USD 333 board approves 2023-2024 budget
A proposed 2023-2024 operating budget was approved by the Unified School District 333 board of education during its regular meeting on Monday night.
Following a brief budget hearing, the board of education approved a budget that calls for an estimated tax rate of 46.980 mills. That is a slight increase of .499 mills from the actual tax rate of 46.481 mills for 2022-2023. It is down from the 2021-2022 tax rate of 47.234 mills.
The budget calls for $9,804,228 in general fund expenditures with a tax rate of 20 mills that is set by the state.
General fund expenditures for 2022-2023 were $9,447,323.
Proposed supplemental general (LOB) expenditures for 2023-2024 are $3,297,319 with a tax rate of 17.431.
The 2023-2024 budget includes $1,761,385 in capital outlay expenditures with a tax rate of 8 mills.
Before approving the budget, the school board had a revenue-neutral rate hearing and then approved a revenue-neutral rate resolution by a roll call vote of 4-0.
Board members Kevin Pounds and Jenny Parker were not in attendance.
The revenue-neutral rate is the mill levy rate to generate the exact same amount of property tax dollars as the year before, using the current tax year's total assessed valuation.
If a taxing jurisdiction plans to use more in tax dollars in the next budget year compared to the current year, it is obligated to have a public hearing and pass a resolution.
A resolution stating that the board is authorized to make a local option percentage of 33 percent for the 2023-2024 school year was also approved during the meeting.
The board approved appointing Brad Berk as the vice president.
Tony Miller has been the vice president but resigned from the board after being hired as a Concordia High School assistant football coach.
Included in the certified staff changes approved by the board was the hiring of Kimberly Peterson as a full-time substitute teacher.
Kim Muff, USD 333 Education Fund director/grant writer, presented a report to the board members about grants awarded to support ongoing efforts by the Cloud County Kids Coalition to address that childcare needs in the area.
The Cloud County Kids Coalition has been established to help the community recognize early childhood needs and collectively build solutions to serve all families who live in the county.
Cloud County faces a growing shortage of childcare for ages birth through five and the trend affects not only children but also parents, families, and employers.
Muff reported that Child Care Aware has awarded a $2,000 grant to help extend the coalition that has been created with the school district and the preschools and childcare providers in the area.
“We want to be part of the solution to childcare, the challenges that we have with that,” Muff said.
The grant funds will allow the coalition to host two workshops, one in the fall and one in the spring, that will include Kansas Department of Health and Education-approved certification classes for childcare providers.
Child Care Aware also awarded a grant of $45,000. Those funds will be used to put together resource kits that will go to the childcare providers and preschools in the county and to purchase curriculum materials for all of the preschools.
USD 333 superintendent of schools Quentin Breese reported that he had received news last Friday that the Head Start program in Cloud County had closed because it couldn't find enough help.
“It has all of us superintendents scrambling a little bit,” Breese said.
Muff said that data from Child Care Aware last month showed that there were 148 children in the county without spots with childcare providers.
“That was before Head Start closed, so I can't imagine what it is going to be now in Cloud County. It is a pretty important situation that we all have to help out with,” Muff said.
The Cloud County Kids Coalition is conducting a Child Care in Cloud County survey to learn more about the needs. It will run through 2023 and can be accessed by phone or computer as a weblink and QR code. The survey will run through September 30.
The board met in executive session for 10 minutes with Breese and Concordia Middle School principal Curtis Noon to discuss matters relating to action affecting a student. No action was taken following the session.