Castaic district to honor Teachers of the Year

Four teachers from each the Castaic Union School District schools are expected to be recognized as “Teachers of the Year” during the Castaic Governing Board meeting Thursday.

The annual California Teacher of the Year program recognizes exemplary teachers and selects individuals based on personal growth, commitment, personal attributes and professional skills.

“They were told at the end of December before they went out for the break,” Castaic Governing Board President Laura Pearson said.

Special recognition will be given to Live Oak Elementary School teacher Kerry Summers who was chosen as the Castaic district’s 201718 Teacher of the Year.

As the district’s Teacher of the Year, Summers will be considered as a Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year.

Additional honorees and Castaic Teachers of the Year include: Castaic Elementary School teacher Lan Giang, Northlake Hills Elementary School teacher Beth Chamberlin and Castaic Middle School teacher Beth Holen.

District Audits

The Governing Board is also expect to approve of the district’s 2016-17 annual financial report and audit.

Completed by Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co., LLP, the audit and report found that the district was in compliance and noted that there were no material weaknesses, significant deficiencies or noncompliance materials in the district.

Overall, the district had a positive ending fund balance for the fiscal year, with revenues totaling $27,793,526 and expenses totaling $23,072,979.

The district’s general revenues account for $24,250,068, or 87 percent, of all revenues and the district’s program specific revenues accounted for $3,543,458, or 13 percent, of total revenues.

Major factors impacting the district’s general fund, or revenues, are reductions in enrollment and average daily attendance that is used to determine state funding, revenue loss attributed to the state’s creation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), and state and federal special program revenue loss due to reduced enrollment.

The district also was found to have complied with its 2016-17 Proposition 39 (Measure QS) Financial Audit and its 2016-2017 Community Facilities District (CFD) Financial Audit.