachers, students and parents of the incident.

“There is some misinformation out there,” said board chairman David Westerfield.

Online reports say the ransomware group Eclipse claimed responsibility for the cyberattack.

Sorority chapter stepping up, adopting more schools

One of the Dublin City’s more faithful community supporters is taking its partnership up several notches.

Dublin’s Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Tau Omicron Omega Chapter has been a longtime sponsor of Susie Dasher Elementary School. Now the sorority wants to also adopt Hillcrest Elementary, Dublin Middle and Dublin High.

The sorority’s Letunya Walker said the group wanted to offer more support considering the “challenges” the system is facing.

“It is during this time that our partnership, our support, our encouragement matter the most,” Walker told the school board.

As a show of appreciation, the sorority plans to give every teacher and staffer at the four schools a bag with gift cards from various merchants.

“We want to hand-deliver gift bags to everyone who works in those four school buildings,” Walker said.