By Ralph Echtinaw

The latest annual audit of St. Louis Schools finances showed the district to be in good condition.

Christina Schaub of Roslund Prestage presented her findings to the school board Nov. 21.

The district had $15.5 million in revenue during the year ended June 30, 2022. Of that amount, $11.1 million came from federal and state governments.

On the expense side, the district spent $6.6 million on instruction, $4.8 million on support services and $1.2 million on food service. The biggest expense, however, was debt service. The district spent $8.1 million paying off bonds.

All told, revenues exceeded expenditures by $6.4 million, giving the district a general fund balance of $2.6 million, which is considered healthy. Theoretically, the district could operate for three months if all revenue dried up.

The Roslund Prestage report concluded that “we did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses.”

Furthermore, “the result of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under government auditing standards.”

Bus purchase

Board members unanimously approved purchase of a bus from Midwest Transit for $112,568. Two higher bids were received from Holland ($122,860) and Hoekstra ($122,430).

This is the third bus the district bought since March. All are being paid for with funds from a bond proposal passed by voters in 2021.

All three buses come from Midwest Transit, but the ones purchased in March and April were significantly cheaper at $100,263 each. Bids from Holland and Hoekstra in March and April were much lower than November’s bids, too, at $103,000. Going back further to 2021, the district bought a bus for $90,000.

Student success coordinator quits

Middle school student success coordinator Sarah DeJong (hired in January 2022) resigned to start a family. Her pay was covered by the federal government’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund.

That leaves remaining Student Success Coordinator Jeff Oswald, who (at least for now) must cover the high school AND middle school.

Oswald’s workload was cited by McKittrick last January as something DeJong’s hiring would alleviate.

Sports news

Some 600 pies have been made by St. Louis sports boosters and are available for purchase at the River Rock bar/restaurant for $15 each.

The girls cross country team finished second at regionals and 18th in the state. The boys cross country team won the regional tournament and placed third at state finals.

The girls cross country team was named division three all-state academic team for the second straight year.

Golf coach Andrea Biehl was named Michigan High School Athletic Association regional golf coach of the year.

Boys cross country coach Jay Puffpaff was named boys cross country coach of the year.

Christmas parade

The annual St. Louis Christmas parade begins 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1. Spectators are invited to the high school cafeteria afterwards for refreshments with Santa Claus.