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| District’s budget and woes to be revealed online |
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| News - Spring Hill | |||
| Written by Chase Jordan | |||
| Wednesday, 25 February 2009 09:00 | |||
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Spring Hill USD 230 officials are making efforts to make current economic issues and the school district’s budget easier to understand with a new Web page. Christine Splichal, information coordinator, said the district has plans to use the Web site as a blog. “This is a great way for updating the site with the current information at the time,” Splichal said. “I think it’s really critical to keep the lines of communications open.” The site, which will be available online this week at www.usd230.org, walks visitors through the process of operating a school budget. “I think it’s important to let people know how their taxes are used in the Spring Hill school district,” Splichal said. “We want feedback from people. If they have a question, we’ll try to answer them in a timely manner.” Board President Nels Anderson said the Web site was put together well. In regards to the budget, Superintendent Barton Goering discussed reduction for the 2008-09 school year. Some of the reductions include eliminating overtime, copying expenses, legal fees and the potential impact of the stimulus package. According to a document provided by the district, total cumulative savings equal $381,500. The Kansas State Department of Education is targeting reductions of $33 per student, plus a 1 percent reduction in special education, totaling $133,552. Board member Bill Meek complimented the staff on efforts to save money. “The staff has really buckled down to do everything in their power to save nickels and dimes,” Meek said. Board members and administrators also discussed alternatives to bus routes for the 2009-10 school year. The scenarios included spreading bell times to pick up additional children, increasing ride time for children, increased pay rider fees and cutting students that are ineligible to ride the bus in the district. “It’s a sensitive topic, and I think it would be good to get input from parents,” Anderson said. Goering also discussed implementing activity fees for students in grades six through 12. All fees collected will be included in the activity fund bank account and remitted to the district office. Students on free or reduced lunch would not have to pay the fee. “It was something I wanted to bring to the board as we looked at ideas at cost to the budget,” Goering said. Some of the items listed on the high school activities page included sports, band and prom. The estimated fees for sixth graders were $10; $25 for seventh graders; $40 eighth graders and; $60 for high school students. The estimated budget reductions for the 2009-10 school year came to $490,000. The total revenue enhancements totaled $1,902,748. Total revenue reductions came to $1,683,471. The total estimated saving came to $709,277.
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