$15M budget approved

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Last month, Weston County School District No. 1 approved a $15,073,140.05 budget for the current fiscal year, according to a copy of the budget provided by the district. This is the first time the budget has broken the $15 million mark since the 2010-11 school year. 
The budget includes money for everything from academics to transportation, activities and general maintenance. 
“The general fund is pretty much the same; there are no raises or any major changes,” said Deb Sylte, business manager for the district. 
Cuts were made in several areas, she said, although the budget increased slightly from the previous year’s $14,826,760.05 budget. 
“We made those cuts when we thought we were going to lose money. We left them there because we don’t know what the future is, and with enrollment down, … It is in anticipation of what we thought was going to happen,” Sylte said. 
She noted that the three-year rolling average for the average daily enrollment, or ADM, was down 17, which didn’t hurt as much as the 28 students that were lost last year. 
“It is still quite a bit of money, and it affects the funding model,” she said. “I can’t tell the exact amount right now because I am still working on the funding model. The cost per student is usually about $15,000, though.” 
As far as spending goes, most of the spending is on academics and routine maintenance. A total of $2,368,950 is budgeted for the elementary school, $1,776,655 for special education, $1,525,450 for the high school, $1,076,873 for the middle school and $1,415,998 for routine maintenance and custodial work. 
Academics alone make up 48% of the district’s total budget, or $6,795,740. Administration makes up another 12%, totaling $1,680,173, while maintenance makes up 7% of the budget totaling $1,035,735. 
According to Sylte, these amounts include salaries for a number of employees while other salaries are included in other line items. 
Total expenditures for salaries and benefits amounts to 74%, or $11,139,001. Of that amount, salaries make up $7,998,573 of the total, retirement costs total $1,232,692, medical and dental coverage costs $1,213,720, FICA/Medicare costs $572,057 and workers’ compensation costs total $71,160. 
Areas that experienced an increase in the general fund budget include all three schools, tuition/students with disabilities, adult education, instructional media, central administration, business administration, activity transportation and several other line items. Areas that decreased from last year’s budgeted amounts include special education, at-risk youth, middle school student activities, vocational instruction, speech services, seven-year curriculum, instructional facilitators, school administration, technology coordination and several other line items. 
As far as major changes go, Sylte said, federal money tied to the COVID-19 pandemic is the only major change in the budget — and that contributed to total revenue. Recently, the district received an additional $1.67 million in COVID-19-related funding, known as ESSER II and another $354,269 through a literacy grant from the federal government, although, she said federal money has restricted spending ability. 
“That money cannot go toward wages or benefits,” Sylte said, noting that some funding will go toward a new camera system. 
Other money that has restrictions on spending includes major maintenance projects, which are budgeted $2,207,649. These projects include replacing a roof, parking lot work, refinishing gym floors, filter changes at the pool, repairing a sanitary line that collapsed and replacing some lighting. 
“The main thing we want the public to know is that when we are doing these projects, we can’t use major maintenance funds for anything else,” Sylte said. “That money can’t go toward cuts. Those funds have to be used for what they are for; they have their own purpose.” 
The school district has more cash in reserve, totaling $816,681.45, compared with last year’s $668,804.94, because restrictions related to the pandemic. including no overnight travel during the last year, saved the district some money in last year’s budget.