Coweta schools in sound financial shape

When it comes to an economy that is still stalled the Coweta County School System is holding its own. A financial report at the Feb. 14 meeting of the Coweta County Board of Education showed the school system’s General Fund budget with a projected fund balance of nearly $26 million when the school year ends June 30.

The school board on June 14 adopted a $165.5 million General Fund budget for the FY 2011-2012 school year that began July 1. The report for January showed 58.33 percent of the year completed and 57.25 percent of the budget expended.

The report noted that the projected year-end fund balance on June 30 is expected to total $25,959,881.

The FY 2011-2012 budget is essentially a repeat of the $165.7 million operational budget for 2010-2011. As in the previous year, the current budget continues a calendar that reduces the work-year by three days for all employees working more than 180 days.

The reductions came as a result of state cuts fueled by decreasing state revenue collections and, similarly, because of decreases in Coweta County’s tax digest. Both those funding variables are a direct result of the continuing recession that has exerted a heavier toll on local and state economies.