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Sep 10, 2008 9:32 pm US/Central
Accounting Mistakes Led To DISD $64M Shortfall
Compiled From Staff Reports
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
Dallas Independent School District Superintendent Michael Hinojosa announced a major miscalculation of school finances.
The district, he said, is $64 million in the hole for the 2007-2008 school year. This is despite attempts over the summer to reduce costs. A $120 million fund balance will cover the shortfall, he said.
According to officials, they were conducting an end-of-school year audit when they discovered school finance executives overestimated the amount of money the district would generate via property taxes.
"The majority of this deficit was caused by inadequate budgeting," said Dr. Hinojosa. "More money was allocated to campuses to hire additional staff last school year, and we saw impressive student gains as a result. The cost of the additional staff, however, was not property reflected in the budget."
School Board President Jack Lowe says among the things that went wrong is that the district spent 15 million dollars filling 250 positions, but never got authorized by the board. Lowe said raising the property tax rate is not an option, and that "we need to control spending."
"I want to assure all taxpayers that our children are learning," said Dr. Hinojosa. "We have great improvements and it was a direct cause of having more teachers and support staff."
The question now is, will the district cut teachers and increase class size, reversing last year's gains? As a result of the shortfall, DISD will be on a hiring freeze.
Dr. Hinojosa would not answer any questions regarding Eric Anderson, the district's Chief Financial Officer. Anderson was not at Thursday's meeting.
In a press release, DISD officials stated "a major reorganization of the district's finance and business services departments is being implemented."
"We don't have a highly competent staff in the budget and finance departments," said Lowe.
When asked if two employees who oversaw the budget were fired, Lowe said he didn't know their status, but that he doesn't "expect them to be long-term employees."
Dr. Hinojosa said he would be open to all options on ways to save money for the next school year. The district says everything is on the table.
"It's amazing they can't get the math right," said Dale Kiser, NEA. "At the same time, they tell the teachers on a major test, 'If a student fails a test, you have to give them a re-do.' Well, I wonder if the taxpayers of DISD want to give administrators of DISD a re-do on this test."
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