SYRACUSE -ÊWith the state cutting funding to schools due to the budget crisis, the Wawasee School Corp. Board of School Trustees took two steps Tuesday to help with their budget next year.

First, the board approved a resolution allowing the school corporation to transfer money from the Capital Projects Fund to the General Fund.

Director of finance Jim Evans told the school board the state Legislature approved Public Law 178-2002 to allow school boards to make such a transfer for one time because of the state budget problems. The amount a school board can transfer from the CPF, Debt Service Fund, Transportation Fund, School Bus Replacement Fund or both the Transportation Fund and School Bus Replacement Fund is determined by multiplying $0.0328 by the school's reassessment valuation.

Wawasee's total transfer is almost $500,000, but the school corporation is transferring only $244,441 this year and the other half early next year. Evans said his recommendation is to transfer the money from the CPF because that fund received approximately $300,000 last year from the state's Technology Grant Fund. Also, the Debt Service Fund has no operational balance and the Transportation Fund is capped anyway, so he did not recommend transferring money from either of those funds.

Overall, the transfer will not affect the tax rate, he said. If the board doesn't approve the transfer, Evans said, the school corporation would have to reduce expenditures somewhere else in the General Fund.

Stock said the reason the administration thinks the transfer is critical is because the state's budget in the next few years "looks worse, not better." He said school corporations are being told to "tighten our belts" as this is the worst financial crisis the state has ever been in.

The resolution to allow the transfer of $244,441 was unanimously approved.

Secondly, the school board approved a resolution to allow the corporation to pursue establishing a Rainy Day Fund.

Stock said last year the Legislature approved for school boards to establish the fund. Tuesday's resolution gives the school corporation's administration the authority to pursue the fund. During the course of the year, the school board will discuss how it will go about putting money in the fund. There also will be public discussion on setting the policies for what the money can be used for by the board. Not more than 10 percent of the school board's total budget may be put in the fund every year.

School board president Brian Dawes said he thought establishing the fund is a good thing to do and a good opportunity.

"The crucial point in this is the guidelines established by the board on how this money is spent," said board secretary Marion Acton. "There's no question we need to have something there in case of a real emergency."

In other business, the school board:

• Tabled a band trip request for 2003 to Honolulu, Hawaii, to the June board meeting.

Carol Swartzendruber, board vice president, said she wants to see some information on the academic purpose of the trip. While the trip "sounds like a nice vacation," she said, the school corporation would be taking on a lot of liability and responsibility with the trip.

In the information provided to the board, said board secretary Marion Acton, there was no information on the academic purpose of the trip, just an itinerary and possibilities where the band might perform.

Superintendent Mark Stock said no school corporation monies were going to be used for the trip; each student must raise the money on their own to go and the students would be going during spring break next year, April 6-12.

Wawasee High School Principal Alan Frank said he can take the request back to band director Mike Clark and get more information for the school board.

"... We need to see what's going to make these students better band students for going," said Swartzendruber.

• Approved a field trip request to Europe during summer 2003 from the Foreign Language Department. The trip will last approximately two weeks and students will visit Spain, France and Italy.

• Approved the request to advertise for bus bids for up to four standard 66-passenger school buses, up to one special needs bus and up to two activity buses.

• Approved the Public Law 221 school improvement plans.

• Approved the language arts and reading textbook adoption.

• Held the second reading on the school corporation's expulsion process.

• Heard that 65 students retested for the ISTEP+ Graduation Qualifying Exam in March. Twenty-five of the 47 juniors retested passed both the language arts and math sections. Four of the 15 seniors passed both sections and one of the two post-seniors passed both sections.

• Heard grades kindergarten through five completed the corporation-wide math and grammar assessments. Grades six to eight will complete the assessments May 13-24. Core 40 assessments will be given May 20-31.

• Approved an amendment to the school corporation's certified/teacher 401(a) plan effective July 1, which allows any current school corporation employee to waive benefits under the plan.

Members of the school board are president Brian Dawes, Swartzendruber, Acton, Jeff Wells and Dallas Winchester. They meet at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month. [[In-content Ad]]