The Appoquinimink Board of Education gets updates on steps to get the district back on a firmer financial footing
A string of accounting errors that went undetected led to a significant budget shortfall. That crisis earlier this year prompted a long list of recommendations for approval: 13 from a state audit and 23 more from consultants hired by the district.
Some recommendations are already in place or in progress. Others are a bigger challenge, like creating multiple levels of review for expenditures and budgeting. District Finance Director Alleesa Stewart:
“Due to the current financial situation, the Director of Finance does not have the personnel to be able to process this," she said. "The Director of Finance will need to rely on the superintendent to ensure accuracy of budgeting and projections.”
While Stewart and Superintendent Matthew Burrows addressed all the recommendations, board members like Tashiba Graham have questions and concerns.
“I think as I'm listening and reading through all of these, some of them are, again, very ambiguous," she said. "So to be able to respond to them in an impactful way, in my opinion, is challenging. But I appreciate the effort you guys are putting forward.”
Graham also had concerns about when some of the more complex recommendations might be implemented.
“As I try to connect these dots from the first few slides to these recommendations going forward, I'm not clear on the timeline," she said.
Burrows assured board members that many of the recommendations would come before them at a meeting later this month.
Board members also began a short finance training at the meeting.
