By Anna Skinner
The Westfield Washington School Board began looking at the 2016 calendar year budget at their Sept. 8 meeting.
Nick Verhoff, director of business and operations, presented the budget and goals for the upcoming year, as well as touching on the revenue and expenditures of the school.
Verhoff stated there was a 9.04 percent growth in the general fund, allowing for approximately an additional $3.5 million. Based on these numbers, Verhoff said some cuts from the past will be able to be restored.
This would include adding more staff to help reduce class sizes and also giving teachers a raise on their next contract.
The budget also aims to “provide optimum student opportunities today, meet all financial obligations with a balanced budget, be cognizant of tax impact, address categorical spending and build a solid foundation for future years.”
“Salary and benefits take up the usual majority of our budget, and all non-taxpayer funds are in excellent shape, such as lunch accounts, textbook rentals and before and after care,” Verhoff said. “That’s important because there’re a lot of school districts still today taking money out of the general fund to rebalance the lunch account. That’s a real shame to take dollars out of the classroom to pay the lunch bills.”
Yet among the goals, there are some challenges such as the constant growing student population at 4.6 percent, little cash balances, no Rainy Day fund, a need for a bus fleet update and other issues. By the end of next year, the schools are expected to add approximately six or seven buses to the fleet.
Despite the challenges, the 2016 budget is expected to bring lots of positives to the school community including improved instructional opportunities, restoring cutbacks, utilizing the health clinic and pharmacy and more.
The school board will vote on the acceptance of the proposed budget at their next meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 in the Administration Center, 322 W. Main St., Westfield.
