SIKESTON — For the second consecutive year, Sikeston R-6 employees will see in an increase in pay in the new school year.
The Sikeston R-6 Board of Education approved during a special meeting on June 28 a balanced budget with a slight surplus for the 2022-2023 school year, which began July 1.
“Budgeting for the new year is normally highly driven by past results,” said Cheryl Essner, R-6 director of finance. “Nothing over the past three years can be considered a normal school year, so using history was difficult but not as difficult for budgeting for 2021-2022.”
Approved by the Board was a balanced budget with projected revenues of $42,401,435 and expenditures of $42,200,441, according to Essner. The budget does not include construction projects.
A step for a year of service and a 3%-raise for salaried employees was approved. Hourly employees also received a step for a year of service and 75-cent increase per hour.
Of the budgeted expenses, salaries and benefits make up 69%, or $29,070,555 of the expenditures while the total salary and benefits increase for FY2023 totaled $1,038,104.
In addition, Sikeston R-6’s starting teacher’s salary has been increased to $38,000 per Gov. Mike Parson’s FY23 budget approval which included funds to increase the baseline teacher salary to $38,000 through a matching grant program. The state will provide local school districts with funds to support 70% of the salary costs associated with the program; local school districts would provide the remaining 30%.
“It’s 70% of the salary not 70% of the salary and benefits so it ends up being more like 50-50 when you add in benefits,” Essner said.
Transportation and fuel costs remain an issue.
“School transportation is still grossly underfunded, but there will be an increase in revenue,” Essner said, adding it could also be a temporary increase.
For the first time since 1991, the state is fully funding the maximum 75% of reimbursable costs for transportation.
“The state is providing three times the amount of money for transportation than they did the year before but I don’t know that our revenues will go up three times that amount,” Essner said.
Essner said she budgeted $655,000 in state revenue for transportation versus $272,000 budgeted from the year before. However, the Sikeston R-6 district spends $1.5 million on transportation, Essner noted.
Once again, a major factor in the new fiscal year’s budget was the American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds totaling an estimated $10.4 million that the district must spend by September 2023, Essner said. A minimum of 20% of ESSER funds must be used for remediation/learning loss, she noted. ESSER money can be spent on salaries so some of the district’s funds are being reclassified to help fund other expenses, Essner said. For example, because of ESSER funds, the district is able to renovate all the bathrooms throughout the district and the Field House along with the kindergarten safe room project, she said.
“It’s really much-needed building and equipment maintenance needed around the district that weren’t able to be replaced in the last several years but now the district is able to address because of this ESSER money,” Essner said.
In regard to the budget, only slight cuts were made to building budgets since drastic cuts were made in the 2020-2021 year, Essner said. Most of the classroom budgets could be reclassified to “learning loss” and covered by ESSER III funds.
The district plans to hire seven full-time substitute teachers for each building for learning loss, Essner said.
The budget also includes the purchase of three new buses for $334,614.
“Our bus fleet got behind on replacements when we were low on money a few years ago so we’re trying to get caught back up. Hopefully, after this year, we’ll be able to replace two buses per year,” Essner said.
Special education remains vastly underfunded, Essner said.
One new program, math software and workbooks, was added to the fiscal year 2023 budget; however, the expense is offset by the district’s cancellation of its contract with Achieve3000, Essner said.
On the revenue side, state funding including the classroom trust fund (casino money) equals 32.5% of revenue; personal and property tax comprise 30% of the revenue; and sales tax is about 10% of revenue, according to Essner.
There was an estimated increase of $17 million in Scott County assessed valuation for personal property. Essner is still waiting to receive New Madrid County’s assessed valuation. She estimated the district will receive nearly $900,000 in additional tax revenue for FY23.
Also, with interest rates going up — from .50% to 1.6% — Essner said she was able to increase earnings on the district’s investments.