SOUTH MILWAUKEE, WI — Amid the ongoing budget crisis that Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is facing, TMJ4's Ryan Jenkins went to another local school district superintendent to learn more about the financial reporting process and the importance of trust and transparency when it comes to school funding.
"School finance is really, really complicated," said Deidre Roemer, Superintendent of Schools for the School District of South Milwaukee. "It's complicated in smaller districts like we have in South Milwaukee and it's really complicated when you have many facets to it as a large system like MPS has."
Roemer says when it comes to keeping up with financial reporting, "It's all about having a system of checks and balances."
Jenkins met with Roemer on Monday to learn more about the series of checks and balances she has in place to ensure her district meets deadlines and criteria in order to avoid the types of budget issues MPS is currently facing.
"We've made it a mission here in the School District of South Milwaukee to be really transparent with our finances."
Roemer said she is constantly checking in with department heads, her business director, and an on-staff accountant to ensure deadlines are met. She also said there's an audit each year.
She said in her experience, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is rather forward about its needs.
"They send you an update if you're good to go, and they send you an update if you're behind on something and I guess for us we watch those deadlines all the time," she said.
The fact that MPS is having these ongoing issues certainly has her attention.
"That, to me, is concerning that they missed the deadline on that and that the deadline was missed for that length of time," said Roemer.
A letter from DPI says "MPS' ongoing failure to submit financial data on time has multiple negative impacts," that can, "impact every school district in Wisconsin." That's because DPI uses data to calculate aid for school systems statewide.
"Should MPS not be able to right the ship and fix the problem, then those dollars may come our way in South Milwaukee and in school districts around us," said Roemer. "That would increase your amount of state aid, which could decrease the amount you receive from local property taxes."
An added perspective - not only on how MPS's current failures could impact our entire area - but also on the importance of transparency and trust.
Ryan Jenkins: "How important is that public trust when you're talking about school district funding and how hard is it to gain the trust back once its lost?"
Deidre Roemer: "You're talking about the trust of your whole community the moment you're talking about tax dollars. This is part of people's livelihood - is where their taxes go and how they're spent and you also have parents who are trusting us with their children every single day and you have to be really accountable to all of those facts..."
Roemer encourages taxpayers to be aware of - and to attend - open board meetings and to be involved in conversations related to the budget, no matter where they live.
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