School Board eyes future as year comes to close

The board met in regular session on Dec. 6, and while the business session included a brief agenda, a cautionary tale was presented during the financial and superintendent’s reports.

Business Manager Rebecca Boquet told members of the board that while the school system’s general fund was currently under budget, the amount of excess funds is shrinking.

“Our excess is getting smaller and smaller each year,” Boquet noted.

For 2020-21 the amount of excess funds reported was about $1.1 million. The following year, 2021-22, excess funds were about $915,000. For the current year, the figure is down to $707,000.

“Mr. Gullatt and I have been talking, and Mr. Bell and I have been talking,” Boquet said noting that sometimes hard decisions have to be made. She was referring to Supt. John. Gullatt and Troy Bell, executive director of federal programs and academics.

“I’m obligated to just kind of let you know,” Boquet said.

She said that in January the financial report will give a closer look at “where we are going, where we’ve been and where we need to be.”

The budget currently benefits from what is known as indirect costs related to administering ESSER funds, but those funds are expected to end in September 2024.

Boquet pointed out that there are things which the budget must cover that are out of the school system’s control, such as rising utility and fuel costs.

“Some things we can control and some things we can’t control,” she said.

Entergy costs alone totaled around $70,000 for one month.

In addition to such things as utility costs, Boquet noted that benefits related to personnel are also a top expense.

“We don’t have a lot of control over what OGB does. Our benefits are pretty expensive. I would say close to 90 percent of our budget is salaries and benefits,” she said.

OGB refers to the Office of Group Benefits.

“It’s difficult in a parish such as ours that is so rural. It’s hard to generate a lot of revenue,” she added. “You don’t have the properties to tax, you don’t have the businesses to generate those taxes.”

She noted that population has declined and student count is down.

“That’s just the reality that we have to face, the management and the board,” she said.

Boquet pointed out the special revenue fund and transfers out which represent payment of debts related to various projects and school improvements.

Debt payments from the fund amount to $1.8 million per year, and there are projects currently being worked on. Recent projects include a storage building, replacement of old electrical paneling and finishing up the track building at Franklin Parish High School.

Some expenses for small projects were pushed out to ESSER funds. Those things would have normally been taken care of through renovation funds, Boquet noted.

The renovation fund is designed so that about $350,000 is left over the help pay for repairs such as building maintenance and repairs and school bus repairs, but Boquet pointed out that school bus and building repairs can be very expensive.

An upcoming major expense was noted in the superintendent’s report.

Gullatt informed the board of problems with the heating and cooling of the high schools’ field house. Gullatt explained that the system installed when the building was constructed involves one which maintains a certain temperature continuously around the clock.

“That unit runs 24 hours out of the day,” Gullatt said.

Gullatt explained that when the thermostat is set for a certain temperature and the temperature falls below a certain level, then the heater turns on to get back to thermostat level. When it goes above the set level, then the air conditioning comes on.

Gullatt said there are two units involved and that one of them works and the other does not.

Further complicating the matter is the fact that no one in this area is licensed to work on the units, Gullatt said.

The School Board also has to pay for air travel and tools for technicians to come and do the repairs.

“I’m bracing ya’ll for the fact that I think we need to just do away with the thing,” Gullatt said.

Gullatt said the school system is working with a local person to determine the cost of undoing the current system and installing a different system with separate controls on heat and air, but using the same electrical, gas and ductwork.

Gullatt said with the units not working properly the humidity could not be controlled and floors began to buckle.