The results of an independent audit indicate that Brookings-Harbor School District had a $1.3 million carryover from the 2010-2011 school year, which is a little higher than expected.

However, Brookings-Harbor Education Association members were visibly upset during a round of negotiations with the district on Tuesday. Members felt some of this money could have been used to save recently cut programs.

The association was also upset because the carryover percentage went up at a time when they were led to believe that the district has no money.

 “We were led to believe that we were in such an economic crisis  that they cut recess, PE, music, art, keyboarding at the elementary school,” association spokesperson Terri Poponi said. “At the high school they cut to six periods. Put in a waiver because they cut programs, kids didn’t have enough minutes to graduate. (The district) claimed economic issues and now you didn’t even have to do it.

“(Superintendent) Brian (Hodge) said we had nothing. We knew how much the district had. “He gets paid a six-figure salary to know. He should have known the answers. It just blows our mind.”

According to the audit, “at the end of the 2011 fiscal year, the unreserved fund balance for the General Fund was $1,313,207, up from $1,311,661 in the prior year. Unreserved fund balance in the General Fund represents about 11.8 percent of total General Fund expenditures, up from 9.9 percent in the prior year.”

The carryover is “designed to pay those bills in the months that you don’t have funding,” BHSD Business Manager Don Sweeney said. “The carryover is used when the funding is less than the expenditures. Any school district that’s having a proper budget will have a carryover.”

Brookings-Harbor uses carryover funds to pay the June bills, which can be anywhere from $600,000 to $700,000.

Poponi said the district used to operate on a 5 or 6 percent carryover, that a healthy carryover is 7 or 8 percent and that the district is currently sitting on nearly a 13 percent carryover.

She said that it is the history of the district to operate on a high carryover.

However, Sweeney said the carryover is 11.8 percent.

He said a 9 or 10 percent carryover is healthy, depending on the economy.

“It’s a little higher, but I think it’s over by $200,000 at the max,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney also said that the $200,000 was not enough to save all of the programs that were cut; the board made about $800,000 worth of cuts.

To bring back the PE program at Kalmiopsis, it would  cost the district $85,000, Sweeney said.

To bring back the seven-period day at the high school it would cost the district somewhere between $300,000 and $600,000 dollars. 

With the additional money, Sweeney said the district is looking at restoring the seven-period day to the high school. 

The seven-period day is a priority because as it stands now, students who fail a class have no way to make it up.

“We want to have that ability for those kids,” Sweeney said.

The association would like programs to be added in as well.

“We’re not saying we want the money,” Poponi said. “We want the PE back, the keyboard back. Not to have to put in waivers.” (Waivers were submitted to the state for students who were not able to complete graduation requirements.)

Sweeney said the carryover is a little higher than expected because the board made cuts based on the prediction that they would get less revenue from the state than they actually did.

Sweeney pointed out that the board was forced to make these predictions two-and-a-half years ago when the economy was headed downward, and that the state is constantly changing its funding projections. 

“It’s based on the taxes of the state, of the county, and it’s also based on the number of kids,” he said. “It’s a moving target. It’s a hard target to hit.”

 There is extra money, Sweeney said, because the cost of savings was better than expected.

For example, the cost of supplies could have been less than expected, or gas prices could have gone down.

While the 1.3 million carryover may seem high, Sweeney said the 2012-2013 school year is predicted to be a bad funding year for Oregon.

“Stimulus money won’t be back next year,” Sweeney said.

In 2009-2010, the district received $260,000 in stimulus funds; in 2010-2011, $403,000; and for the 2011-2012 school year, $240,000.

Right now, the district is looking at a $300,000 to $400,000 deficit for 2012-13, Sweeney said.

“The fact is we would have either made these cuts today or in 12-13,” Sweeney said. “It was going to happen.”

Poponi disagrees.

“This community deserves answers because we have milked our businesses so much,” Poponi said. “The community will find out it’s not as bad as we thought. What we want the community to know is that there’s money out there for kids.”

The next round of contract negotiations is at 4 p.m. on Jan. 24 in the Kalmiopsis Elementary School library. The negotiations are open to the public.