Tentative 2011-12 Manchester School Budget Approved

The Manchester Board of Education on March 3 approved its tentative 2011-12 budget during a special meeting. The budget has since been submitted for approval from the county superintendent.

"They will review it and make comments and recommendations, at which time if we have to make any changes, we will do that," said Business Administrator Craig Lorentzen. 

calls for general fund revenue of $46,364,752. The introduced local tax levy was $38,695,101. 

The 2010-11 local tax levy was $37,634,507, according to a district budget document.

After county approval, the budget, Lorentzen said, will then be presented "in detail" during a required public meeting that will be scheduled between March 23 and March 29.

School board officials have encouraged the public to remain involved in the budget creation process, and board President Mary Walter said that the turnout at the 6 p.m. meeting was greater than expected.

"We typically only have about two people at this meeting. We're a little surprised to have this many," she said.

Because of the additional public interest, Walter then asked Superintendent David Trethaway to explain how the budget is created.

"The budget process is a very lengthy process," he said. In October, staff and administration first gave input. In February, principals and department supervisors gave public presentations.

"We've probably made in excess of $900,000 in cuts to get to where we are now," Trethaway said, noting that "this is a tentative budget, a working budget." 

The budget meeting later in the month will be more detailed, the superintendent said.

"Not necessarily line-by-line, but we will go over the highlights of the budget," Trethaway said. "Talking about programs, any cuts, anything with state aid. All of those things. It's a lot more interactive."

The meeting is also generally well attended, he said.

"Last time we had our meeting we had about 350 people," Trethaway said.

The date will be advertised on the district's website, libraries and local media, Lorentzen said.

Last week, the that Manchester schools will receive a $453,145 increase in aid, an increase Lorentzen said was "unexpected."

"Once we heard aid was going to be increased to school districts in the governor's address, our thoughts were we would remain at flat funding or receive a slight increase," he said in an e-mail last week.

Trethaway also addressed the aid, but made clear that the increase in funds will not supplement state aid cuts made over previous years.

"The other side we knew this was going to be a difficult year because last year we had a reduction of $2.4 million, which resulted in about $1.8 million in cuts" to the budget, he said. "It's kind of like going to the grocery store and they raised the prices 30 percent and then give you a 20 percent discount."

"We're about $1.9 million less than we were at this time two years ago. So, obviously we made a large number of cuts last year," Trethaway said. Freshman sports, some extra-cirricular activities and 23 staff positions were among last year's cuts.

"You now have that much fewer things to cut from the budget. It was a difficult time," Trethaway said.

Rising fuel prices have been a concern during budget creation since those costs "go beyond our control," Trethaway said.

"This time last year, we were paying $2.54 for gas. This time, it's now averaging $3.22," he said. "So when they go up, we have to cut other things."

Busses only get eight or nine miles per gallon when loaded with students, the superintendent said, which means a considerable amount of fuel is used.

At a , transportation supervisor Val Varga said that the district uses 4,000 gallons of fuel each week transporting 3,400 students to and from school.

Trethaway said that the board will continue working on a plan that keeps existing staff and programs.

"We're not looking for a lot of growth in this budget. We're hoping to maintain what we have," he said.

The superintendent again said that he wants the public to stay involved and attend meetings, especially when the complete budget is presented later in March.

"We hope you'll join us for that, because those will be the nitty gritty, nuts and bolts of what we're talking about. Hopefully, you get a picture of what the budget process is," Trethaway said.

Walter said that after the budget is presented to the county, it will be posted on the district website and residents are welcome to contact the administration with any questions. 

Budget Items For 2011-12: