WCS Holds Budget Hearing
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
It was the public hearing for Warsaw Community Schools' proposed 2001 budget - but no one from the public was there to hear about it Monday night.
Rande Thorpe, WCS business manager, presented the $44.5 million budget to the school board, emphasizing that the increase over last year was approximately 5.7 percent.
"Our budget is a status quo budget," he said. "There is not anything new and exciting."
Thorpe said he expects the tax rate, which for 2000 is $4.80, to go up "no more than 10 cents."
The largest fund in the WCS budget is the general fund, which takes up about 73 percent of the total budget. Approximately 90 percent of the general fund, Thorpe said, is salaries and benefits. The proposed general fund total for 2001 is approximately $32.6 million.
The debt service fund, from which payments are made on bonds and debts the school corporation has incurred, is estimated at slightly more than $6 million for 2001.
The capital projects fund, which takes care of school properties and equipment, has the largest increase for 2001 - a proposed 28 percent over last year. The proposed CPF budget is approximately $3.6 million, compared to last year's $2.8 million.
The largest expenditure in the CPF, approximately $1.3 million, Thorpe said, is for computer-related purchases or salaries.
Other large expenditures from that fund for next year will include $400,000 to replace heating and air conditioning units at Edgewood Middle School, replacing the roof at Atwood Elementary for $82,700, and allocations for the outdoor physical development area at Warsaw Community High School, for $150,000.
The transportation budget, which is approximately $2 million, includes the scheduled purchase of six new buses.
The school board will vote on final approval of the 2001 budget at a special meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 28. That meeting also is open to the public.
In other business:
• School superintendent Dr. Lee Harman said the filing period for school board candidates for districts 3, 4 and 6 closes at noon Aug. 25. The Indiana School Boards Association will hold a candidate forum Sept. 13 at WCHS.
• WCHS principal Paul Crousore reported that in the two years the high school has used block scheduling, attendance, disciplinary and misconduct referrals went down, and the number of students on the honor roll and in advance placement classes went up.
Crousore didn't attribute the improvements totally to block scheduling, but said, "They are indicators."
• Dan Wray, energy manager for WCS, said the fifth year of the school corporation's energy program ended in April. Since the program began, Wray said, a total of approximately $1.5 million in energy costs has been avoided through energy conservation measures. Out of that total, $600,000 went to Energy Education for the program cost, and the net cost avoidance for WCS was approximately $800,000.
• The North Central Indiana Special Education Cooperative has outgrown its offices in the farmhouse adjacent to the WCHS campus, Harman said, and the house is not in good shape structurally.
Tamra Ummel, director of special services, said she is in negotiations now on a commercial property that would become the main NCI offices. Cost of the property would be shared by the school corporations that belong to NCI - Bremen, Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw, Wawasee and Whitko school corporations.
Each corporation's financial contribution would be based on the proportionate share of students in the cooperative, she said.
The property cost is approximately $375,000 and comprises about 8,900 square feet, compared to the current 1,200 square feet.
Ummel presented a contract to the board on the purchase and ownership of the property. The board will vote on the contract at the Aug. 28 meeting.
School board members are: Craig Allebach, president; Brad Brail, Larry Chamberlain, Cathy Folk, Dan Robinson, Charles Sauders and Roy Szymanski. The board meets regularly at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month, but will meet Aug. 28 in a special session to vote on the 2001 budget. [[In-content Ad]]
It was the public hearing for Warsaw Community Schools' proposed 2001 budget - but no one from the public was there to hear about it Monday night.
Rande Thorpe, WCS business manager, presented the $44.5 million budget to the school board, emphasizing that the increase over last year was approximately 5.7 percent.
"Our budget is a status quo budget," he said. "There is not anything new and exciting."
Thorpe said he expects the tax rate, which for 2000 is $4.80, to go up "no more than 10 cents."
The largest fund in the WCS budget is the general fund, which takes up about 73 percent of the total budget. Approximately 90 percent of the general fund, Thorpe said, is salaries and benefits. The proposed general fund total for 2001 is approximately $32.6 million.
The debt service fund, from which payments are made on bonds and debts the school corporation has incurred, is estimated at slightly more than $6 million for 2001.
The capital projects fund, which takes care of school properties and equipment, has the largest increase for 2001 - a proposed 28 percent over last year. The proposed CPF budget is approximately $3.6 million, compared to last year's $2.8 million.
The largest expenditure in the CPF, approximately $1.3 million, Thorpe said, is for computer-related purchases or salaries.
Other large expenditures from that fund for next year will include $400,000 to replace heating and air conditioning units at Edgewood Middle School, replacing the roof at Atwood Elementary for $82,700, and allocations for the outdoor physical development area at Warsaw Community High School, for $150,000.
The transportation budget, which is approximately $2 million, includes the scheduled purchase of six new buses.
The school board will vote on final approval of the 2001 budget at a special meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 28. That meeting also is open to the public.
In other business:
• School superintendent Dr. Lee Harman said the filing period for school board candidates for districts 3, 4 and 6 closes at noon Aug. 25. The Indiana School Boards Association will hold a candidate forum Sept. 13 at WCHS.
• WCHS principal Paul Crousore reported that in the two years the high school has used block scheduling, attendance, disciplinary and misconduct referrals went down, and the number of students on the honor roll and in advance placement classes went up.
Crousore didn't attribute the improvements totally to block scheduling, but said, "They are indicators."
• Dan Wray, energy manager for WCS, said the fifth year of the school corporation's energy program ended in April. Since the program began, Wray said, a total of approximately $1.5 million in energy costs has been avoided through energy conservation measures. Out of that total, $600,000 went to Energy Education for the program cost, and the net cost avoidance for WCS was approximately $800,000.
• The North Central Indiana Special Education Cooperative has outgrown its offices in the farmhouse adjacent to the WCHS campus, Harman said, and the house is not in good shape structurally.
Tamra Ummel, director of special services, said she is in negotiations now on a commercial property that would become the main NCI offices. Cost of the property would be shared by the school corporations that belong to NCI - Bremen, Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw, Wawasee and Whitko school corporations.
Each corporation's financial contribution would be based on the proportionate share of students in the cooperative, she said.
The property cost is approximately $375,000 and comprises about 8,900 square feet, compared to the current 1,200 square feet.
Ummel presented a contract to the board on the purchase and ownership of the property. The board will vote on the contract at the Aug. 28 meeting.
School board members are: Craig Allebach, president; Brad Brail, Larry Chamberlain, Cathy Folk, Dan Robinson, Charles Sauders and Roy Szymanski. The board meets regularly at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month, but will meet Aug. 28 in a special session to vote on the 2001 budget. [[In-content Ad]]