Creswell School District will be starting out 2019-20 strong – an extra $2 million strong.
Revenue assumptions from the May 8 school board meeting show that the ending fund balance for 2017-18 has exceeded projections by nearly $34,000, which will be considered revenue for the upcoming school year. This boost means CSD starts the 2019-20 year with $15,911,567 budget.
Board Director David Eusted said that the conservative approach that Superintendent Todd Hamilton has used over the years has gotten the district back to ”where we have a little cushion.”
”It feels so good; it’s a good place for Creswell to be,” he said. ”We’re in a financially better place than a lot of districts in the State.”
Hamilton agreed with Eusted, saying that he has colleagues who have to tell their school boards to make cuts. ”This is good news for Creswell,” he said.
Multiple factors contributed to the district ending the school year with this amount of money. These reasons include:
$1,020,000 budgeted 2018-19 contingency (savings);
Increased funding for 2018-19 due to unexpected enrollment;
Increased revenue and reimbursements from other local sources;
Projected program savings for 2018-19;
An ending fund balance for 2017-18 that exceeded projections;
A final State School Fund correction for 2017-18 that consisted of a small high school grant.
With funding for the 2019-21 biennium still being discussed at the legislature, the 2019 State School Fund estimate will be based on the $8.97 billion K-12 budget estimate; this budget represents $100 million more than the Ways and Means Co-chairs’ budget that was proposed earlier this year..
In the past, the ending fund balance has been all over the place. From $192,386 in 2011 to $1,036.071 in 2012. In 2013 it dipped back to $908,159, but continued into the million range each year until 2017. In 2018 the balance ended at $2,033,925 – setting the projected 2019 end funds for $2,200,000.
”As you can see from the trend above,” Hamilton explained, ”we’ve been strategic about using our ending fund balances to absorb cuts, and only add programs and services that we reasonably believe we can sustain over time.”
He added that the district also has increased its contingency allocation to better handle any emergencies or funding shortfalls, which has also contributed to higher ending fund balances.
School budgets work in three-year time frames, and revenue estimates are a ”moving target” that change year to year, Hamilton said.
For next year’s expenditures, CSD is planning for a 7-8 percent contingency as well as a ”roll up” of personnel services and employee benefit costs.
These roll ups include a full academic calendar for all employee groups; contractual cost-of-living adjustments and step increases; contractual increases to insurance caps; and increased PERS rates.
The district is also planning on increasing existing full-time educator (FTE) allocations and make adjustments to match the student enrollment and scheduling needs, which would include a new teacher next year at Creslane Elementary School.
Supplies and materials are going to be looked at with transfers, because the district wants to propose a one-time funding for deferred technology and maintenance items. Transfers, such as funds for facilities, nutrition services and vehicle replacement, are also planning to increase.
