Hunter
02/11/26
The Iowa City Community School District reported an expected budget cut of between $5 and $6 million, after expenditures exceeded earlier estimates.
The Daily Iowan reports at Tuesday’s meeting, members of the community and the board also pointed out that the district presented an inaccurate quarterly financial report to board members at the meeting, with members saying budget cuts may be tied to the financial inaccuracies in the report.
One parent in the district with years of experience in financial leadership and auditing, Emily Campbell, reviewed the quarterly financial report and found four funds were removed from the report for the first time in 11 years, including the insurance fund for the district. She also said starting balances for the current year were off $5 million from the ending balances of last year, and called into question the integrity of top district leadership.
The board approved a $10 million transfer of funds from its health insurance fund on January 27th, despite having no prior awareness of the loan before the meeting. Superintendent Matt Degner said expenses were exceeding initial forecasts, and the loan was necessary to keep the general fund from running short.
The school board said they were looking into a better system for reviewing financial reports.
Access the DI’s article below.