Board hears state budget changes that create $450,000 shortfall for district

Summary

Administrators told the Sheboygan Area School District board that an unexpected state budget change — a large increase in the open-enrollment tuition amount — produced an approximate $450,000 deficit in the district's preliminary budget despite a 10% boost in special education reimbursement and other offsetting items.

The Sheboygan Area School District Board of Education was told on Aug. 20 that a late change in the state biennial budget produced an unexpected shortfall of about $450,000 in the district's books.

District business staff presented the effect during a pre-session summary and budget briefing to staff and board members. Mark, who led the budget presentation, said the district had planned a preliminary budget assuming $3.25 per-pupil state funding and a 10% increase in special education reimbursement; those two items, plus other assumptions, would have produced a balanced budget. "There was an unexpected item in the budget that really caused a deficit for us," Mark said, adding that "the increase to the tuition amount for public school open enrollment went up a thousand dollars," a change he described as three to four times a normal annual adjustment and the driver of the roughly $450,000 deficit.

Why it matters: the change affects the district's near-term operating plan…

Board hears state budget changes that create $450,000 shortfall for district

Summary

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