BY DEBBIE PAGE
During its final meeting of the fiscal year on Thursday morning, the Mooresville Graded School District Board of Education tied up some budget details and passed an interim budget for next school year to authorize continued operation of the school system.
Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Smith announced that he anticipated the district would not have to dip into its fund balance to meet its 2024-2025 general budget obligations after the receipt of additional state and federal funds.
Superintendent Jason Gardner commended the Finance Department for its exemplary work, adding that the district had expected to use $1 million in fund balance this fiscal year, but careful spending made dipping into savings unnecessary.
Gardner added that it was still possible the district might add a touch to or use a touch of fund balance between Thursday and the June 30 end of budget year, but they expected things to be concluded in an unexpectedly favorable position.
The district may still receive some moneys, but Gardner said they planned to work through the “eleventh hour to spend every penny from state funding” while doing “good things with taxpayer money.”
The district received an increase of $92,872 in state funds, including $47,797 for instructional services, $44,750 for system-wide support services, and $352 for community services program.
The district also received an additional $10,000 in local expense funding for systemwide support services, and $41,060 in federal funding for instructional services and non-programmed charges.
In the separate school nutrition budget, the district moved $110,000 from the program’s fund balance to cover the program’s increasing costs.
Because the N.C. General Assembly is about to adjourn for the summer without passing a two-year state budget, the board voted to approve the district administration’s requested interim budget, based on the same revenues and spending in the 2024-2025 budget, until the General Assembly adopts a budget resolution.
The school board hopes to pass a budget resolution no later than October 2025, unless the state fails to adopt a budget within that time frame.