THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9508310227
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Beth Barber
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Lucky for all of us, I was spared life as an auditor. Somebody else will have to trace precisely how the Virginia Beach school system spent more than $7 million it didn't have.
But who needs a degree in finance to balk at some of the explanations offered so far?
School officials, for instance, spoke of a $6.9 million shortfall in federal impact aid and a $500,000 shortfall in state aid. They could speak as easily, and more accurately, of overestimations, of $6.9 million and $1.5 million, respectively.
Federal aid has never reached the $15.5 million ``appropriated'' in this budget, and has usually been underestimated, a hedge against surprise expenses. There has to be wiggle room somewhere.
State aid has for years been calculated on the always-lower March 31 Average Daily Membership figures rather than the always-higher Sept. 30 head count. Who didn't know that?
Throw another $2.8 million in the hole for goods and services that schools purchased in '93-'94 but couldn't pay for until '94-'95 even as Faucette gave teachers a higher-than-planned raise. Paying last year's bills with this year's funds is a no-no. They figured nobody'd notice? Could be: Former chief financial officer Hal Canary told The Atlanta Constitution this week that schools had carried over costs for several years before he came in '93. He left the system in '94, not amicably.
Despite higher than anticipated revenues from some few sources, funds weren't sufficient to meet salaries and benefits for the too-many teachers (hired on the basis of that Sept. 30 student count), except that special education came up dozens short.
Unbudgeted expenses - Celebration Station lease, dispute over janitorial services - ran up the red ink, officials say. Is that why in May, with Sid Faucette presiding, schools shifted more than $12 million from some line items to others - transfers of the sort which current CFO Mort Smith told The Constitution he didn't wholly endorse but was overruled by `` `executive de-ci-sions' ''?
``Enterprise'' funds - separate accounts for textbooks, athletics and self-insurance - ran short, in part because funds to replenish them ``were expended for other operating expenses'' and in part because $.5 million had been transferred out of textbooks and $1 million out of self-insurance to make the books balance in '93-'94.
Hmmmm: The outside auditor noted in its '93-'94 report that schools were overreliant on fund transfers to balance their budget. Hmmmm: Enterprise-fund accounts were not included in financial reports to the School Board.
``Monthly financial reports,'' wrote Mort Smith to interim superintendent Jim Pughsley last Friday, ``indicated that actual expenditures would not exceed appropriations.'' Too bad that ``appropriations'' exceeded revenues.
Chickens count-ed before they hatch, and not a peep out of keepers of the coop. Chickens come home to roost, and now they squawk. Sid Faucette, who left the henhouse in July, finds ``the whole thing . . . incredible'' (see the ``Watchword'' box at right) and its history ``interesting.''
What say we roll up our sleeves and issue everybody pres-ent at the creation an invitation - a plane ticket? a posse? a summons? - to the re-cre-a-tion . . . by CNB