Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

School Board talks finance

The Prescott School District will receive some additional funding as a result of action taken recently by the Arkansas State Legislature, but theres not yet a definitive figure on how much the district can expect to receive. Prescott Superintendent Hyacinth Deon said the funding is based on the number of students.

Well know May 1, she said. Were looking for a nice little pot of money, but it will all go into salaries.

Deon said the district is also looking closely at the salary mandates that have been handed down by the state. She said Prescott met the requirements on every step with one exception. Teachers who have a masters degree and 15 years teaching experience are being paid $6 less per pay period in Prescott than the mandate. While Deon said its good that the district has managed to meet the rest of the steps, it will take some effort to bring that step along with any steps above that one into compliance.

Looking at pay for the districts teachers overall, Deon said Prescott is paying above what the state requires for all other steps on the payment scale.

The subject of money in the district was among the topics of discussion at the March school board meeting. At that meeting, school board member Jo Beth Glass questioned two specific funds in the schools budget, citing the fact that both seem to be operating above projected levels.

Do you have a recommendation? Deon asked. All we can do is have school. Later in the meeting, she said, We hope that we dont have to borrow money to finish the school year.

Deon said the preliminary figures for next years budget will be presented to the board in June.

Are we making some plans to try to make our revenue equal our expenditures more? Glass asked.

The two budget issues questioned by Glass were transportation and building maintenance, Deon said later in the week. The fact that transportation is over budget is probably no surprise to many, consider the rising costs of fuel. The same high prices are driving up the cost of other things, including maintenance and building projects, Deon said.

Some of those transportation costs are currently being charged to transportation, but will be moved to the athletic fund at the end of the year. The cost of transporting students to and from athletic events currently shows up on the districts transportation fund, driving those amounts higher than theyll be at the end of the year.

Dot Hackett, district treasurer, said its merely a bookkeeping issue that requires the expenses to be handled this way. But when the records are reconciled at the end of the school year, the costs relating to athletic transportation will be taken from the athletic fund.

That fund is also over budget, but thats really nothing unusual, according to Deon.

Our goal would be to have them be self-sufficient, she said of the athletic programs.

Some athletics do bring in funds, such as gate receipts for football and basketball. But those dont typically cover the cost of the sports. That means that the district picks up whatever additional costs may occur. And thats typical of every year, Deon said.

The year may very well finish with a lower ending balance for the district than was originally projected, but Deon said there is money available to fully pay all funds that are over budget.

There are some issues of school funding that are beyond the control of the district, according to Deon. She said the district is tightening the belt when possible. But some funding and what will be paid from it simply isnt negotiable.

Another important point, Deon said, is that the district has successfully dealt with financial issues for the past several years, and will continue to do so.

In other business, the board heard of several scholarship recipients and were told that Students Against Destructive Decisions will be making a presentation related to alcohol to fifth and sixth graders. The board was also informed of a state mandate requiring that students have 30 minutes of activity time each day. Deon said it will not add time to the school day.