The Abilene Independent School District will meet tonight to hold a public forum on the proposed tax rate and to approve the 2010-2011 budget. The public is invited to comment.
In addition, the board will hold a separate agenda review meeting today covering a new plan for the Woodson Center for Excellence and other matters.
The public forum will be at 5:30 p.m. and the agenda review meeting will be at 5:40 p.m. in the Boardroom of the One AISD Center at 241 Pine St.
The proposed budget includes $117,148,076 in revenues and $119,269,817 expenses, leaving a deficit of $2.1 million.
The expenses includes about $800,000 to match a technology grant that, if approved, could bring the district $4.3 million in technology infrastructure.
The budget also includes a two-percent pay raise for district personnel.
The AISD fund balance has about $21 million.
The proposed tax rate is $1.16, which will raise more taxes this year. That includes:
$1.0400 for the purpose of maintenance and operation, and
$0.1247 for the purpose of payment of principal and interest on debts.
$1.1647 Total Tax Rate
No official action will be taken at the agenda review meeting, but discussions will cover:
- the Woodson Center for Excellence Restructuring Plan.
- Cooper High School’s 50th anniversary recognition.
- appointment of members to the local Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC).
- an update on the Compulsory Attendance Plan for the district.
In closed session, the board will discuss:
- new personnel appointments.
- the superintendent’s performance evaluation.
- pending litigation.
Below is a previous story written about the AISD budget process:
AISD tackles a ‘challenging’ budget
Emily Peters peterse@reporternews.com / 325-676-6776
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Summer is budget time for the Abilene Independent School District, and board members are working through a proposal the district finance chief calls “challenging.”
Expenditures for the 2010-2011 general fund budget are projected to be $119.5 million, which leaves a deficit of about $2.2 million.
No budget cuts or tax increases are expected and staff will get a raise, but unpredictable enrollment numbers could change the game in the coming year.
Board members at a workshop meeting last week didn’t express concern about adopting the deficit, expecting to make up the difference over the year or tap into the $21.8 million reserve fund.
“It’s not what you want, but we’ve been here before and we’ll be prepared to adjust quickly if attendance numbers don’t pan out,” said Keith Dowell, district executive director of finance.
Potential ‘unacceptable’ impact
Attendance rates are key — and tough to predict. After a decade of enrollment declines, about 400 more students showed up to school in fall 2009. That brought in about $3 million more in per-student state funding for 2009-2010.
District officials haven’t pinpointed the reason for that boost in enrollment. Instead of budgeting in anticipation of the same growth, Dowell said he conservatively budgeted for about 200 more students to come next year.
He said Wednesday that district officials have not discussed the potential impact of the “academically unacceptable” rating Abilene ISD received from the state last week as a result of poor high school completion rates.
“I suppose it could have some impact, but we don’t know really,” Dowell said. “Would that rating mean people would stop transferring into our district for (Advanced Placement) or special education services? I don’t know. We’ve never been in this position before. Don’t know how that might affect our budget.”
The district expects to successfully appeal the rating.
Budget discussions will continue at Monday’s regular school board meeting. The budget must be approved before the new fiscal year begins Sept. 1.
‘Technology deficit’
A large portion of the district’s proposed deficit can be attributed to the $865,000 the district will spend as a 20 percent match to an E-Rate technology grant, which could bring the district $4.3 million in technology infrastructure.
The grant has been given preliminary approval, but board members discussed spending the $865,000 on technology even if the grant doesn’t come through.
If the grant is approved, it won’t balance the budget because the $4.3 million will come in assets.
“That deficit is OK with me if we’re getting $4.3 million in additional technology,” said school board President Stan Lambert.
Board member Samuel Garcia agreed, noting, “We have a huge technology deficit.”
Burns said the state, which has not made any technology funding adjustment in 10 years, sends Abilene ISD less than $500,000 each year for technology. With about 16,000 students, that figures out to $30 per student each year.
Stimulus help
This year’s revenue budget includes about $6.58 million in federal stimulus dollars funneled through the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. Last year, the district received $6.32 million.
Dowell said school districts are not sure how the state will cover that in the future.
“That’s the million-dollar question — or should I say billions of dollars,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything from the federal government about any more stimulus money.”
He said the school district will be watching the Legislature’s upcoming biennium session to see how finances will pan out for 2011-2012 and beyond.
School board member Laura Dyer asked if Abilene High School’s $5.1 million grant for education reform will affect the budget.
Burns said the district must be careful to use the grant for new programs rather than balancing a budget, but he said there are some ways “it might be able to impact our budget in positive ways.” He said the money could allow the district keep some positions that may have otherwise been cut through attrition.
Similar Posts:
- State of Abilene ISD improving, says superintendent
- Education Notes: Cooper ROTC Drill Team nets numerous honors
- Committee to decide whether Tye Elementary remains open
- Western Ky. regents approve 6.9 percent tuition hike
- D-49 board OKs plan to hire company for some IT services
Post Comment