Superintendent John Henriksen says the Central Lee School District’s budget for the 2012/2013 school year is quite comparable to the district’s current budget.
The school board certified the roughly $14-million dollar spending plan Monday night.
Henriksen says the spending plan is just a couple hundred thousand dollars larger than the current budget. He says the budget’s general fund sits at around $10-million, though he believes the final expenditures will come in at around $9-million.
Henriksen says the spending plan takes into account a loss in new state funding due to declining enrollment. He says the reduction is partially negated, though, because of the number of students open enrolling to Central Lee.
Henriksen says next year’s budget calls for staffing levels to remain the same. He says that is needed because enrollment will remain at about 1,000 students.
Henriksen says there are also no major changes scheduled for programs and/or curriculum and there will be some good news for property taxpayers. He says the property tax rate associated with next year’s budget will fall by roughly $0.35.
Henriksen says there is one major unknown in next year’s budget: teacher salaries. The district is heading for mediation with the Central Lee Education Association later this month.
