Summary of Minutes

During the most recent Board of Education meeting held on Monday, October 15, 2018, the Board was presented with the audit summary report and annual financial report for fiscal year 2018 by Ken Loy of Loy, Miller, Talley, PC before making final approval of the reports under “new business.” Staunton Schools finished the fiscal year with a balanced budget, the first since 2008, and has the brightest financial outlook in quite some time. The District’s financial profile score has been upgraded from financial review (3.45/4.0) to financial recognition (3.8/4.0), the highest profile rating available. The school district financial profile is a tool used by the Illinois State Board of Education to help monitor the finances of school districts and identify which are moving in or are moving toward financial difficulty. The District made gains from increasing revenues, largely related to the passage of the Evidence Based Funding model, increasing efficiencies in operations, and exercising patience. The District property tax rate remains the lowest in Macoupin County and among the lowest regionally at $3.24 with a collection rate of 99.10%. “We value our relationship with our property tax payers and take our fiduciary responsibility to them as a District very seriously. Our taxpayers are getting an excellent value for their investment in our schools,” said Superintendent Dan Cox. “And it is also important to mention the hard work and dedication of our faculty, staff, Board, and community at large who have worked incredibly hard and advocated tirelessly on behalf of our students to bring us back from financial crisis,” Cox further stated.

In other action during the meeting the Board approved updates and revisions to Board of Education policies and discussed upgrading auditorium lighting as well as upgrading interior/exterior door locks for campus safety purposes. For full details of action and discussion items that took place during the meeting the Summary of Minutes are now available on the District website.