District reviews budget, levies and state aid as valuation data remain pending
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Summary
Superintendent Scharnback briefed the board on 1.4% levies, expected state aid changes, staffing vacancies, and draft budget calculations while noting county valuation data were not yet available for final figures.
Superintendent Mister Scharnback updated the Deuel School District 19-4 board on legislative and budget developments, and presented draft budget worksheets the district will use as it completes negotiations.
Scharnback said the recent legislative session finalized levies at about 1.4 percent and that many bills affecting education will take effect July 1. “They have finalized the, obviously, the levies, 1.4%,” he said, adding that district lobbyists helped limit several proposals the district considered unfavorable. He urged the board to note that state aid and levy changes will affect the district's final budget after valuations are certified.
Administrators walked through a draft budget packet showing a $100,000 increase in capital outlay largely caused by moving an insurance line into that account; the general fund showed a modest decrease. Staff noted the district had not yet received valuation updates from the counties and expected those numbers before the May meeting, which will be needed to finalize levy calculations.
Board members and staff discussed student counts used in calculations. The packet used a current count of 502 students versus 523 the prior year for per-student capital calculations. On state aid, staff said general state aid is expected to rise (examples in the packet showed a movement from 1.7 to about 1.9 in the calculation) and state mechanisms are intended to offset some levy reductions. Several board members asked clarifying questions about how local effort, estimated second-half property taxes and state aid are represented on the worksheet.
Scharnback also announced a staff workday on June 2 tied to a strategic "scorecard" approach for five pillar areas and reported that the district was one of the few to secure a 0% increase in health insurance premiums for the coming year. "We were one of the fortunate schools to have a 0% increase on our health insurance," he said.
No formal budget adoption occurred at this meeting; the board directed staff to continue negotiations and to bring finalized figures (including county valuation numbers) to the next meeting.
Next steps: staff will plug finalized valuations and negotiation outcomes into the draft budget and return with an updated proposal for board approval.
