12/11/12 - The Brighton Area School District has received good report cards the last few years from its auditors and the latest is no exception. Representatives of the Lansing-based firm of Maner Costerisan told the Board of Education Monday night that the finances of the district for the 2011-12 fiscal year are in good order. Bruce Dunn also told the board that Brighton is one of the few deficit districts in the state making progress on its legacy deficit. Superintendent Greg Gray says such positive feedback is especially encouraging inasmuch as the state legislature imposed a whopping $470 per pupil state funding reduction to all public school districts last year, and the state funding cut was not rescinded this year. He says that effectively doubles the funding loss to nearly $6 million over two years, given Brightonâs enrollment of slightly over 6,000. Gray tells WHMI that those factors have made it all the more significant that Brighton has been able to make progress on erasing the red ink. At one time the deficit was about $15 million, but it has been reduced to about $7 million going into the current fiscal year. Gray and Dunn both praised Assistant Superintendent for Finance Maria Gistinger for preparing a budget that was only $3,000 off from the amount that was ultimately spent. The Brighton Area Schools last year operated on a general fund budget of about $50 million. (TT)
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