SIKESTON -- Despite the year-long anxiety and anticipation of the passage of a new funding formula, the Sikeston R-6 Board of Education approved its budget for the upcoming school year without any hesitation.
"There were no surprises," said Lori Boardman, the district's director of business services.
On June 22 the board approved a balanced operating budget of $28.68 million on both the revenue side and general operating expenditure side.
With the passage of the April bond issue to construct a new math and science center, Boardman estimated the district will spend about $953,000 directly related to the bond this fiscal year, which began July 1.
A 2 percent raise in the salary schedule was given for all certified and non-
certified staff. The raise was possible due to a better-than-expected 2004
-2005 school year and state funding percentages holding at approximately 2 percent higher than originally estimated, Boardman said.
The original draft Boardman presented to the board included funding for the salary schedule with both non-certified and certified staff.
The district finished the year about $250,000 under projected expenditures.
"We didn't expend 100 percent of expenditures and that helped the board make their decision to go ahead and give a higher than anticipated raise," Boardman explained.
Capital improvements received the biggest funding boost for 2005-2006 by about $200,000 for general maintenance of buildings not involved in the bond issue past in April.
"All of our buildings are aging so there are just some things we need to do," Boardman said. "We put money in every year for general upkeep of buildings, but there were some increased needs for the upcoming years and renovations we needed to do to try to keep the buildings functional for both staff and students."
The budget also includes the purchase of two school buses to keep on the rotation schedule as well as a minor increase in technology funds.
With the implementation of law enforcement and nail technician programs at the Sikeston Career and Technology Center for the upcoming school year, the district received a significant amount of state grant money, and on the federal level, the district received about $100,000 more than last year, Boardman said.
New to the budget are two software technology instructional positions (one for elementary and one for secondary) for the upcoming school year. These positions will be filled by certified teachers who will assist the teaching staff and students with technology in the classroom.
Also the district added two part-time positions -- a science coach at the secondary level and a science coach at the elementary level who will work directly with department chairs and teachers to help prepare for the Missouri Assessment Program test.
Boardman said the district doesn't have an updated assessed valuation yet, but it's estimated to increase by 1.3 percent. The 2005-2006 budgeted revenues are based on $3.44 tax levy, which will include a 19-cent debt service levy to begin generating revenue of debt incurred with the April 2005 bond election. Reserves are still good, and the district is secure financially, she said.
"The whole goal is to keep every program we currently have and to keep every staff member we currently have," Boardman said about preparing the budget.
Boardman noted Sikeston should receive a little more than $500,000 of new money for the 2006-2007 school year, and this amount is based on current simulations for the new formula.
"Of course there is another legislative session prior to the new formula going into effect," Boardman said. "Had the current foundation formula been fully funded, the district would have received an additional $3 million in 2004
-2005 revenues."
The 2005-2006 state revenues are based on the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recommendations for funding, which conservatively project the existing formula to be funded at 86 percent.
"We finished better this year than last," Boardman said. "And with state funding for '06-'07 projected to be at least $.5 million in new money, we're hoping the future of school finance is improving."