The Calhoun County School Board outlined its desire for an assistant principal position at Bruce High School Monday night at an informal budget workshop held in Pittsboro.
All five board members were joined by the district’s Chief Financial Officer Jo Clanton and Special Education Director Paula Maddox to go through a draft of the budget that is scheduled to be presented to the public at a June 22 public hearing. Sup. Mike Moore was not present.
Early in the discussion, Bubba Weeks, of Bruce, asked about the availability of funds for “support staff” at BHS.
“I always over budget payroll for two new teachers,” Clanton explained citing the unknowns of enrollment come the fall. Classes are not supposed to have more than 27 students per teacher for accreditation purposes. Most of the county’s classes average around 22.
“I think something needs to be put in place,” Weeks said referring to the BHS asst. principal post.
“I think it needs to be a full time position,” Board President Don Hardin, of Vardaman, said.
“I don’t have a salary scale for assistant principal,” Clanton said. “I can set up a line item for the position but I have to cut somewhere else in the budget to make room.”
Board members discussed there are more demands on a high school principal and Bruce has a disproportionate number of students than the other high schools.
Last year, Bruce had 377 students under the high school principal. BHS incorporates grades 7-12. VHS is also made up of 7-12th grades but only had 289 students. CCHS only has 9-12th in the building and 228 students.
The board agreed to ask new BHS Principal Dallas Gore to help craft a job description for the new position and attempt to add it to the current budget.
Clanton began the meeting outlining the overall budget picture noting the district is facing a $710,000 reduction in funding for next fiscal year from the state based on what they were originally scheduled to receive at the beginning of this fiscal year.
In addition to mid-year cuts from the governor, Clanton said the district also got hurt by Average Daily Attendance (ADA) numbers which are collected by the state in October and November and used in the funding formula.
The district was hit with a bad case of flu last fall and attendance during those official counts was down nearly 50 students. That equates to an approximate $250,000 cut in funding from the state.
Clanton said they don’t know yet what their level of federal funding will be, but early projections show it will be a decrease also.
Among the areas that will be cut to offset the funding losses is not refilling some teaching positions that were opened due to retirements, as long as student numbers allow it. Some teaching contracts are also being reduced in number of days by five or 10 to save money.
The cost for substitute teachers has increased in recent years from around $80,000 to more than $100,000 last year, Clanton said. Substitutes are paid $60 per day unless they’re a retired teacher where it’s $80.
Maintenance was a big area of cuts, she said. Clanton explained there is no capital improvement money this year for facility upgrades at the schools. The technology fund was also cut.
Another great expense the past few years has been the replacement of 20-25 air conditioners in the district and increased utility costs, Clanton said. She explained the district is going to make greater conservation efforts there.
There was discussion of increasing the $1 per mile cost for extra curricular use of school buses, but the board opposed that.
Clanton also outlined that the district’s liability insurance quote increased $10,000 and the board will have to decide whether to purchase “cyber liability” for district computers which is another $8,500 for virus protection.
On the positive side, Clanton said the district has an MAEP bond that will be paid off at the end of next fiscal year which should restore $360,000 to the budget.
Due to the size of the state cut, however, Clanton said the Mississippi Department of Education recommended the district submit a request for a $185,000 tax increase – that’s the equivalent of approximately three mils. That will be part of budget request presented at the public hearing and sent to the county. The district is entitled to request up to a 4% tax increase without approval from voters.
The board asked about the district’s fund balance. Clanton explained state law requires the district keep 7% of funds allocated in reserve, but in recent years they’ve done a little more.
“That’s helped us with all these cuts,” Clanton said, but she noted for next year they will be right at the 7% line.
“It’s a double-edged sword. If you have money at the end of year they think you don’t need as much, but a lot of the federal projects we don’t get the money until later in the year so we have to have that money set aside up front to cover those costs until we get reimbursed,” Clanton said.
The budget will be presented to the public Thursday, June 22 at 5:45 p.m. and is scheduled to be adopted on Thursday, June 29 at 5:45 p.m.