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Nov 23, 2009 7:08 pm US/Central
DISD Working To Replenish Rainy Day Emergency Fund
DALLAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
How much money should a school district have in a "rainy day" account? The Dallas School district endured a financial downpour last year, draining millions from reserve funds to offset a huge deficit.
Now, the district must try to replenish their emergency fund.
The Dallas School District spends an average of $5,500 per student on education. It adds up to a $1 billion operation that pays for teachers, campuses and other services.
But the school district should also be putting cash in savings. Right now, there is only $37 million in the emergency fund.
Larry Throm oversees all school district finances. "Out of $1.2 billion budget, that is not enough," he said.
A year ago, $30 million was grabbed from the fund balance and teachers endured job cuts, all to try and help the school district deal with the financial turmoil.
A year later, the school system will struggle with rebuilding its reserve fund in case of a financial emergency.
Despite the lack of funds, outside auditors gave Throm and DISD a passing grade. "We're not where we want to be, but we're making progress in that area," the Dallas ISD Finance Chief explained. "We're stable. There's no hemorrhaging of dollars. There's no uncertainties out there. They didn't discover any fraud or anything like that."
The goal figure is $130 million. That's one month's worth of spending for DISD and how much officials would like to have in the emergency fund. Right now, they don't have and don't know when they'll reach the goal.
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