JAY – School and Budget committees are scheduled to review a proposed $10.46 million budget for 2006-07 on Thursday. The budget reflects a $36,323 decrease from the existing budget.
Superintendent Robert Wall said Friday that he gave an overview of the proposal to both committees Thursday night.
Both panels will meet again at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Jay Middle School to go over the budget.
Energy costs have a significant impact on this budget, Wall said. The cost of heating, electricity and fuel for transportation are significant increases, he said.
Wall said the number of students enrolled this year is 821, a number expected to drop again next year. The school system had 1,053 students enrolled in 1996. It is estimated that 799 will be enrolled in 2006 and 777 enrolled in 2007, due mostly to an aging population, he said.
The proposed budget calls for a reduction of three middle-school teachers, one high-school teacher and half of a custodian position. Also, a kindergarten teacher would be changed to an early childhood teacher to teach 4-year-olds in a pre-kindergarten program at the elementary school.
However, the budget does support adding a music teacher, increasing elementary library by one additional hour a day, adding a technology repair technician and picking up the cost of an education technician who has been paid through federal funds. The school system has at least 300 computers and is expecting to increase that by adding 150 laptops through a state buyout program, Wall said.
The budget proposal also calls for a $20,000 decrease in food services allocation from $60,000 to $40,000, Wall said, as the service becomes more self-sufficient.
Just two years ago, he said, it was $80,000. Years previous, it was more than $100,000.
If the budget is approved with the anticipated funding now, Wall said, there would be a $307,972.49 decrease in local taxes for the school.
Initially, the preliminary budget was proposed at $10.8 million, Wall said, but the administrative team reduced it to $10.46 million.
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