Warden School Board approves 2020-21 budget

WARDEN — Enrollment in the Warden School District is expected to drop slightly for the 2020-21 school year. District Business Manager Tricia Schock said enrollment is expected to be the equivalent of 896 students.

Schock made the enrollment estimate as part of her budget presentation to the Warden School Board. Board members approved the 2020-21 budget at their July 23 meeting.

Actual enrollment in 2019-20 was the equivalent of 902 students, Schock said. Basic education funds are allocated based on enrollment.

Enrollment has been declining over the last five years, she said. In what Schock called “very uncertain times,” she said district officials are taking a conservative approach to enrollment projections.

The budget for the general fund, which pays for salaries, supplies and most maintenance, is $15.26 million. The capital projects fund was budgeted at $230,000. Most of that money comes from a levy approved by voters in 2019 to upgrade the district’s technology and campus security.

The transportation vehicle fund was budgeted at $240,000. Money from that fund can only be used to buy school buses, and district officials plant to buy a new bus. The Associated Student Body fund budget is $401,739.

Schock said district officials opted not to fill one part-time and two full-time teaching positions left vacant by resignations. Teachers and other staff will receive a 1.6 percent raise.

State funding for salaries has been increased by 1.6 percent, she said. State funding also was increased for special education.

The district is projected to end the year with about $2.3 million in reserves. Schock said district officials were being cautious in their budgeting due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the state’s finances.

Revenues are expected to be well below earlier forecasts, she said, and funding to schools could be cut as a result. In that case the district would have to deal with what Schock called unanticipated expenses.