The Board of Education approved a tentative budget plan for the 2015-16 school year after a workshop and a special-called meeting Thursday night.
While the budget proposal includes requests to fund a computer teacher at Smithville Elementary School, upgrades to technology, a new janitor at DeKalb West, a school nurse position, Response to Intervention (RTI) teachers at DeKalb Middle School and DCHS, and other new expenditures, it must be approved by the county commission’s budget committee.
The board plans to provide members of the budget committee with explanations for the proposed new spending to try and persuade them to approve some or all of it. If the budget committee does not accept the plan, the school board may be forced to alter the budget proposal to fit the funds they are given to work with.
The school system found it necessary to take approximately $250,000 from reserves last year to cover expenditures, and while members said they realize that the practice cannot continue if the system is to remain solvent, they feel that the same thing will occur this year if more money is not added to the budget.
Many of the budget problems apparently stem from new expenses required by the state, and Board Chairman W.J. (Dub) Evins, III told the assembly that he feared that the budget deficit might increase to more than $475,000 for the upcoming year if more money does not come in.
While board members said they acknowledge that the plan will likely have to be adjusted, they approved it for presentation to the county committee to satisfy a request that they present a budget by June 1.