Uncertainty on budget for schools

The rules keep changing.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had so many unanswered questions,” Jay Schools business manager Brad DeRome told the Jay School Board Monday. “The state of Indiana put out a lot of new directives … about bus replacement plans as recently as last week.”
In the face of that uncertainty, DeRome has crafted a budget proposal designed to give the school board as much flexibility as possible.
Board members unanimously agreed to advertise that proposed budget Aug. 10 in The Commercial Review and the Dunkirk News and Sun.
A public hearing on the budget is set for Aug. 22, and formal adoption by the board is set for Sept. 12.
The budget for 2012, based upon 18 months of projected revenues and expenses, totals $37,630,410.
Of that amount, $25,482,865 is the general fund, which has been supported primarily by state tax revenues since 2008. DeRome noted that 97 percent of the general fund comes from state taxes. No local property tax revenues go into the general fund.
The 2012 budget also calls for a debt service fund of $3,744,101, a pension debt service fund of $985,508, a capital projects fund of $3,350,000, a transportation operating fund of $2,486,000, and a bus replacement fund of $1,581,936.
DeRome said the bus replacement fund involves the greatest degree of uncertainty.
“We want to replace 18 buses,” said DeRome. “But they’re still trying to sort this out. … I guess you will have to stay tuned.”
The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance has gone so far as to specify the amount that school corporations may pay for buses, though DeRome noted that the figures used don’t match current prices.
Jay Schools currently has a fleet of 54 buses and has used a system of replacing about a third of the fleet every three years. Whether that system will be able to continue depends largely on decisions made by the DLGF in Indianapolis.
“We have been in contact with (State Rep.) Bill Davis on this,” said superintendent Tim Long.
DeRome noted that there’s further uncertainty when it comes to determining the school tax rate.
Because the budget and the tax rate may be cut after they’ve been advertised but cannot be raised, the school corporation has been conservative in its figures.
The advertised tax rate of $1.6887, for example, is based upon a total county assessed valuation 10 percent lower than the current assessed valuation. That rate will go down when the DLGF makes its cuts in proposed spending and when new assessed valuation figures for the county become available.
“We will try to make that as low as we can as far as the tax rate,” DeRome told board member Mike Masters.
Praising DeRome’s efforts, Long said, “He really budgets with deliberation … on some pretty conservative assumptions.”
DeRome cautioned that because of changes in school funding made by the state, the local school budget is essentially a spending plan with limited control of the revenue side of the equation. Changes in school enrollment or the state’s tax revenue picture can have a huge impact.
“Just because you have your budget approved by the state … doesn’t mean they have approved your revenue,” DeRome said. “It’s balanced on paper, a little less spending than the revenue we’re showing.”
Long noted that Jay Schools is in dramatically better financial shape than many school districts in Indiana and is projected to end the year with a balance on hand of about $3 million.
Some school corporations have found themselves with no operating balance at year-end, making them extremely vulnerable if there are delays in state funding such as those experienced a few years ago.
The proposed 2012 budget compares to a $34,883,675 budget that was certified by the state for 2011. The bulk of the difference comes in the bus replacement fund.
In a related matter, board members heard comments from bus drivers urging them to consider adding more air-conditioned school buses in the future.
“We want to thank you guys for the air conditioners in the buses,” driver Judy Schoenlein said. Drivers noted that students on the buses are not only more comfortable but better behaved when air conditioning is available.
Air conditioning can boost the cost of a school bus by $6,500 to $8,000.
“I’m convinced it’s been a good thing for this district,” added Long.
In other business, the board:
•Heard Long say average yearly progress reports not yet released by the state show Jay County High School and elementaries reaching record test scores.
•Hired Donna Glassford as an aide at East Elementary School, Mitchell Corwin as a bus mechanic, Leah Johnson as a special education teacher at East Jay Middle School, Jennifer Bernard as a special education teacher at JCHS, Linda Braun as a math teacher at JCHS, Timothy Hildebrand as a math teacher at JCHS, Valerie Jutte as a special education instructional assistant at General Shanks Elementary School, Megan Hatzell as full-time nurse at West Jay Middle School, and Dennis Dwiggins as a driver education teacher at JCHS.
•Approved supplemental contracts for vocational graphic arts teachers Chris Krieg and Lucas Tetrault and physics teacher Mindy Weaver.
•Hired bus drivers Kay Alexander, Marjorie Baldwin, Mary Botts, Michael Bowen, Linda Bryan, Nancy Cline, Sidney Rene Denton, Anita Frasher, Richard Jones, Jeffery Kerrigan, Carol Lykins, Virginia Myers, Madonna Phelps, Nancy Strait, Katherine Crouch, Jack R. Current, Rinada Davis, Janet Dunmoyer, Tonya Fennig, Robert Ford, Bobby Gregory, Mary Jutte, Nicholas Kunkler, William Lykins, Theresa Muhlenkamp, Kimberly Nuckols, Sharon Pyle, John Reitz, Judy Schoenlein, Esther Shaneyfelt, Marvin Starr, and Barbara Stults.
•Accepted the resignations of James Feldheiser as a math teacher at JCHS, Tisha Walker as a third grade teacher at East Elementary, Denise Culy as an aide at JCHS, Shane Hill as a math teacher at JCHS, and Zach Anacher as an aide at Pennville Elementary School.
•Accepted the resignation of West Jay volleyball coach Diana Hill.
•Approved extra-curricular assignments for Josh Stultz as cross country coach at West Jay, William Back as assistant seventh grade football coach at West Jay, James Roberts as head seventh grade football coach at West Jay, Irene Taylor as sponsor of pep club and honor society at West Jay, Tony Minch as freshman football coach at JCHS, Lori Mark as special education chair at JCHS, Chuck Bihn as math department chair at JCHS, Tracy Muhlenkamp as assistant girls’ soccer coach and freshman girls’ basketball coach at JCHS, Laura Collins as junior varsity volleyball coach at JCHS, Greg Garringer as head boys’ track coach at JCHS, Andrew Huffman as junior varsity football coach at JCHS, Randy Rigby as assistant volleyball coach at JCHS, Jason Chaney as volunteer girls’ soccer coach at JCHS, Matt Weaver as volunteer volleyball coach at West Jay, and Thomas Leonhard as eighth grade assistant football coach at East Jay.
•Formally approved a number of policy changes to reflect changes in state and federal laws.
•Agreed to discuss activity bus traffic at a future board meeting.
•Heard Long say most positions have been filled for the coming school year, with 75 new employees coming on board. “That’s quite a few,” he said. “That’s about double what we usually have” as a result of the board’s incentive program encouraging early retirements.[[In-content Ad]]