Even if enrollment falls by 20 next year, Plainwell Community Schools expects its general fund reserves to remain strong.
The number of students in the district has actually been on the rise over at least the last couple of years, according to director of finance Melissa Gelbaugh. She said budgeting now for a loss of 20 students’ worth of funding—the state determines funding for each district on a per pupil basis—was part of using conservative estimates to avoid overspending after a variety of factors affect the budget year-round.
The 2017-18 budget projects spending $26.44 million while only bringing in $26 million. Gelbaugh projects the district will have $3,810,822 left in its coffers at the end of next year.
“We’re projecting a loss in the general fund of $444, 588, which is very conservative at this point,” she told school board members at their special budget hearing Monday, June 19. Given the early assumptions about revenue and rising costs, the district’s fund balance would end the year at 14.41 percent of its total expenditures for the year.
While that is below where the district will end up this year, Gelbaugh pointed out it was well above the board’s goal of 12 percent. Indeed, her presentation began with a recap of the projections for the current year’s budget, which wraps up at the end of this month, though the numbers won’t be finalized until the fall after the annual audit. The district currently estimates its fund balance will grow to $4,249,410, or 16.13 percent of revenue.
As for enrollment, the district doesn’t necessarily have a reason to expect a drop. It was funded for 2,741.49 students for the 2015-16 year (the fractions of students are due to how two count days are calculated to produce a number that is then also modified by students transferring in to and out of the district throughout the school year). That was an increase. It increased again to 2,781.45 for the current year.
Gelbaugh said losing 20 students would be a worst-case scenario.
“I really do not expect that to happen. I like to give our board the most conservative of scenarios,” she said. “It’s hard to cut expenditures mid-year. So it’s our way of making sure we have money for our programs.”
Superintendent Matt Montange said, “The district is in really fine shape; we’re just conservative in our approach.
School board president Amy Blades said administrators had kept the board up-to-date on the budget number as it was developed, so nothing presented Monday had been a surprise.
“Our trust truly lies in Matt and Melissa,” Blades said. “They’ve kept us informed and projected numbers conservatively and that’s good.”
She said she was glad to see the budget included the purchase of Chromebook computers for students for the upcoming year. The total technology purchase approved at the Monday meeting was for $250,411.90.
“We made the switch because we use so much of the Google Classroom,” she said. Montange said the purchase gets the school close to the one computer-per-student ratio it is seeking; the Chromebooks will go mostly to high school students.
Other highlights for the coming year, on the revenue side:
• Gelbaugh said the state legislature is expected to increase per-pupil funding by $120. That change, if it comes to pass, is not accounted for yet in the budget.
On the spending side:
• The district will add a part- time band instructor position. Austin Hunt won the job and will help current band director David Hepinstall during the marching band season and help teach music at the middle school.
Montange said, “Our band program now has more than 400 students, so we have to support that with more sections of music. And we anticipate it to continue growing.”
• Two teacher retirements—high school social studies teacher Ann Pegg and middle school science teacher Jackie Warners—will save the district an estimated $80,000.
• As with any state funding increases in revenue, the district’s compensation changes for its teachers are not built into this initial budget. Gelbaugh said teachers, who have a negotiated contract for next year, will get longevity-based step increases. Also part of that contract: while the district will pay an increased amount for employee health insurance plans due to the state raising the cap on that amount, teachers will pay the amount by which the cost of the benefits increase above that increase.
School board members passed the budget unanimously.
In other business, school board members passed a summary of Montange’s job evaluation.
Blades said members overall deemed him “highly effective.”
Contact Ryan Lewis at rmlewis@allegannews.com or (269) 673-5534.
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