Debby Mayer is reporting in the Columbia Paper the Germantown Central School District Board of Education ratified an agreement with district administrators at a meeting, Feb. 12. The agreement marks the first step in concluding negotiations with district employees. Also during that meeting, board President Eric Mortenson responded to the state's recent audit of the district. Mortenson said the board "welcomes guidance from the state audit team," and said the district is "committed to a plan of fiscal accountability to the community as we enter the upcoming budget season." Mortenson said the board is moving forward and will not point fingers at anyone for mistakes made in the past. In a report released in January, the Office of the State Comptroller disclosed that during the past four years, district officials consistently overestimated expenditures in adopted budgets by a total of $5.5 million. As a direct result, the district amassed operating surpluses totaling $2.7 million, an amount in excess of the legal limit. Read the full story in the Columbia Paper.