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Mansfield City School District Placed in Fiscal Emergency

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Columbus – The inability to adopt a financial recovery plan prompted Auditor of State Dave Yost today to place the Mansfield City School District (Richland County) in a state of fiscal emergency – which moves the responsibility for creating the recovery plan to a state commission.

“This struggling district has reached a critical point,” Auditor Yost said.  “My office stands ready to help the commission address this deficit, so Mansfield City Schools can bring its books back into the black.”

The Mansfield City School District was placed in fiscal caution by the Ohio Department of Education on August 16, 2006 due to anticipated deficits for the 2007 and 2008 fiscal years.  The Auditor of State’s office placed the district in fiscal watch on December 8, 2006 after the district failed to submit a written proposal to eliminate the anticipated deficits.  On November 22, 2013, the Mansfield City School District Board of Education passed a resolution stating their inability to adopt a recovery plan that would eliminate the projected current year deficit.

A Financial Planning and Supervision Commission will now be created to assume all or part of the powers of the board of education.  Three members of this commission must be appointed within 15 days of this declaration of fiscal emergency.  A financial plan must be developed by the commission within 120 days of its first meeting to address the district’s financial crisis.

The Auditor of State serves as an advisor to commissions for all school districts in fiscal emergency. In this role, the office provides accounting training and assistance, as well as monthly monitoring of the district's financial activity to ensure compliance with the recovery plan and various accounting rules and reports.

A full copy of this fiscal emergency declaration may be accessed online.

 

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The Auditor of State’s office, one of five independently elected statewide offices in Ohio, is responsible for auditing more than 5,800 state and local government agencies.  Under the direction of Auditor Dave Yost, the office also provides financial services to local governments, investigates and prevents fraud in public agencies and promotes transparency in government.

Contact:
Carrie Bartunek
Press Secretary
614-644-1111