Superintendent Debbe Lancaster explaining some of the district's budget assumptions during a community meeting over the budget process and the schools' strategic plan.
School officials held a community meeting Monday to learn more about what the public feels is important for the Wrangell School District. The district is currently undergoing its budgeting process for the new school year. The first draft of the FY 2021 budget has revenues set at about $5.5 million and expenditures of slightly under $6.3 million.
About 75 percent of the budget comes from the state of Alaska, according to Superintendent Debbe Lancaster. In a school board meeting on Jan. 20, it was reported that the state contribution to the budget is expected to be around $4 million.
Of the entire budget, Lancaster said that about 70 percent is spent on "instruction expenses," meaning the money goes towards helping students learn and prepare for the future. The remaining 30 percent is for non-instruction expenses. For the current budget, she provided as an example, $4.3 million in expenses are projected for instruction, while an additional $2 million is projected for non-instruction.
Lancaster said that they were not holding the meeting to discuss budget cuts, or which programs deserved funding more than other programs, this was just to get input on what priorities the community has. Lancaster went over some of the assumptions the district is making with the budget so far. The budget will be based on a student body of 316 kids, she said. Student enrollment has been slowly increasing the past few years, from a low of 269 in FY 2014, after years of general decline since FY 1995.
Among other assumptions, the district is anticipating the same local contribution from the City and Borough of Wrangell as last year. They are also expecting a little over $300,000 in carryover to the next budget, and want to have one full-time counselor in both the elementary and secondary schools next year.
"Health [insurance] increases 10 percent," Lancaster added. "We don't know, that's what our insurance company told us, we don't know ... A property insurance increase, I haven't heard that as a complete and final word yet, so that's even another unknown."
The public also got a chance to look at the district's strategic plan. This is a document that was put together to outline Wrangell's overarching goals over five years. The current strategic plan covers the years 2018 to 2023, outlining five goals and a series of strategies to meet them: Student learning, stakeholder satisfaction, employee development, administrative support systems, and fiscal responsibility.
Around the room the meeting was held in, at Evergreen Elementary School, Lancaster had sheets of the strategic plan taped to the wall. She asked that everyone look at the strategic plan and the budget assumptions she had outlined, and write down their priorities on sticky notes, and stick them to the walls next to the part of the strategic plan they most corresponded with. The budget and the strategic plan go together hand-in-hand, Lancaster said. The strategic plan outlines the goals the district is striving for, which means it plays an important role in their budgeting process. That was why they wanted to know which parts of the strategic plan the community was most interested in.
"I want you to go to the various parts of the strategic plan and I want you to make suggestions, demands, requests, that sort of thing," Lancaster said, explaining the reasoning behind the sticky notes. "Some people don't feel like speaking up in public, and some people will say something that inspires an accolade of following comments and pretty soon we're only talking about one thing, and people don't get to share their voice."
The sticky notes left by community members held a variety of different priorities. Some asked for extra help for students falling behind in their studies, while others requested extra options be provided for gifted students who were excelling. One sticky note also suggested that the district provide a workshop for the student body, so they could learn about the budgeting process, how activities get funded, and how student handbooks get made. Another sticky note proposed the schools reach out to the community for their expertise, providing students with potential internships, work experience, and other educational opportunities. Yet another note asked that the district create a position for a homeschool coordinator and a homeschooling program within the district.
The student body was not the only focus of concern from the public. There were plenty of sticky notes regarding teachers and school staff, as well. Some of the suggestions included increased Skype or online training opportunities for staff and more team building exercises. The public also wants increased transparency and involvement in the budgeting process.
A second draft of the budget is scheduled to go before the school board on Feb. 17. The deadline for a final draft to be submitted for state approval is May 29.
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