DUSD Board meets for budget revisions

The Douglas School Board of Education held another special meeting Nov. 29 to make some revisions to the 2010/2011 Fiscal Year District Annual Expenditure Budget as well as the 2010/2011 Annual Financial Report (AFR).

According to Sonia Barcelo of the DUSD business office the corrections had to be made and returned to the state by the end of the month.

Barcelo said her office recently received notice from the Arizona Dept. of Education that her department needed to revise its 2010/2011 budget.

“Due to the budget reduction of soft capital mandated by the state, they finally came up with the figures of what it affected our school district,” she said. “So what we need to do is go back to last year and what they are reducing is our capital.”

Barcelo said her department had to go back and adjust the amount the state took away which amounted to $749,633.

“Since I had to revise the budget I had to revise the AFR, she said so they would match up.

Barcelo added this really doesn’t hurt last year’s budget, it just means the soft capital overlay they were carrying over to this year has now been reduced.

“The good thing is we didn’t spend that money,” she said.

The board also approved the use of professional services from Karen Haivard as a consultant for the business office.

DUSD Superintendent Sheila Rogers said Haivard is a former colleague from Phoenix and she will be used on an “as needed” basis.

Rogers said she plans on “waiting a little bit” before hiring a replacement for former Business Manager Denise Evans.

“We’re feeling pretty confident about what Sonia can do and what Karen Haivard can help us with,” she said.

The meeting was the third straight week the DUSD board had met. It held its regular monthly meeting last night, Dec. 6. Details from that meeting will be in next week’s Douglas Dispatch.