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PIERCETON - Even with the state and national economy sagging, Whitko Community School Corp.'s 2003 budget should be fine, according to officials.
Monday, at the school corporation's board of trustees 2003 budget review meeting, Superintendent Dr. William Worl said, "We believe with this budget, we're going to be OK. We'll just have to make good decisions."
The proposed 2003 budget includes six funds, which are: general fund, $11,498,796; transportation fund, $788,139; capital projects fund, $1,289,525; bus replacement fund, $286,700; debt service fund, $1,797,177; preschool/special education fund, $27,225.
The school board approved the proposed 2003 budget to be advertised as presented. The public hearing on the budget will be Aug. 19 at the regular school board meeting, then it will be adopted Aug. 29 at a special meeting.
During discussion of the budget, Worl said planning for the 2003 budget began in mid-April. This year, with the economic uncertainty, there have been many budget cuts and payment delays. And the state is still dealing with the reassessment, leaving room for more uncertainty, he said.
"We have no idea what the reassessment may look at," he said. Along with that, the state's tax structure is being reconfigured and that will have a great effect on the school corporation. However, Worl said, those are factors that are out of their reach and they must do the best they can with them and move on.
As for how much the school corporation can raise, Worl said, that depends on the state, which sets the amount of revenues school corporations can raise. "We can't just go out and raise money to whatever we want to raise."
The six funds can't be mixed either, he said. For example, money cannot be moved from the general fund to the transportation fund and vice versa. And money from one school can't be transferred to another, say from the high school to Pierceton Elementary.
This summer, while Whitko had remediation programs, no full summer school program was offered. Board member Michael Braddock asked if they were budgeting enough money to have summer school programs next summer. Whitko Schools business manager Phil Menzie said possibly not, but what else was there to cut out? Director of curriculum Diana Showalter said they may be able to get money from Title I funds and remediation grants to help with summer school next year.
Asked how much Whitko usually spends on summer school, Showalter said approximately $4,000 per teacher. Worl said a good comprehensive summer school program costs $70,000 to $90,000, depending on teacher salaries. Only approximately $27,000 is budgeted for summer school for 2003.
Dave Tranter, board member, asked what areas are possible budget cut areas for Whitko to have summer school next year. Worl said staff cuts would be an area they would look at first, probably noncertified staffing. Then they would consider cutting custodial positions and travel. "Those are all possible ways to cut your budget," Worl said. The big consideration is what's going to affect the students the least. The school corporation doesn't want to eliminate a program if they don't have to, Worl said.
Tranter said he is often asked when Whitko is going to build a new high school. As far as he knew, Menzie said, there are no plans for a new high school any time soon. Worl said with the facilities they now have, in 15 years, the school board could begin discussing the idea of a new high school. Board member E. Marie Trump said it's premature to talk about the issue now.
Worl said the present high school building is in functioning shape and students have excellent facilities for their education. While the outside of the building may be aging, he said, overall, the building is in excellent shape.
Later in the meeting, Tranter asked Menzie if he believed the school corporation may be in for some financial surprises later from the state.
"The definition of surprise is something you don't know ahead of time, so how do I know?" Menzie replied. Each year, he said, it gets more interesting dealing with all the changes and there's always some amount of pressure. The school corporation, he said, wants to get as much money as the state allows.
The two biggest factors that depend on how much the school has, Worl said, is the size of the student body in Whitko schools and bargaining with the teachers' union. Approximately 90 percent of the school corporation's general fund budget is for salaries and benefits.
Members of the Whitko Community School Corp. Board of Trustees are Hal Trump, E. Marie Trump, Pete Mitchell, Michael Braddock and Dave Tranter. Their regular meetings are on the third Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the administration office, Pierceton.
