Athletics budget overspent; no wrongdoing seen
JANESVILLE — The Janesville School District overspent its athletics budget by nearly $90,000 last year, officials reported to the school board Tuesday.
"This does not appear to be a case of gross overspending but rather a case of reasonable spending being compared to an erroneous budget," CFO Keith Pennington wrote in a memo to the board.
The budget mistakenly did not include several expenses, including scheduled pay increases for some coaches, and it did not allow for the cost of travel and food for any post-season trips and appearances, Pennington said.
An "inter-district fee" for playoffs also was spent but not budgeted.
"There wasn't any unreasonable spending. There was just poor budgeting," Pennington said.
The 2008-09 athletics budget was $1.03 million. Spending was $89,618 over budget.
Pennington assured the board that this year's athletics budget was scrutinized to eliminate similar problems.
Tim Cullen, chairman of the board's finance committee, said he appreciated Pennington's transparency.
"I'm hopeful you've got it figured out for next year," Cullen said.
The board has cut the athletics budget in recent years and added a fee for high school athletics.
This year's athletics budget is "slightly less" than what was spent last year, Pennington wrote in his memo.
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Sep 11, 2009 at 2:54 p.m.
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my kids don't do drama, can you imagine how much money goes into that? my kids don't do band, how much does that cost me? I don't mind until a bunch of ignorants cry about sports. football games bring in a lot of money. basketball games bring in a lot of money. also a quite a bit of equipment comes from donations, groups like CATS. every kid in high school can benefit from the DONATED new weights in the fitness centers.
Sep 11, 2009 at 12:56 p.m.
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Pete I really feel sorry for you with that attitude. What a boring world our world would be if everyone had attitudes like yours. I pay alot of taxes also and if some of them go to things I don't do or use thats ok at least there are things for kids and people to do.
Sep 11, 2009 at 12:23 p.m.
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So how mush is budgeted for athletics? Band? Drama cub?
Sep 11, 2009 at 12:01 p.m.
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EXCUSE ME FOR NOT BEING PERFECT!!! Some people do make mistakes every now and then. At least I can admit when I make a mistake unlike some other people.
Sep 11, 2009 at 11:46 a.m.
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"Would quite complaining?" Tom Cass, I suggest spell and grammar check. Bignik, I love how anyone who disagrees with something that you are for is called ignorant and a clown. I suggest you go back to school to learn civics.
Face it, the school system is bloated and needs to start making drastic cuts to deal with the large population decrease and the terrible local economy.
Sep 11, 2009 at 10:58 a.m.
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With some of the mentality I see when it comes to anything athletic, people say why should I pay for a select few. The same could be said for other things like the drama club, band, art, my kids don't do any of them so why should I have to pay for a select few in those areas. I wish people would quite complaining we do this for all our kids no matter what interest they have be it sports or band, art or drama.
Sep 11, 2009 at 10:53 a.m.
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They already do fundraisers, how high do you suggest for athletic fees? Athletes pay quite a bit from the fee they already pay and any equipment they may need.
Sep 11, 2009 at 10:02 a.m.
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The District Athletic director was not an overpayment! Kevin worked for every dime he was paid, and many people and organizations are feeling the pain of not having that postition. I've already been told not to expect any support from the current ADs as "there just isn't enough time in the day"! No kidding, that's why Kevin was always at all the sporting events!
Sep 11, 2009 at 10 a.m.
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And when I say CLOWNS, I mean you ignorant bloggers, who have no clue about the facts....
Sep 11, 2009 at 9:59 a.m.
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KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THE FACTS YOU CLOWNS!
Sep 10, 2009 at 8:33 p.m.
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$90,000? Isn't that about the same amount that they overpaid for a district athletic director?
Sep 10, 2009 at 7:56 p.m.
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"This year's athletics budget is "slightly less" than what was spent last year, Pennington wrote in his memo........
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That mean they'll only "overspend" $80,000 THIS year?
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"There wasn't any unreasonable spending. There was just poor budgeting," Pennington said......
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Small town - wannabe "big city" bozo's spouting double talk like us hicks aren't supposed to know the difference. And the saddest part is, it seems to be working.
Sep 10, 2009 at 4:33 p.m.
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I am so glad that our school officials are on top of things. I hope they mistakenly did include things like payroll tax, health premiums,unemployment compensation,etc.
Another example of why we should carefully evaluate and review money being allocated to the schools. Makes you wonder what else they "mistakenly did not include"?!
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