Budget proposed at $15.7 million

BERNE — Plans call for South Adams Schools to increase its general fund budget slightly in 2017, but it will still be spending less in that area than it did in 2014 and ’15.
South Adams School Board took a first look at its 2017 budget during an extended work session Monday, with plans calling for $9.17 million in spending from the general fund.
During the budget process, the board also discussed plans for facility improvements and needs for technology upgrades. Superintendent Scott Litwiller provided an update on staffing as well.
South Adams’ general fund budget request is up about 2 percent from $8.99 million in 2016. It had reduced spending by about a half million from $9.46 million in 2014.
The budget proposal came in at a total of $15.7 million, which is up more than $550,000 from what South Adams requested last year. That increase is mostly in the rainy day fund, from which the budgeted amount was bumped up to $1.1 million in 2017 from $500,000 this year.
It allows for $400,000 to be spent on technology, $400,000 on construction improvements and $300,000 on utilities.
Litwiller emphasized that budgeting those amounts does not mean they will all be spent, but rather that he wanted to have them available for large expenditures like iPads, building improvements or utilities in the event that they are needed.
“I can’t ever see myself recommending that we spend that amount,” he added of the $1.1 million. “It’s just there kind of as a little extra cushion. It gives us some options.”
South Adams’ current rainy day fund balance is just over $2 million.
Other budgeted amounts for 2017 include $1.92 million in debt services, $1.86 million in capital projects, $1.51 million in transportation and $114,000 in bus replacement. The debt service number is up about $16,000 from 2016 while capital projects is down about $220,000.
Board members talked with director of buildings and maintenance Dave Vorhees and technology director Myra Moore about upcoming expenditures.
Among those for Vorhees is work on the track, with milling and resurfacing at a cost of about $85,000 budgeted for 2017. The board also discussed whether it would make sense to expand the track to eight lanes from its current six, which would provide more practice space and allow for the team to host larger meets such as the Allen County Athletic Conference Championships.
Vorhees told board members it might make sense to spend less — about $20,000 — next year to resurface the track, which he estimated would extend its life another five years. He noted that at that time bleachers at the football field will likely need to be replaced, and at that point could be moved to accommodate two additional lanes if the board decides to expand the track.
Other projects planned for the future include paving a section of the north parking lot and replacing lights at the tennis court in 2018, and replacing the auto shop roof and repaving Starfire Way south in 2019.
Moore informed board members that there is a need to replace the elementary school’s 680 iPads, which were purchased in 2013. The current devices will not support an operating system update Apple plans for the fall, which could create problems with software compatability.
She said the school will be able to get by with the current devices this year, but that they will need to be replaced soon. The cost is estimated at $380,000 for new devices, with an estimated $75,000 trade-in value on the current iPads. South Adams spent $361,000 on its original purchase in 2013.
Tuesday’s work session was the first step in the budget process for the board, which will vote to give permission to advertise later this month. A public hearing will following, and adoption of the budget is scheduled for the board’s October meeting.
Litwiller also reported to the board that after several resignations (listed below), a decision was made to transfer teachers rather than hire new employees. That will allow South Adams to make up for an unexpected decrease in its Title I funding for 2017.
Those transfers included: Jen White to seventh grade language arts teacher from middle school Title I teacher; Andy Brown to middle school Title I teacher from elementary school Title I teacher; Teri Walsh to part-time preschool aide from part-time elementary school aide; Angie Bluhm and Holly Neuenschwander to part-time student specific special education aides from part-time elementary school Title I aides; Kelly Weaver and Monica Smith to part-time life skills aides from part-time elementary school Title I aides.
The only position that remains open and will need to be filled with a new employee is for a part-time student specific middle school/high school intervention aide.
In other business, board members Arlene Amstutz, John Buckingham, John Mann, Julie Mansfield, Landon Patterson, Amy Orr and Mitch Sprunger:
•Accepted the resignations of language arts teachers Mark Gates and Lisa Sheets and bus drivers Misty Becher and Matt Rupp.
•Hired full-time bus drivers Trent Sprunger and Bryan Lloyd and part-time bus driver Steve Rausch.
•Approved regular use of a police dog on school property. School resource officer Scott Dailey is the handler for Geneva Police Department’s new K9.
•Discussed its policy on allowing home-school students to play on school athletic teams. South Adams has followed the IHSAA’s minimum requirements, which are that an athlete must live in the district, have been home schooled for the last three years, complete any state assessment for his or her grade level, enroll in at least one class at South Adams and passed at least 70 percent of his or her classes.
Opinions on the issue ranged widely, from concerns about fairness to full-time public school students to being welcoming to everyone in the community. The board indicated that it does not plan any changes for this year. Currently two South Adams high school or middle school athletes are home schooled.
•Approved policy updates to bring South Adams in line with new state and federal regulations.