Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the District Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board reviews preliminary budget: $2,500 certified raises, $2/hour for classified, district weighing free lunch expansion
Summary
At a May work session Albany County School District #1 staff reviewed a preliminary budget that proposes $2,500 raises for certified and professional staff, $2/hour raises for classified staff, coverage of a projected 5% health‑insurance increase, expanded funding for an 'extensions' team, and a districtwide free‑lunch option estimated to cost an
District finance staff reviewed a preliminary 2025–26 budget proposal with the Albany County School District #1 board at the May work session, laying out proposed pay increases, program allocations and a cost estimate for a districtwide free‑meal option.
A district finance presenter identified the budget’s principal components: a $2,500 raise for certified and professional staff across the salary schedules; a $2‑per‑hour raise for classified staff; funding to cover a projected 5% health‑insurance increase; money for an expanded “extensions” (expanded learning) team; allocations for summer school, vehicle and technology replacement; and full funding of the SRO (school resource officer) contract at $175,000. The presenter said those elements were part of a package that also included a roughly $1 million reserve for unforeseen circumstances and noted the receipt of about $2.5 million in ECA funds this cycle.
On the question of feeding students, staff told trustees the board could extend the district’s existing Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) coverage or move to feed all students free of charge. Staff estimated a districtwide free‑meal policy would increase the district’s subsidy by roughly $500,000 compared with the current budgeted subsidy (the presenter said the current year’s subsidy is about $384,000), though staff warned the exact amount depends on meal participation rates and federal reimbursement claims.
Staff described several salary‑schedule changes intended to simplify administration: removing a differential step that applied after a capped column on certified and classified schedules and folding certain longevity/extra‑duty payments into base pay so those amounts are no longer calculated as separate, year‑to‑year longevity payouts. Presenters told trustees that no employee would receive less pay under the proposed schedules; several trustees asked about the process by which coaches and activity sponsors could seek future adjustments to extra‑duty pay.
Trustees and staff discussed sustainability and revenue assumptions. Staff said property‑tax reductions anticipated statewide would be backfilled by the state under the school foundation program for the coming year, citing modeling by the legislative service office; staff also noted that recent property reappraisals in the county could offset some revenue loss. The presenter said the district has until July to finalize the budget and that the board would be asked to approve a preliminary budget at its next regular meeting.
Board members asked for community outreach and clarity on several points: the cost and operational steps to expand free meals, how salary changes will be implemented and communicated, and whether stipends for activity trips and meal stipends need additional review. Several trustees recommended providing proactive community notification of the proposed budget priorities before the preliminary budget vote.
The only formal action recorded during the session was a motion to adjourn into an executive session pursuant to Wyoming statute for specified statutory subsections; the board moved and seconded that motion and voted to go into executive session. No budget approvals were taken at the work session.
