The Churchill County School Board met Wednesday night to discuss the upcoming budget process, set budget priorities, and prepare for the upcoming Budget Committee workshop set for Monday, March 29 at 4:00 p.m.
Comptroller Christi Fielding presented a tentative budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year, explaining projected revenue as of March 15 of $29,297,852 for the general fund only. The Distributive School Account portion of the budget from the state, after subtracting the portion that goes to Oasis Academy is $14,556,213.
Anticipated expenditures are budgeted at $31,229,100, with an expected addition of $2,014,960 of CRRSA Funds (Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act) along with another anticipated COVID relief expenditure that is unknown at this time.
Board members set priorities for the fiscal year, identifying math, mental health, smaller class sizes, and specials (art, music, and physical education) at the elementary schools as their main focus for re-prioritizing the budget during the Monday workshop.
“We are in a very bad place with mathematics,” said Superintendent Summer Stephens. “I don’t know that we’re going backward but we aren’t going forward.” She said there needs to be more strategic math intervention in K-12 and potentially some targeted math coaching of staff.
Board members also discussed the mental health needs of both students and teachers as well as parents, with a focus on the CRRSA money as a potential source of funding due to the strain the past year of COVID has created.
The ability for the district to create or provide smaller class sizes would solve a host of other issues, including the math remediation and potentially the specials at the elementary schools.
“If you want to increase the number of teachers, you’re going to have to decrease support staff.” said Stephens. “When we’re talking about the big money, which is people, that’s probably the only way to do that.” Stephens said on Monday the plan for the advisory group will include various exercises to really dig in and identify “what are those things we can start targeting. We are going to need to keep schools safe and clean, we’ll need to keep kids organized and fed.”
In other business, Brenda Boone, Inclusive Services Coordinator for the school district, made a presentation about a program partnership the district is entering into with Vocational Rehabilitation to provide a training and assessment program for Special Education students at the middle school and the high school. The Practical Assessment Exploration System (PAES) will allow students to explore various work and life skills, and identify work interest and preferences. Funding for the program will come from Vocational Rehabilitation in the amount of $30,000 for PAES labs at each school and will also provide for the training of three staff members at each school. The labs will be installed this coming June.
Athletic Director Brad Daum presented information on the spectator protocols for athletic events, saying the limit for spectators was raised on March 15 from 100 to 250.
The Board of Trustees meets the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. and agendas and board packets are available on the district's website ChurchillCSD.com.
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