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Hoover schools had much stronger 2021 financially than anticipated

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Hoover school officials projected their overall fund balance would drop by $16.8 million in fiscal 2021, but instead, the school system added $3.8 million, records shared with the school board Tuesday night show.

The bottom line is that revenues came in greater than anticipated, and expenses were less than expected.

Chief Financial Officer Michele McCay, who has said in the past she tries to forecast revenues conservatively, last year said she expected the school system to receive $193 million in revenues in fiscal 2021, but revenues actually came in at $202 million.

Revenues for fiscal 2021, which ended Sept. 30, were $4.5 million greater than 2020 and included a $1.7 million increase in property taxes and $329,000 increase in sales taxes, McCay said. The school system also ended up getting more personnel money from the state than originally budgeted because the Legislature decided to provide level funding for personnel despite drops in enrollment due to COVID-19.

Also, the school system began 2021 with more money than anticipated due to a delay in spending on capital projects in fiscal 2020.

On the expense side of the budget, McCay initially projected spending $211 million in fiscal 2021, but expenses ended up being $199.4 million.

About $6.8 million of that difference was due to more capital projects being delayed in 2021, McCay said.

Those projects included bathroom upgrades at various schools and partial roof replacements at Simmons Middle School and South Shades Crest Elementary, she said. The projects were delayed due to increased costs associated with the cost of building materials or labor shortages, she said.

The school system also saved about $2.7 million in personnel costs, McCay said. Some of that was due to vacancies going unfilled, and in other cases, employees with greater experience who retired were replaced with employees with less experience whose salaries required less money, McCay said.

McCay initially anticipated beginning fiscal 2021 with $114 million in the overall fund balance but actually began the year with $115.6 million. She initially had projected the fund balance to fall to $97 million on Sept. 30 of this year, but it ended up being $119 million.

That’s enough to cover 8½ months’ worth of operating expenses, McCay said. State law requires school systems to keep at least one month’s worth of operating expenses in reserve, but McCay in the past has said she likes the district to have at least five months’ worth of operating expenses on hand.

“Overall, I think we did really, really well this year,” McCay said.

She thanked all of the school system’s departments and individual schools for working hard to stay within their budgets and save money where necessary.

Superintendent Dee Fowler said that “long story short, we’re living within our means, and that’s where we should be.”

HOOVER HIGH THEATER

The school board also on Tuesday night heard a report from the architectural firm working on plans for a new theater at Hoover High. After cost estimates came in higher than expected for a 1,276-seat theater, school officials earlier this year asked the architects to develop additional options for the school board to consider.

Shawn Calma of Lathan Architects on Tuesday night presented a plan for a 930-seat, 32,490-square-foot theater. The new plan also eliminated balcony seating and kept all seating on one main level, with the seating sloped toward the stage and a tiered seating area in the back of the auditorium.

The plan still puts the theater at the end of the building that houses gymnasiums and the new band room, close to Buccaneer Stadium. The plan includes a 50-foot-high clearance in the stage area that will allow backdrops to be raised out of view of the audience, Calma said. The plan also includes theater restrooms, a concession area, storage area and scene shop.

The exterior is being designed to match the rest of the exterior of the school, and the theater entrance should resemble the main entrance to the school, Calma said.

The architects are still developing drawings and hope to come up with a better timetable in the next couple of weeks, but they hope to seek construction bids this spring and have the theater built within 12 to 16 months after that, Calma said.

The school board plans to use money from a state bond issue to cover the costs, but the school district has only two years left to finish the project to get the state to cover it, McCay said. The timeframe is going to be tight, but it’s possible the state may grant a slight extension due to supply and labor shortages in the construction industry, she said.

In other business Tuesday night, the school board:

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