Staff costs cut for next year in new budget

The Poplar Bluff R-I School District is looking at a “conservative” preliminary budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year with anticipated expenditures around $56.57 million.

Based on current information, Dr. Amy Jackson, assistant superintendent of business and finance, estimated revenues to be around $57.81 million.

If these numbers hold true, the district would have an ending balance for the year of $610,894.

Board members were asked during a workshop Thursday to review the complete proposed budget. They are scheduled to approve it during the next meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday. The budget can also change throughout the school year with board approval.

Dr. Scott Dill, superintendent, said he anticipates some of the state funding to be withheld or local taxes to be lower than planned, which would change that amount.

“In a $60 million budget, a $600,000 in the black is by a razor,” Dill said. “I think that’s the best case scenario. I strongly suspect that we’ll have some deficit spending next year.”

Given the impact of COVID-19 on funding at the end of this fiscal year and the uncertainty of the situation, Dill said it’s hard to predict where revenue will actually be.

As part of an effort to be prepared for lower revenues, the budget accounts for not filling 10 positions around the district. These are positions that exist, but do not have a person filling them.

For example, a Graduation Center at-risk teacher spot will not be filled. It opened after Corey Jameson became principal for the alternative school.

Jackson said not filling those positions will save about $200,000. The positions are not going away, Dill said, they simply aren’t budgeted and likely won’t be filled for the coming school year.

If there is a stark change in enrollment, Dill said, the district may need to reconsider some of those positions.

The board approved a salary adjustment for classified employees and bus drivers in April. These adjustments added about $910,000 to the budget, Jackson said at the time.

Additionally, the district set aside money for ongoing maintenance projects. These include $160,000 for the middle school gym roof, $120,000 for the O’Neal Elementary old gym and lower roof, $40,000 for the Oak Grove Elementary School multi-purpose room roof, and $50,000 for Kay Porter dryvit repair/paint.

Jackson said these maintenance projects are “absolute needs.”

School board members asked whether the district could use Kay Porter funds for that particular maintenance project. Jackson told them she’d look into it.

To maintain the one-to-one digital program at the high school, $110,000 would go toward Chromebooks for incoming freshmen. The ones turned back in by this year’s seniors will go to the middle school.

The district also budgeted for the next step in the Elementary Reading Series, which is a change to the curriculum used to teach reading. Jackson said about 50 teachers are ready for that step, and the rest will be the following year. The amount is budgeted at $35,000.

Additionally for curriculum, the district budgeted $97,000 for math textbooks at the kindergarten through sixth grade levels

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By the numbers

REVENUE

Revenues for the fiscal year are expected to be about $57.18 million. However, officials said they expect some withholdings from the state, which would lower that number.

Projected revenues (approximate):

State formula — $20,859,344

Federal funding — $1.9 million

* In recent years, Poplar Bluff School District has received approximately $25.6 million in local tax dollars. Current figures were not available at press time.

EXPENSES

Expenses for the fiscal year are expected to be about $56.57 million.

Projected expenses (approximate):

Total salary — $40,362,850

Elementary Schools — $9,334,181

Junior High School — $2,871,042

Senior High School — $4,969,358

Truancy Court — $59,000

Bus purchases — $2,153,457

AmeriCorps — $89,581

Technology purchases for the 1-to-1 initiative — $110,000

Maintenance projects — $370,000

Curriculum — $133,000