The Elmore County Board of Education discussed financial reports from the end of the fiscal year during a special Nov. 8 meeting.
Elmore County Public Schools Chief Financial Officer Jason Mann said the school system’s general fund has steadily increased since 2008. This year’s general fund balance totals more than $14 million.
“We’ve seen a nice increase with our fund balance due to some smart spending and saving in areas we could save,” Mann said.
In 2018, Mann said Elmore County has been able to maintain more than two months of financial reserve and is projected to maintain a similar amount in 2019. Mann said this has been one of his goals since he was hired.
“That’s what I promised the board I would shoot for,” Mann said. “Now the goal is to keep it around that two months, so we always have that safety net to fall back on if we ever saw a depression again or something of that sort.”
Additionally, Mann said the extra reserve funds will allow the system to plan for instructional expenses.
“We have some expenditures to meet instructional needs that we have at this time,” Mann said.
In other business, the BOE unanimously voted to:
Purchase three Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD four-wheel drive trucks, each costing almost $29,000, from Riverside Chevrolet in Wetumpka. One of the trucks will be used in the system’s maintenance department, and the other two will be used in the transportation department.
Purchase three Chevrolet Silverado 2500 HD two-wheel drive trucks, each costing about $27,000, from Riverside Chevrolet in Wetumpka for the system’s maintenance department.
Purchase two Chevrolet Express cargo vans, each costing about $24,000, from Donohoo Chevrolet of Fort Payne for the maintenance department.