Schools Could Be Looking At Deficit This Year

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board

Benton Harbor Area Schools could be looking at another deficit this year. At Tuesday’s meeting, the board of education was told a reworking of the district’s financial operating plan shows some funds for at-risk students could have to be paid back to the state at the end of the year. Plus, the previous cash flow projection counted a carry-over of some funds that didn’t happen. The 2017-2018 deficit looks like it’s between $600,000 and $1.1 million. School Board Trustee Joseph Taylor told WSJM News they’ll know more in a few weeks.

“They’re going to go back and re-shuffle the numbers to make sure that’s correct, but it’s looking like we will have a deficit of that 600K,” Taylor said.

Taylor told us he’s glad to see the district’s new finance director reworking cash flow numbers after the board directed the move last week. The board will get more details at its next meeting. The finance director chalked up the problem to miscommunication.