District Fares Well in State Fiscal Stress Test
A state fiscal stress test has shown the Huntington School District is in a strong financial position. The district earned the highest rankings possible within the new system.
"Last month, the Office of the New York State Comptroller issued a publication to local governments and school districts to evaluate the financial and environmental conditions based on a series of economic and demographic factors," Assistant Superintendent Sam Gergis said.
The comptroller's proposal is now in the official comment stage, but the Huntington School District moved forward with its stress test in short order. The monitoring system uses fund balances, operating surpluses/deficits, cash ratios, expenditures, short-term debt issuances, school district full valuation, enrollment trends, budget vote trends, graduation rate and free and reduced price lunch percentages as part of its "scoring matrix," Mr. Gergis said.
According to the stress test rubric, the higher the score in the financial and environmental indicator sections, the worse the condition of the district is believed to be in that respective area.
"Using data retrieved from various sources, the final scores in both sections indicated the Huntington School District is 'not in fiscal distress,' with 'no negative environmental condition,'" Mr. Gergis said. "These two classifications are the highest rankings within this system and are further indicators of a positive financial and environmental climate."
"The affirmation of the district's fiscal health as indicated by the comptroller's test is reassuring," Huntington Superintendent James W. Polansky said. "This health is critical as we enter another challenging budget season."
The Office of the State Comptroller will issue its own calculations and scores using the same data points. The Huntington School District's external auditing firm, Cullen & Danowski, devised a summary sheet that simplified the scoring design and the significance of each category for fiscal and environmental indicators.