In a special meeting on July 11, the Wrangell School Board adopted various amendments to their FY 2019 budget as well as the recently adopted FY 2020 budget. Superintendent Debbe Lancaster said that the 2019 budget needed to be revised to show the actuals for the end of the year, what money was actually made and what was actually spent. Budgets go through various revisions through the school year, she said, and is more or less a constant process of revision to stay as accurate as possible.
“It’s a real dynamic process through the year, until the year ends,” she said.
The FY 2019 budget’s revenues decreased from about $6.48 million to $6.11 million. Expenditures were also set at $6.48 million, but also decreased $5.61 million. These revisions were quickly approved by the school board.
There were several revisions to the FY 2020 budget. These revisions included removing the city’s contribution to the budget, based on the borough assembly’s decision to fund the school fully through SRS money in the amount of $1.3 million. The school’s ADM, or Average Daily Membership, was also decreased from 316 students to 308, with eight special education intensive students. This means a decrease of about $240,000.
The school board approved $482,230 in funds from the district’s emergency 503 fund to be added to revenues. A memo from Business Manager Georgianna Buhler explained this decision adding this to the draft budget allowed the district to file this budget with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development on time. Once all the school’s administrators are back from leave and the school year’s plans are finalized, Buhler recommended that another budget revision be discussed sometime in September.
Other changes to the FY 2020 budget include the removal of two regular aides and a $70,225 cut to student travel expenses, which were put in place previously in case travel by ferry was no longer an option. In all, the total revenues and expenses of this budget are set evenly at $6,232,828.
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