POTTERVILLE, Mich. (WILX) – “We have work to do within the Potterville schools, we’ve had some issues that have come up in the past,” said Potterville Public Schools Superintendent Sam Sinicropi.

Sinicropi talked about how past problems cause a current problem. Hundreds of thousands of dollars disappeared.

Now, the Potterville School District’s general budget is under criminal investigation. The district is keeping a close eye on its spending to avoid further scrutiny. Questions were raised about a deficit in the district’s general fund from the previous school year.

However, Sinicropi does not believe there was any foul play.

“I don’t think anybody stole any money, I really don’t,” Sinicropi said.

The district is looking forward as it faces an investigation by the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office into the 2023-2024 general budget. Sinicropi says the district has no deficit spending. However, an independent audit found that hundreds of thousands of dollars from the end of the school year were not accounted for.

“The audited budget noted a significant difference in the fund balance, which is kind of like our savings account,” Sinicropi said.

The Michigan Department of Education sent a statement to News 10 regarding the district’s shortfall:

Sincropi says poor accounting procedures and the end of COVID relief funding could be factors influencing the shortfall.

“We had a lot of storage and paid all our bills, but it was very difficult to find some of these things,” Sincropi said.

The district implemented the auditor’s recommendations. The Eaton Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) will step in to provide financial oversight for the district.

In September 2024, Potterville Public Schools and Eaton RESA entered into an agreement for Eaton RESA to provide continued business services support.

Heather Walls, who retired from school finance, worked part-time at Eaton RESA to help the district during times of high need, such as when staffing transitions occur. She was assigned to work with the district under this new business services agreement. Walls recently decided to stop his part-time work and will no longer work with Eaton RESA or Potterville Public Schools.

Eaton RESA CFO Tina Monroe will support PPS business services as they move forward.

As for the impact of the budget on students…

“It hasn’t affected the students at all yet, and I don’t expect it to,” Sincropi said.

And layoffs of any faculty and staff members.

“That’s not planned at this point and I don’t plan to do it in the future,” Sincropi said.

News 10 reached out to the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office; they have no other information at this time.

The full audit report will be discussed during the Dec. 9 school board meeting at 5:30 p.m.

Subscribe to our Newsletter News 10 and YouTube page to get the latest local news and weather. Do you want to hire people or grow your business through advertising? Gray Digital Media is your one stop marketing solution. Learn More.

Copyright 2024 WILX. All rights reserved.