Bayfield schools will have $350,000 of additional state funding for the coming school year, but per pupil funding will still be almost $1,000 below where it should be, according to District Finance Director Amy Lyons.
The school board approved the preliminary budget on June 9. The final budget will be approved late this year after official funded enrollment is known from the October count day. The budget year starts on July 1.
Lyons said the $350,000 of new funding is based on 1.2 percent inflation and projected funded pupil count of 1,325. That's 26 more than the funded count for the 2015-16 school year, and adjusted up from an earlier version of the new budget.
Lyons told the board on May 31 about the 1,325 estimate, "We're still not anywhere near our enrollment at the end of the (just finished school) year (1,381). With that increase, we don't have a deficit, so we aren't projecting a deficit based on enrollment. Our funding could be up significantly if we keep these kids."
The district got around 60 new students after the October 2015 count day and didn't get funding for them. The hope is that at least half of them will still be around for the October 2016 count.
Per pupil funding is listed at $7,662, but with full funding it would be $8,659. The difference means around $1.3 million less for the year. Lyons has made a practice of showing what the per pupil funding should be, absent state funding cuts referred to as the Negative Factor that the legislature started during the recession and that continue.
"I'm glad we ended up with an enrollment increase so we don't have to dip into fund balance," Lyons told the Times. "I feel like all in all we ended up in a really good place despite the Negative Factor and the challenges that come along with that."
The budget projects $14.2 million of operating revenue, up from $13.85 million for 2015-16. Revenue includes $4.7 million from local taxes and $9.37 million from the state.
General Fund spending includes instructional expenses just over $8 million; support services, transportation, and school and district administration totalling $4.3 million, and $1.8 million in assorted reserves.
Lyons said the budget includes about $170,000 for step pay increases for all staff. It also includes an $85,000 increase for PERA public employee retirement contributions because the required contribution goes from 19.15 percent up to 19.95 percent of the pay rate. Health and dental insurance premiums will cost around $25,000 more.
The budget also provides for new staff: one BES teacher at $50,000; one half-time BMS teacher at $22,000; one half-time special ed aide at BMS for $15,000; staffing to add one section of orchestra at BHS, $7,500; a new Dean of Students for grades 4-8, $60,000; a district-wide Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) coordinator at $50,000; and an English Language Learner (ELL) teacher at BES, $50,000.
The MTSS coordinator oversees efforts at all the schools and supports the teachers to address the needs of all kids, from special ed to gifted and talented.
