Board of Trustees Aprroves 2011-12 Budget

The Scotts Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved the reviewed budget by the for the 2011-12 school year on Tuesday evening.

The review process requires the county office of education to approve the district's budget, and was created to ensure that the district has the ability to meet the standards and requirements for fiscal stability.

As part of the review process, the office of education provided the district with a list of recommendations, presented by Karen Jelcick, chief business officer for the district.

Some of the county's recommendations ask for the district to monitor its cash flow, as well as its enrollment and average daily attendance (ADA) levels. Jelcick said the district has been experiencing declining enrollment since 2005, which has remained true up to this fall semester, with enrollment sitting at 2,519 students, just shy of the district's original projection of 2,560 students, which it attributes to families leaving after the first two weeks of school.

The county's budget review also states that a possibility for mid-year reductions are very likely, and that finding future funding to restore cuts to education is still several years in the future.

Jelcick further presented the trustees with an unaudited actual report that included some highlights from the office of education's revised budget, and broke down the district's funds and balances, which was unanimously approved by the trustees. Some highlights from the 2011-12 revised budget include new staffing additions at Vine Hill Elementary, Scotts Valley Middle School, and Scotts Valley High School.

For a breakdown of some of the information discussed at Tuesday's school board meeting, refer below:

• As far as funding, the district came out a little ahead, with its general fund ending balance—the amount of money used for day-to-day operations—being greater than the projected amount presented to the board in June. The district also has some remaining funds from donations and categorical funding from the 2010-11 school year, as well as other areas where initial cost projections were lower than expected, which will be carried over to the 2011-12 school year.  
• Some of the additional funds came from local revenue variances from grants and donations, amounting to $193,000. Of that money, $24,000 came from parent donations, $27,000 from PTA donations and the rest came from a Seagate grant totaling $30,000 to go toward technology for the district, as well as a donation from the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation of over $80,000 to be used toward counseling services and library support.
• Budget revision highlights further include a reduced cost for employee benefits, with a new health plan being negotiated. And the district reduced salaries and benefit reductions to two furlough days.

For more information, check out the "Back-up" information on the agenda from Tuesday's meeting.