It's not final, but it's on the table.
The Warren County School District's board of directors voted unanimously to approve a proposed 2012-2013 budget during a special meeting on Tuesday evening.
The $64,987,875 proposal, a 3.3 percent decrease from the 2011-2012 budget, is available for public inspection between now and probable final passage at another special meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, June 28, at the Warren County Career Center
"We would just note that there are going to be changesbefore the adoption of the final budget," WCSD Business Manager Jim Grosch said.
As personnel issues are resolved, specifically determining which teachers are going to teach where, the budget will round more into its final shape.
The proposed budget includes a 2.5 percent tax millage increase, the maximum allowed by the state tax index, as well as an additional .7818 of one mill as a result of the referendum exception that the district received to help offset increasing retirement costs.
At over $38 million, the largest portion of the anticipated revenue comes from the state. Grosch explained that the state revenue the district anticipated was in the proposal outlined by Gov. Tom Corbett in the proposed budget he unveiled in February, a proposal that sought to merge several streams of state funding into one block grant.
One area of state funding that the school district isn't expecting to receive is the automatic two percent funding in basic education funding that the district receives as a "hold harmless" district.
"This budget does not include any hold harmless increase," Grosch said, indicating that the increase is typically in the range of $500,000.
He also explained that the proposal includes, among others, the following cuts:
Elimination of the purchase of new textbooks
Reduction of capital project funding
Elimination of approximately 40 teaching positions and 20 support staff positions
A 25 percent cut in building supply budgets
A reduction in administrative staff
Reductions in telephone costs
Reduction in bus contractor fees.
But the news wasn't all bad.
Grosch explained that approximately $569,000 of "bringback" funding was included which will allow 10 to 11 furloughed employees to be brought back to work.
"The prioritization of these has not yet been determined," Grosch said.
Full-day kindergarten also made the cut. "We are keeping full-day kindergarten even with some of the funding challenges we're seeing from the state," he said.
"As of this date, the district is still hopeful that the Governor and the Legislature will pass a 2012-2013 state budget that will provide anticipated relief from the reductions of this proposed final budget," the introduction to the proposal posted online at esb.wcsdpa.org said.