Comptroller: Oceanside schools ‘susceptible to fiscal stress’

The Oceanside School District was among 59 New York districts deemed to be in fiscal stress, according to a report released on Jan. 25 by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

The list classified the district as “susceptible to fiscal stress,” a category that 47 other districts landed in. Only two were found to be in significant stress, according to the report, and nine others were considered to be in moderate stress. The scores are based on the evaluation of 671 school districts for the last fiscal year, which ended on June, 30, 2016. Oceanside is one of four school districts from Nassau County to be included in the report, along with Long Beach, Jericho and Hempstead.

The state’s fiscal stress monitoring system serves as an early warning to local governments and school districts after the state examines certain financial indicators, including year-end fund balances, deficits and surpluses, cash position, and the use of short-term debt for cash flow.

Environmental indicators are also considered, including a school district’s property values, enrollment, budget vote trends, graduation rate and free- or reduced-price lunch participation.

Oceanside Schools Superintendent Dr. Phyllis Harrington said she was not surprised to see the district on the list, and said it is a result of its low fund balance. She added that when the state tax cap was introduced several years ago, the district made “a very conscious choice” to use reserve funds to keep existing opportunities for students in place.

“It’s really one of the few districts that did not cut significant programs,” Harrington said of Oceanside. “Districts cut summer school and districts cut extracurricular activities. That’s not what this district did. We were fiscally prudent in building a budget, but we really didn’t cut programs.”

This is the fourth annual report of its kind released by DiNapoli’s office. Though fiscal stress across New York schools is down — 87, 90 and 82 districts were listed in the study’s first three years, respectively — this is the third straight year Oceanside has been included in the report.

A development overview of the schools’ budget, which will be voted on in May, was discussed at Oceanside’s Jan. 18 Board of Education meeting. Harrington said though the district’s reserve balance had gone “exceedingly low,” it has increased over the last three years due to “long-range” planning and fiscally sound spending even after the budget is approved.

“As a result of that, we very strongly believe that when the list comes out next year…we should be off the list,” she said. “We try to do more with less every year. …It’s actually quite amazing what we manage to do.”