How is a school budget developed in Mt. Ephraim?

Budgeting is an ongoing process that begins for the next school year at the conclusion of the annual school audit of the prior (completed) school year while the current school year is in progress!

We begin with a zero-based budget.  That is, we build a budget from the ground up, justifying each expense by reviewing prior history, current needs and known/anticipated future needs.

Education is a people business and salaries and benefits are the largest recurring investment in our school budget. 

In early Fall staffing levels and contractual obligations are reviewed.  Each staff position is justified based on enrollment, specific compliance with the law and other pertinent criteria.  Teacher and paraprofessional salaries are defined by their respective current negotiated agreements; other support staff by approved salary guides.  These tools provide a reliable staffing list, which is then reviewed and refined right up to the final presentation of the proposed budget.

Employee benefits include health insurance as well as pension contributions set by the state, tuition reimbursements and other benefits established by negotiated agreements. 

Our insurance broker begins seeking insurance carriers in the late Fall with final premium rates established by June which is, of course, beyond the time of the budget vote.  Therefore, our broker provides us with an estimated increase each year.

Another large ticket item in our budget is student tuition.  The Board office tracks enrollment, on a monthly basis, for all tuition students, special education as well as regular education.  A head count of all high school students is taken as of January 1st and this number of actual enrolled students is the basis for our agreement with Audubon and Camden County Vocational School for the coming school year.  Estimated tuition rates for private schools serving special education students are established by the state.

The state certifies the actual tuition rate for each receiving district and a tuition adjustment is then calculated resulting in a refund or an additional charge to the sending district.  For 2009-2010, Mt. Ephraim is required to pay a tuition adjustment of $120,882 to the Audubon School District.

Fixed costs such as debt service, equipment leases, state agency registration fees (elevators, boilers, medical waste generator), inspection fees, etc. are recorded in the proposed budget. 

Items for which costs are not fixed include such things as utilities, special ed transportation, election expenses, communications (postage, phones), trash removal, water/sewerage, etc. and are budgeted based on prior history and a “best guess” at future costs. 

Maintenance costs are always a big question mark in the budget plan.  The maintenance supervisor position was established in the 2005-2006 budget with the idea that doing our repairs “in house” would save us money.  This has proven to be dramatically true.  Mr. Blaylock has literally saved the district thousands of dollars in repair costs as well as instituting preventive measures to head off costly repairs.  He has replaced heating coils in hvac units, saved us service calls to plumbers, installed/repaired water fountains, replaced/repaired door handles, installed/repaired lighting fixtures, etc.  He has also identified better/less costly vendors and sources of supplies and materials. 

A very small part of the budget is “discretionary” and includes such items as general supplies, workshops and professional development programs.

All of these pieces of the budget are put together to develop a plan, which is then reviewed and refined to strike a balance to serve all school and community constituents. 

In light of the financial climate in the state, we have further sharpened our pencils and are presenting a budget this evening that is 3% more than 2008-2009, a total increase of $268,611; $235,047 of which is in tuition costs.