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New Suffolk school district found ‘susceptible’ to fiscal stress

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A New York state comptroller’s report has designated the tiny New Suffolk School as “susceptible to financial stress” based on a lack of reserves.

According to the 2015 report, the district earned the designation — which indicates the district may encounter fiscal issues in the future if the situation remains unchanged — due to an alleged operating deficit and a reserve fund below the levels suggested by the comptroller’s office.

“The issue there is the amount of cash you have on hand,”said comptroller spokesperson Brian Butry. “There are certainly districts and other municipalities that’ll be able to wing it from year to year, but under all that you want to have structure … they could build up more on the revenue side to offset a situation like this.”

The New Suffolk school had received strong fiscal health reports in the previous two years from the comptroller’s office.

Two other local districts — Riverhead and Shoreham-Wading River — were also designated as “susceptible,” but both superintendents criticized the comptroller’s findings, saying the deficit found the by state was a quirk of accounting. Financial reports from both districts show no deficit.

Officials from New Suffolk were unable to be reached for comment as of press time.