The Lapeer Community School District has earned an “A” from its independent financial auditors.
Eric Formberg and Andrea Edwards from Plante Moran reviewed the audit results for the 2009-2010 school year for the Lapeer School Board December 2. The results were positive, with a “clean” audit.
This is the highest rating the auditors can give a district, Formberg told board members. “It’s like getting an A on your report card.”
“The auditors have confirmed that our school district provides outstanding value in the community,” said Superintendent Debbie Thompson. “We are at the lowest end of state per-pupil funding,” Thompson added, “and yet compared to other districts, a greater percentage of our funding is going right into the classroom.”
The District and its employees have consistently found ways to do more with less. That’s particularly important in Lapeer County, which has been hit especially hard by the current economic downturn.
General fund revenue for the District has dropped by $4 million (more than 7%) from 2008 to 2010, the audit report pointed out, but nearly 63% of expenditures in 2009-10 were dedicated to instruction, an increase from 60% in 2008.
The Plante Moran audit pointed out that for the last seven years, Lapeer Community Schools have consistently dedicated a higher percentage of resources to the classroom and significantly less to administrative costs than the average of all school districts in the state.
During the presentation to the Board, the auditors noted that the District had again brought the 2009-10 budget in extremely close to the actual final numbers for the school year, differing by only $15,000 on a $51 million budget, or by a few hundredths of a percent.
Auditors commended the Board and the Finance Department for continuing a trend of very accurate budgeting during these economically challenging times.
In supplemental material provided for the board, the Plante Moran auditors noted that Lapeer Community Schools’ per-pupil state Foundation Allowance is the lowest given to school districts across the state. It is nearly $300 per pupil under the state average, $700 per-pupil less than the average of school districts of similar size, and is $5,000 less per-pupil than the highest Foundation Allowance for districts of similar size.
The auditor’s report noted that if Lapeer Community Schools were to receive the state average per-pupil funding, it would add $1.88 million to the District’s annual revenue.
Plante Moran’s Formberg said, “The district has done an outstanding job maximizing what they have to work with.”
