Lehighton Area School District’s administration will be required to hand over a preliminary annual financial report to board members by Oct. 15, two weeks before the state’s submission deadline, following a 6-3 vote Monday night.

“This board should order our administration to provide the AFR reporting by Oct. 15, two weeks before it’s officially due under the school code, so that we can review it prior to their submittal to the state,” Director David Bradley, who drove the debate, said.

District officials said Pennsylvania School Code Section 218 sets an Oct. 31 deadline for the annual financial report, with an automatic extension available through Nov. 30.

“We probably are not going to meet the October 31st deadline,” Superintendent Jason Moser said. “We will be granted, more than likely, the extension without penalty by PDE to be completed by the end of November. There’s not a doubt in my mind that that would be met.”

New Business Manager Chris Lionetti, who works for the district through consulting firm EDM Finance, said meeting Bradley’s Oct. 15 target of a preliminary AFR in the proper format would be difficult. There are thousands of entries of code to review across all district funds, plus payroll approvals and expenses, he said, and the business office is working through the process in partnership with auditors, with a status meeting scheduled for the first week of October.

“I would say it would be extremely aggressive in being able to get it early in October,” Lionetti said.

Moser offered a compromise, committing to provide the board with prior-year revenues and expenditures as currently booked, with accounting codes, by Oct. 15; stopping short of calling it an AFR since it would be unaudited and subject to change.

“Once our raw data is produced, we will provide it to the board,” Moser said.

The penalty for late submission is $300 per day, rising to $800 per day, $300 from PDE and $500 withheld from state payments, if the district misses the November extension, according to Lionetti. He said in his 30 years of experience, PDE has been lenient on enforcement as long as districts are working in good faith toward completion.

Lehighton’s board passed the motion Monday 6-3, with Alex Matika, Heather Neff and Lori Frey casting the dissenting votes.

Bradley argued throughout the night that the board’s broader problem is a lack of timely access to the district’s financial data, and that the AFR is central to the oversight role nine elected directors are supposed to play.

“This district collects and disburses $50 million for 2,000-plus kids each and every year, taking it from (our taxpayers),” he said. “We should be using it for their wishes and goals to make sure that we meet the educational requirements of these 2,000 kids.”