Clay County superintendent candidates weigh in on recurring reserve fund problem

A new audit shows the Clay County School District’s emergency fund was below the state standard for three years in a row.

That means there was not enough money in the bank in case of emergency.

The State of Florida Auditor General’s report was looking into the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

Since then, the district has been able to raise its reserve fund back above the threshold.

State law requires school districts to maintain a reserve fund that’s at least 3 percent of its overall operating budget.

The Clay County School District was at 2.08 percent in fiscal year 2014-2015, but was recently able to raise that amount back above the threshold to 3.33 percent.

Action News Jax asked superintendent candidate Rebekah Shively, a teacher in the district with no party affiliation, what she would do to prevent this from becoming an issue all over again.

“You need to plan within your budget, just as in your own household. You know what you make. You know what your priorities are,” said Shively.

Shively said, if elected, she would be looking to cut wasteful spending.

“I would certainly look in non-instructional and non-personnel areas first,” said Shively.

Republican candidate Addison Davis, who beat out current superintendent Charlie Van Zant in the August primary, said it’s too soon to say for sure.

“Currently, I can’t make any qualified decision about the road to recovery, in the sense that I haven’t had access to the budget to be able to determine how every dollar and every cent is being spent in Clay County Public Schools. But I’m really excited about potentially winning phase two and getting into diving into the budget to identify our road to recovery,” said Davis.

Action News JAx also reached out to write-in candidate Marion Keith Nichols, who’s a Clay County school bus driver, but we have not heard back from him.

Cox Media Group