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October 22, 2009

MPS merges funds to cope with state funding cuts

By Cathy Spaulding

Faced with a shrinking general fund budget, the Muskogee Board of Education voted to merge the child nutrition service fund with the general fund.

School officials hope the merger will be temporary, Muskogee Public Schools Chief Financial Officer John Little said.

The board approved the merger at its regular meeting Tuesday night.

Little said the child nutrition service fund keeps a larger balance than the general fund. He said the CNS current balance is $573,000, compared to a current balance, or carryover, of $173,000 in the general fund.

The merger will not take effect for another three or four weeks because the district must talk with its auditor to redo some of the coding, Little said. He said the merger will not affect daily operations of the child nutrition service, which provides meals at all the district’s schools.

Under the current budget set-up, the district could only move $150,000 from the CNS fund to the general fund “in a pinch,” Little said. “Luckily, in the last 12 years (CNS directors) Kim Shelton and Jaime McCullough did a good job in keeping the balance up.”

The merger could give the general fund a boost, if needed, he said.

“We had planned to build the general fund budget up before the state budget problems hit,” Little said.

Like other public school districts across Oklahoma, MPS faces cuts in state funding of at least 5 percent.

In August, Muskogee had $42,178, or 2.74 percent, cut from its state aid, the same percentage cut as other Oklahoma schools. School officials predict 5 percent cuts throughout the rest of the school year.

“Most school CFOs and economists expect 10 percent total cuts for the year,” Little said.



Reach Cathy Spaulding at 918-684-2928 or Click Here to Send Email

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