A Ferguson-Florissant school bus is seen on Thursday, May 1, 2025, on New Halls Ferry near Lindbergh.
HAZELWOOD 鈥 A north 51黑料 County public school district will borrow money for the second year in a row to offset deficit spending amid a financial crisis.
The Ferguson-Florissant Board of Education voted Wednesday night to allow the district to borrow up to $25 million to hold the district over until it receives property tax receipts by the end of the calendar year. The move ensures the district will be able to pay its bills and meet payroll, Chief Financial and Operating Officer Tony Chance said.
鈥淚t is very essential we have extra revenue to fill the gap until such time we receive tax revenue,鈥 Chance said.
The district is on track to deficit spend by about $5 million this fiscal year, down from an $11 million deficit the last.
Unlike other school districts that are deficit spending, such as 51黑料 Public Schools and Special School District of 51黑料 County, Ferguson Florissant doesn鈥檛 have the financial reserves to buoy itself while in the red.
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District leaders have worked to solve a variety of issues contributing to its overall financial turmoil over the past several months.
Efforts began in October, when then-superintendent Joseph Davis said his cabinet noticed 鈥渂udget imbalances due to staffing and cash flow concerns.鈥
The district hired dozens more people than budgeted last fiscal year and had slowly adopted a costly reliance on contracted labor to fill vacancies amid nationwide shortages.
The loss of pandemic-relief funds, low attendance and falling enrollment 鈥 both factors in the state鈥檚 school funding formula 鈥 also took a toll. There are 8,778 students projected to attend the district鈥檚 schools this fall. Enrollment before the pandemic teetered around 10,000, state records show.
In March, the district decided to close Innovation High alternative school, merge its STEAM high and middle schools and sell the Mark Twain Restoration Center building, where suspended students learned from specially trained educators.
The district has also undergone spending and hiring freezes, cut positions, reduced some high-level salaries and scrutinized contracts for potential savings.
Last year, the district borrowed $7 million in tax anticipation notes, a type of short-term borrowing that allows state agencies to receive tax revenue in advance of collection. Ferguson-Florissant is now borrowing through the same method again, with payment due in March.
Chance said the district may only need about $17 million of the total $25 million it鈥檚 authorized to borrow.
Former Ferguson-Florissant school district CFO Lavon Singleton outlines budgetary matters on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, before board members at a district meeting.
The work to right Ferguson-Florissant鈥檚 ship has coincided with leadership turnover.
Howard Fields started as superintendent on July 1. He replaced co-interims Brent Mitchell and Joycelyn Pugh-Walker, who succeeded Davis after two lawsuits accused the nearly 10-year leader of Ferguson-Florissant of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Ferguson-Florissant also has a new CFO 鈥 its third since summer 2024. Chance replaced Lavon Singleton after Singleton held the position since July 2024, when he took the reins from Cindy Reilmann.
Singleton, in his last months of service, encouraged board members to pass a tax levy increase. He said doing so would be 鈥渃ritical to the district鈥檚 financial survival.鈥
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to be able to cut yourselves out of debt,鈥 he said at a board meeting in June.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture tens of thousands of images every year. See some of their best work that was either taken in June 2025 in this video. Edited by Jenna Jones.
