HAZELWOOD 鈥 The Ferguson-Florissant schools may soon freeze spending and hiring after the recent discovery of unspecified cash flow problems and budget imbalances.
Superintendent Joseph Davis said a review of district finances has led to some 鈥減ressing financial concerns.鈥 His administration will ask the school board on Wednesday for the temporary spending freeze to allow the district to maintain normal operations.
鈥淚 understand that this may feel overwhelming, but I want to reassure you that the Board of Education, district leadership and I are fully committed to addressing these challenges head on,鈥 Davis wrote in a message to parents last week.
In an interview with the Post-Dispatch, Davis provided few specifics about the problems and what caused them. He also said he didn鈥檛 know the amount of the imbalances. Davis did say the issue was related to the budgeted number of positions and the number of staffers the district has hired.
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鈥淚 need to review who鈥檚 in the buildings,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淚 need to know specifically where folks are. That鈥檚 where we are right now, reviewing that data.鈥
The Ferguson-Florissant Board of Education approved the district鈥檚 budget in June, and an all-administrator retreat over the summer involved an in-depth review of it, according to Davis.
The district recently switched chief financial officers. Riverview Garden鈥檚 former chief financial officer, Lavon Singleton, replaced Cindy Reilmann, who was still employed by the district when the latest budget was finalized.
In June, while still working at the district, Reilmann projected an estimated budget surplus of $2 million.
Reilmann is now CFO of the Special School District of St. 不良研究所导航网址 County. She declined to comment.
Davis made the financial concerns public on Thursday. Meeting agendas show that Singleton presented the school board with a financial update during a closed session meeting on Wednesday. A district spokesperson said the update was closed to the public for legal and personnel reasons.
David said the district would continue to receive essential supplies and daily operations would not be disrupted.
鈥淲here there are needs, we鈥檒l take care of those needs,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淲here there are wants, then we may wait on those wants.鈥
Otherwise, things are looking up for Ferguson-Florissant, he said. Attendance is nearly where it was before the pandemic. Davis said enrollment increased 2% this school year, which would buck a 420-student loss since 2020.
Total K-12 enrollment as of Friday was actually 12 students less than last school year, at 9,041 students. That figure will likely increase slightly by the end of the year as families transition into the district, said Onye Hollomon, executive director of communications and marketing.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be absolutely fine,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to always be able to pay our bills on time [and] take care of our responsibilities, but I don鈥檛 ever want to over-deliver and underpromise.鈥
The potential hiring freeze comes at a difficult time for Ferguson-Florissant and public education at large. The billions of dollars in federal relief funds that buoyed schools during the pandemic expired at the end of September.
Ferguson-Florissant will receive $12.6 million less in federal revenue this school year, primarily due to the end of the emergency relief funding. District officials have said they prepared for that funding to end.
And a nationwide teacher shortage has made it especially hard for school districts to attract and retain educators.
Ferguson-Florissant still trails behind neighboring districts on teacher pay, even with slight increases to base salaries in recent years (from $40,009 in 2022 to 43,000 in 2024). As of June, the district was projected to spend nearly $5 million less on all salaries compared to past years because there were fewer people to pay.