Pontiac delays meeting on possible consent agreement with state Jennifer Chambers and Lauren Abdel-Razzaq The Detroit News 0 Comments Pontiac — School officials have rescheduled a meeting to discuss a proposed consent agreement that would allow the district to avoid a state takeover and keep its doors open. The meeting, originally scheduled for Tuesday at the Whitmer Human Resource Center, 60 Parkhurst, was canceled after the board did not receive the consent agreement papers from the Department of Treasury in time for the meeting, board president Carol Turpin said. Instead, the meeting will be 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the same location. “As of 4:27 pm the state had not submitted a final version of the consent agreement,” Turpin said. “Due to the lateness of receiving the document, the special meeting was canceled and rescheduled.” By 4:56 p.m., the state had emailed the board a copy of the agreement, but Turpin said it was not enough time to review it. The agreement would address a deficit that reached $37.7 million at the end of the most recent fiscal year that ended June 30. By November, cash flow would be negative $1 million and was estimated to grow to more than negative $9 million by March, the district’s finance director, Paul Bryant, told the board in August. About $33 million of the 5,000-student district’s deficit is from unpaid vendor bills. In July, the district’s union-affiliated health insurance carrier dropped coverage for employees after the district failed to pay its bills for 18 months. “The district faces significant financial challenges, but if district officials are committed to taking the difficult but necessary steps to address the financial emergency, the district should be able to make it through the full school year,” said Terry Stanton, a spokesman for the state Treasury. State Superintendent Mike Flanagan withheld Pontiac’s state aid last December after district officials failed to meet deadlines to submit an audit and financial information with the state. The district also failed to submit a revised deficit elimination plan that could be approved by the state. Flanagan withheld state aid again in March and April, then released the payments after the district submitted a revised deficit-cutting plan that was approved. Gov. Rick Snyder declared a financial emergency in August. Flanagan also said he is requiring the district to create an “education plan” as part of its consent agreement. He is required to sign off on the consent agreement. The deadline to approve the consent agreement is Wednesday, Flanagan said. jchambers@detroitnews (313) 222-2269 From The Detroit News: detroitnews/article/20130917/METRO02/309170119#ixzz2fCvImcbk
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 23:29:09 +0000
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