Contentious board approves balanced budget by Michael DeVault - posted Thursday, September 13th, 2012 @ 12:00 pm  E-mail Story |  Print Story  The Monroe City Schools will begin the new fiscal year with a balanced budget, but it might not stay that way for long. That was the warning delivered by interim Superintendent Derenda Flowers, who worked for several weeks to trim more than $2 million from the school system's budget to balance it. The current budget estimate places expenditures for the upcoming year at almost $58 million. "We're down on student count, so that will have an impact," Flowers told the School Board at a regular meeting Tuesday. While the final attendance numbers have not posted, Flowers said early estimates place the number at roughly 350 students fewer than in previous years. ..... For the full story, subscribe to the The Ouachita Citizen's NEW E-Edition!