CV School Board approves budget

The belts were tightened months ago, so Central Valley schools can start the year without fear of more budget cuts.

The Central Valley School Board unanimously adopted a budget of just over $100 million for the upcoming school year Monday night, with reserve funds of more than $2 million.

“It feels so good to be proactive going into September,” said school board member Craig Holmes.

Last year the school board faced looming cutbacks for the 2004-05 school year. By February, the board had shaved more than $500,000 from the district budget.

Cuts included the elimination of one middle school counseling position, a district office administration position, and a teaching position from each of the high schools. They cut C-squad teams from all high school athletic programs except girls volleyball, and saved money by turning down the heat and shutting off the lights in the elementary and middle school classrooms after 6 p.m.

They also cut employee counseling programs, Friday night bus service for extracurricular activities, and reorganized the way custodians work in the summer.

The cuts were in response to new costs associated with the 2004-05 teachers’ and principals’ contracts, higher energy bills, rising insurance premiums, and the salaries of technology-support personnel that had previously been funded by grants cut by the state because of budget deficits.

“We knew a year and a half ago that we were going to feel the impacts (of state budget shortfalls),” said Jan Hutton, district business manager.

This year’s general fund will total about $85 million, an increase of about 4 percent from last year.

“The good news is that unlike some of our local districts, we have been seeing a slow increase in enrollment,” Hutton said. “We’ve been averaging 1 percent a year in enrollment growth.”

Central Valley schools are expected to have more than 11,000 students enrolled this year.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a budget where we’ve budgeted for 11,000 students,” Hutton said.

More than $13 million is earmarked for the capital projects fund, including the renovation of South Pines Elementary that begins this fall, and the completion of Green-acres Middle School.

The budget includes $1.8 million in Associated Student Body funds, $8.7 million for debt service funds, and $436,907 for transportation vehicles, including the arrival of four new buses this fall, plus one more by year’s end.

More than 70 percent of funding revenues comes from the state, with 16 percent from local property taxes.

The fund balance is expected to be about 3.27 percent of the annual budget, or $2.5 million. The fund balance is what is left over after all expenses have been paid.

“It’s typically been called the rainy day fund, but it’s really not,” Hutton said. “It’s reserves for the district, for unforeseen situations or emergencies.”

The board has specified a fund balance of 3 to 5 percent of the total budget, but the balance has consistently been about 3 percent. They have a goal to bring the fund balance to 4 percent over the next three years. The state average is 7.5 percent.

“We still are less than half of the average school district in the state,” Hutton said.