BURTON SCHOOL BOARD SCHEDULES BUDGET APPROVAL FOR WEDNESDAY
After lengthy discussion at Monday’s meeting, Burton trustees opted to schedule an emergency meeting later this week to approve the new tax rate and budget.
Superintendent Dr. Edna Kennedy said that, as the meeting progressed, the board changed what it wanted to do with staff salary pay scales and increases. These discussed changes would significantly alter their proposed budget.
To start the meeting, trustee Tracey Cox motioned to table the agenda item concerning the salary increase for staff members. She said she felt the need to hear from past board members on the issue before approving a change.
Kennedy explained that the deficit budget presented already accounted for a pay scale increase for certain staff members, but not everyone would receive the same raise, or a raise at all. Kennedy said this salary scale is set by the state, and that the district doesn’t receive enough from the state to fund a salary “tier” increase.
Trustees eventually agreed upon a $1,200 increase for all district employees, to offset health insurance costs. Business Manager Sheila Ripple says this increase would add roughly $60,000 to $70,000 to the existing deficit, leading to a deficit of $241,000. However, she noted that the board does have a fund balance of $1.3 million, so it can afford to adopt a deficit budget.
When asked where the budget is experiencing growth, Kennedy mentioned new security measures, staff members and buses as the primary factors. She also said the board has cut about $250,000 in supplies, materials and grants.
In the budget presented, total receipts came out to $5,261,528, while expenditures totaled $5,432,455. However, these revenues did not take cafeteria revenues and the bonded debt fund into account, and the expenditures did not account for the new pay raise.
Kennedy explained that the cafeteria and debt fund revenues have to be reported separately to the Texas Education Association, and that these numbers weren’t available at the board’s previous meeting. Cafeteria and debt fund receipts totaled $262,665 and $482,794, respectively.
The board scheduled the emergency board meeting for Wednesday at 5 p.m. in the Burton High School Auditorium. The deadline to adopt the budget is Friday.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the board approved budget amendments for last year’s budget, to help cover costs for auditing purposes. They also accepted the resignation of a teacher experiencing health issues before the school year began, and moved a PE teacher to that position.