State funding cuts require belt-tightening in Weiser School District’s FY 2021 budget

By: 
Steve Lyon

Weiser School District trustees approved a fiscal year 2021 budget that reflects an anticipated 5 percent holdback in state funding and requires some belt-tightening.
 Total revenue budgeted in FY 2021, which includes both state funding and local revenue sources, is estimated at $9.66 million, a decrease from $10.2 million in FY 2020. State funding represents about 90 percent of the district’s general fund.
 The FY 2021 budget revenue includes $614,905 from local funding sources in the form of property taxes, which is close to the amount budgeted this year.
 Total expenses are also down at $9.9 million in FY 2021 compared to $10.3 million in FY 2020. The difference between the budgeted revenue and expenses is $329,075.
 With expenses expected to come in  under budget in the current fiscal year, district officials hope they won’t have to spend down carryover funds much to cover the deficit. The audited carryover fund balance in FY 2019 totaled $1.8 million.
 Salaries and benefits make up about 85 percent of the district’s general fund expenses, which is a typical percentage for most school districts.
 In the proposed FY 2021 budget, salaries and benefits total about $8.8 million compared to about $9.1 million for FY 2020.
 Superintendent Wade Wilson said the school district will see less funding from the state in FY 2021 in a number of areas, including transportation, discretionary funds, classroom technology, IT staffing, professional development, leadership premiums and more.
 Gov. Brad Little hinted at austerity in the FY 2021 state budget in a memo to superintendents in May that outlined a plan to trim K-12 school funding by $99 million in the face of the “new economic reality caused by the pandemic.”

The proposed re-ductions in education spending would include freezing the salary career ladder for teachers to save $26.6 million.
 The cuts also include reducing classroom technology funding by $10 million and trimming the professional development by $10 million.
 Another $5.1 million will be saved by suspending the 2 percent base salary raises for administrators and classified staff. Reducing funding for IT staffing would save $5.1 million in the next fiscal year.
 Wilson said the state will not be implementing the third rung of the career ladder for experienced staff. Idaho code mandates that beginning teacher salaries move from a minimum of $38,500 in FY 2020 to $40,000 in FY 2021. The code has not changed, so the district must hike beginning teacher salaries to the new minimum.
 The 5 percent holdback in state spending announced by the governor will require the school district to make some reductions for FY 2021 in the budget, Wilson said.
 The district will not fill a half-time English teacher position at Weiser High School that came open as the result of the retirement of a teacher in May.
 The district will go back to offering half-time kindergarten at Pioneer Elementary School, which is all the state funds, after offering full-time kindergarten this year, which Wilson said was a “disappointing budget reduction.”
 The district has budgeted only replacement costs for lost or damaged books in FY 2021. The district was not able to mitigate increased insurance costs for classified staff.
 “We will watch spending and try to save a dollar whenever we see the opportunity,” Wilson said.
 The school district anticipates receiving an estimated $228,402 in federal funds to help mitigate some financial impacts from the coronavirus pandemic.
 In total, Idaho will receive nearly $48 million in federal funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act for the K-12 educational system.
 School districts and charter schools across the state will receive funding based on the amount of Title I funds they receive, which is money allocated to help schools with high populations of low-income students.
 Wilson said the CARES Act money the district receives will come in the form of reimburseable expenses and must be spent by September of 2020.
 The district plans to use some of the federal funds to continue with an afterschool program next year. The district did not receive a 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant for FY 2021 and will reduce the BEST programming.
 Wilson said the district is excited to be able to offer something to students after having to close down onsite schooling for the fourth quarter of this year. Funding the afterschool programming is an acceptable expense for CARES Act funds.
 

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18 E. Idaho St.
Weiser, ID 83672
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