Maplewood School district has announced news about its high ranking in the state’s Annual Performance Report, and also that auditors have given the District’s financial statements the highest level of assurance.
1. Maplewood Richmond Heights School District currently ranks among the top 1% of Missouri school districts, according to stats released on Nov. 25 by the state. MRH Director of Communications Ed Rich said in a statement that this year’s Annual Performance Report (APR) not only highlights MRH successes, but also serves as an addition data point to support continuous improvement efforts.
“We are especially proud of the growth we’ve seen from last year to this year. Our students and staff have shown an incredible commitment to learning, and it is because of this partnership that we are able to experience such growth,” Rich said in the statement
2. Also, MRH has received what’s called an “unmodified opinion” on its financial statements for Fiscal Year 2024. Simply put, this designation is the highest level of assurance issued by auditors and indicates that the District’s financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects and in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
Additionally, the District received an unmodified opinion on its state and federal reporting package, signifying compliance with all applicable regulations.
“We are proud to share this positive news with our community,” said Chris Hoelzer, Chief Financial Officer. “This achievement reflects our commitment to financial transparency, accountability, and responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.”
The audit was conducted by Kerber, Eck, & Braeckel LLP, an independent accounting firm. A copy of the audit report is available for public review on the District’s website under “Finances.”
Gotcha moments? The BOE member wasn’t creating a trap— she was asking for clarification about odd discrepancies in the budget numbers. It was only because CEO Chris Hoelzer had no clue how to answer the most basic of questions that it looked odd. If you think asking the highest ranking financial officer in the district to explain how a number went from several million last month to $100K now—-and him standing there blank faced and baffled—is a “gotcha moment,” then we’ll have to agree to disagree. A CFO should know those numbers inside and out and be a master of his work. He was grossly underprepared and it showed.
Next, the board member was rudely silenced and told the questions would be answered via email. Personally I’d like to know the answers as well, but won’t since now it’s been hushed and made private. Again—-where is the transparency?
The district is asking to shift money around in order to take on more debt. Get ready, because big asks will be coming in the spring that will require tax jumps OR increased debt to a district that already just borrowed a ton. And we all know interest rates are not low right now.
Keep that in mind every time you drive past the shiny new Admin Building on Big Bend (housing the largest number of central office staff in district history) while the district nickel and dimes non-certified staff on much-needed pay raises.
Sadly, the same people who criticized the district last year after the audit are failing to comment now with positive comments. I guess it doesn’t fit the narrative they want of a failing school district that they need to save. Last year the district deserved to be held accountable but where are those voices that funded several of the campaigns to turnover the board. We see now what they supported. Two school board members supporting a budget directive that would prioritize some humans over others while the third has shown her anti-collaborative approach by creating gotcha moments for district leadership. I was appalled watching this on the stream of the last board meeting. Of course, the President didn’t help by continuing to cut her off. If this is how they are in public, how are they behaving behind closed doors, emails, and phone calls with district staff and leadership. Have we forgotten this is a small community where our many of our neighbors work for the district and our kids are watching us.
William, I don’t equate passing an audit as the same as spending the taxpayers money wisely.
I’ll admit I don’t know much about how all of the bond issues play out, but I’m hoping someone can add clarity. We passed a $30 million dollar bond issue for infrastructure improvements 2 springs ago. Why $30 million dollars? Because then instead of giving the tax payers a break, they could call it a no bond increase(Basically taxes will remain high). Fast forward to today and the school district is gearing up for a no tax increase in the spring. One might ask how? Well remember that $30 million infrastructure bond. Turns out they can now ask the tax payers to move those funds to operating expense, and it won’t cost the tax payers a dime. What happened to the Infrastructure improvements that were needed. (but somehow, we will continue to have one of the highest tax base). What am I missing?
In regards to the school board…The citizens turned over the board for lack of transparency, or that’s why I voted for them for what that’s worth. Also, I think we saw 2 different things in the stream. I saw the superintendent lean over and tell the president to cut her off, and he did. Like you I was appalled with the interaction.
BTW: Has the $10 million dollar question been answered.
Conservative view, I feel your pain for the high tax rate. Bond issue was actually June of 2020. As far as the 10 million dollar question, I have never managed a fluid school budget, but asking someone to know every detail of a multimillion dollar budget on camera and on the record is not a position I would like to be in. The CFO said he would bring back the info. I will wait for the next meeting to judge if the answer is accurate and transparent. It still doesn’t answer the need for the “gotcha” approach. I did see the superintendent say something to the president but we are making assumptions on what was said. I doubt she said cut her off and say she is beating a dead horse. In regards to the previous boards lack of transparency, I am yet to see anyone give a concrete factual example. I did see a lot of supposition that there was a lack of transparency and lack of care for staff. What happened to the $30 million bond? I believe we have a new building at the high school along with some other projects at the other two schools.
Thanks, Doug for putting this news in our headlights. MRH School District is a hidden gem in the middle of a state whose ranking in education is near the bottom of the country, thanks to our state legislature’s lack of attention to basic support for public schools and erosion of funding from pro-voucher and “school choice” initiatives. Property owners in Maplewood and Richmond Heights owe a debt of gratitude to the staff and students as well. Their high achievement has made real estate in the area become a hot item. Thanks to everyone who has made this possible, including the residents of the area who continue to vote to support district initiatives. Keep it going!
Strongly agree with all your points!
I will point out that we (MRH) have struggled to stay competitive with neighboring districts in terms of salary schedules for both teachers and staff.
I was concerned to hear two of our current BoE Directors are suggesting we prioritize keeping a higher percentage of our budget in reserve versus providing our incredibly valuable support staff more, alongside planned raises for certified staff.
I hope people will be willing to reach out to our electeds and insist they support the efforts of ALL those who have strived to make our district such a valuable commodity in our community.