Hume school district receives clean audit

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The Hume R-8 school district has received a clean audit for the 2015-16 school year from DSWA Certified Public Accountants.

"Overall, a clean audit opinion for the school district, something we have expected and you guys have had for quite a few years," auditor Renda Armstrong said.

The audit delivered to the board by Armstrong presents a positive opinion of the school district.

According to the audit, basic formula funding from the state of Missouri increased by $46,123 due to an increase in the number of students and adjustments to the formula.

The cost of the district's retirement and health plans have not increased and earlier this year, Hume R-8 increased its contribution to employees insurance from $350 to $400 per month.

Following a $91,876 loss during the 2012-13 school year, the district has seen revenue outpace expenditures by increasing amounts. In 2013-14, revenue exceeded expenditures by $34,807; in 2014-15 by 136,694; and in 2015-16 by 216,914.

Part of the increase in 2015-16 was due to an unexpected increase in state funding.

"An excellent year financially for the school district," Armstrong said.

The district is currently paying on a Department of Natural Resources loan at a rate of $10,770 per year that will be paid off in 2023. The district is also repaying approximately $22,000 per year on a lease participation certificate from Missouri Association of Rural Education.

Revenue for 2015-16 included $746,842 of local income, $113,170 from Bates County, $913,153 from the state of Missouri, $178,183 from the federal government, and $1,800 from other sources.

Armstrong said a change in government accounting regulations has led to an increase in documentation of retirement plans in the audit. The section in the notes that used to be two pages long is now 14 pages.

Armstrong told the board the district was in compliance in regard to the handling of tax revenue, adding that the tax collection rate was almost 100 percent.

"We did not have any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses that we identified and we do not have any compliance issues we identified," Armstrong said about the district's internal controls.

Average daily attendance was 145.688 students for the 158 day, 2015-16 school year. Of 149 students enrolled in September 2015, 20 qualified for reduced cost lunches, and 77 qualified for free lunches. The average number of students transported to and from school by bus was 81.

"Overall, a very clean audit report," Armstrong said.

In other business,

* Casey Koehn testified before the board on efforts by Metropolitan Junior College to establish a campus in Bates County. Koehn asked the board to consider placing a ballot issue before the voters in April 2017 to annex the Hume R-8 school district into the Metropolitan Junior College district.

Koehn said that a vocation and technology oriented campus in Bates County would benefit not only the students that took classes there, but existing and future area businesses, and the school districts themselves.

The tax rate would be 0.2342 cents per $100 assessed evaluation.

"The possibilities are endless," Koehn said noting that companies which had been contacted about relocating into the area had cited an under trained workforce as reason for not coming to Bates County.

* Principal Scott Morison said average daily attendance was 91.9 percent for elementary students and 93.5 for high school students.

* The board voted unanimously to approve the auditor's report from DSWA Certified Public Accountants.

* The board voted unanimously to hire Emily Ryser as a special education aide.

* The board voted unanimously to approve board member election filing dates of Dec. 13, 2016 to Jan. 17, 2017.