SPENCER — Looking to put past financial issues in the rear view mirror, the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District is anticipating being removed from the Massachusetts Department of Secondary Education’s financial oversight program.
The district ended up in the program following the 2011-2012 school year, when the district ending up spending approximately $1.1 million more than it had budgeted. In order to cover debt for that school year, the state issued a bond to the district, which funded the outstanding balance but required the district to pay back the state.
As a consequence for going that far over the budget, the district has been subject to financial oversight by DESE since 2012. As part of that process, the district has needed to have all budgets approved by DESE, as well as a monthly report being made to the state for all business dealings.
“The district overspent its budget, at that time the state stepped in to provide a bond through the Legislature, and that was basically so the district could pay its bills,” Paul Haughey, Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School District superintendent, said. “As a result of that, the district went into financial oversight. DESE’s finance team basically looks at all transfers, all contracts, all business dealings month to month, and the overseer assigned was expected to report back monthly to DESE.”