A good portion of the Blair Oaks school board meeting was centered around financials as the board approved refinancing a bond and the preliminary budget for next school year.
So far, the district has a very tight balanced budget with only $35,000 in excess. Superintendent Jim Jones' predictions for anticipated revenue and expenditures were close to the reality.
The preliminary budget anticipates $11.4 million in total revenue and about the same in expenditures - $10.3 million of that is for the district's operating budget.
"I feel good about where we're at," Jones said. "Ultimately I feel it'll support the comprehensive learning environment, and we'll continue to evaluate it moving forward."
Jones said the latest revenue increases come in at about $221,447, just slightly less than the $225,000 he predicted. Some of the additional revenue comes from climbing enrollment. Jones expects the district to house about 1,200 students next year, but the added students means a need for more staff.
Jones said the district will hire two more full-time staff members and a least one para-professional.
Of the $211,447, they can spend 75-80 percent on increased salary and benefits, which equates to $166,085 to $177,157 on increased salary and benefit costs. The other 20-25 percent goes toward increased utility and transportation costs.
This year, just like every year, Blair Oaks faculty will receive a raise. Jones said they plan to add $425 to each salary step and $500 to the base salary. Every teacher earns a raise - or a step - based on years of experience and level of education. Currently, the base salary is $34,000 for a teacher who comes into the district with a bachelor's degree and zero years of experience - that number will increase $500 next year.
The base increase is actually lower than it's been in years past when the district has added as much as $1,000 to the minimum salary, but because of the tight budget, some things had to be compromised.
The classified staff, serving as secretaries, food service personnel, custodians, maintenance, para-professionals, etc., will receive a 40 cent raise next year.
In April, Jones thought faculty benefits would increase nearly $1,000 for every employee next year and thought maybe they'd have to tweak the health care plan. But, the increases came in lower than anticipated so the district will pay 100 percent of employees' health care again next year.
Next year, the board will be paying $5,985 for each employee instead of the current $5,392.
The upcoming school year also marks the 10th consecutive year having the $3.66 tax rate. Jones previously said he doesn't plan to increase the rate until they pass a bond because of the fiscally conservative community.
The budget is still a work in progress and will be reviewed several more times over the year. He doesn't anticipate district expenses to go over available revenue, but if it does, the district will use some money in its fund balance.
The board approved the measure to save money by refinancing its $3.9 million bond for the middle school construction, which would save the district $342,932 over 11 years. The approval boosts the district's total savings to about $2.8 million.