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16 <br /> Commissioner McKee said he does not know where to start but would start by asking <br /> about the reduction in fund balance that dropped off but then came back. He asked if he was <br /> reading this correctly, he wondered what their cash position is. He said there is a reduction of <br /> several million over the last four years and it would place them in a tenuous financial position. He <br /> said that he does not know if they have discussed a fix and that while he sees reductions, he does <br /> not see those making a substantial enough impact to change their financial position. He said he <br /> would like to know about the cash position of CHCCS and where they are regarding being able <br /> to pay their bills. <br /> Jonathan Scott said that they are in the same place that they were last year, and the <br /> county continues to forward the district tax funds until they collect the district tax, so that the district <br /> can continue to pay bills. He said that without that support, they would be in a very dire financial <br /> position at the beginning of the school year. <br /> Commissioner McKee said that he has always advocated for the county to act as a <br /> backstop for the district, but he saw this as for emergencies such as schools being destroyed or <br /> property being destroyed, something along that nature. <br /> Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked how the district had such a large fund balance in FY21. <br /> Jonathan Scott said that federal funds during COVID allowed the district to accumulate a <br /> higher fund balance, but that they have always carried higher than the requirement. He said that <br /> 2019/2020 they ran around revenue neutral. <br /> Commissioner Hamilton said she was glad to see that the district had a plan to build fund <br /> balance back up. She asked if any positions that they are eliminating affect students and how. <br /> She also asked what fund balance changes were spent on. She said that usually those are for <br /> onetime expenditures rather than to support a re-occurring cost. <br /> Nyah Hamlett said one of their priorities was to preserve student facing positions to the <br /> maximum extent possible. She said that is why they started with central office positions. She said <br /> that those positions do affect students indirectly. She said that some were professional learning <br /> to staff and two mental health positions. She said they have made shifts and adjustments. She <br /> said they have tried to move existing positions around to cover eliminated positions. <br /> Jonathan Scott said that CHCCS appropriated $5 million and that was used in fund <br /> balance in FY22 for recruitment and retention. He said that they did not generate much in lapsed <br /> salary due to the high fill rate of positions. He said they experienced a 98% fill rates due to these <br /> efforts and with the combination of higher salaries and fewer lapse salaries, it took more out of <br /> the fund balance than they were expecting. <br /> Vice-Chair Greene asked if the district has a plan to get back to using fund balance for <br /> one-time expenses rather than continuing costs. <br /> Jonathan Scott said yes and that goes back to the three-tiered approach, and they <br /> anticipate it being breakeven this year and then next year the fund balance will start to rebuild. <br /> Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked about the notification process for employees in Tier 2 <br /> that were eliminated. She also asked if employees in Tier 3 are aware that their positions may <br /> be eliminated. <br /> Nyah Hamlett said the tier 3 staff employee groups have been notified but individuals have <br /> not been notified yet because they are trying to work through that with attrition. She said as <br /> positions turn over throughout the year, the vacant positions will be frozen. She said they will <br /> know specific positions in the spring. She said that they tried their best with timing of notifications, <br /> but they had to wait for school board approval. <br /> Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if the office staff all come in to work or work remotely. <br /> Nyah Hamlett said all central office employees work in-person. <br /> Commissioner Richards said there are 18,197 positions on the FTE estimate. <br /> Jonathan Scott said that number is the starting point prior to the reductions. <br /> Commissioner Richards asked what that number was in 2022. <br /> Jonathan Scott said that they should be similar. <br />