Report (pdf) - School Management Services

CHAPTER III
FINANCES
3.0 Background Information
School Boards and District Administrators recognize that no factors have
more profound impacts on the long-term financial viability of an educational
enterprise than the size, enrollments, and enrollment trends of that
organization. As such, the Project Consultants followed their analysis of
the School District of Bruce’s, Ladysmith-Hawkins School District’s, and
Weyerhaeuser Area School District’s demographics with a study of the
organizations’ financial conditions. The purposes of the financial analyses
were to assess the quality of the school districts’ fiscal management,
ascertain financial trends, determine the organizations’ reserves, compare
the school districts’ spending patterns with the average of all Wisconsin
school districts, and determine each organization’s debt load. The Project
Consultants ascertained through past experiences in studying a multitude
of school districts that school district patrons are vitally interested in the
financial condition of the educational enterprise they support prior to
approving any major and/or long-term commitment affecting the
organization’s future.
3.1 Financial Analysis
The Project Consultants examined the School District of Bruce’s,
Ladysmith-Hawkins School District’s, and Weyerhaeuser Area School
District’s annual audit reports for seven consecutive years from 2001-02
through 2007-08 as a part of the Consolidation Feasibility Study.
(Ladysmith-Hawkins School District’s 2007-08 audit was not available at
© Roger Worner Associates, Inc.
45