With the fiscal year coming to a close at the end of June, school districts in Warren County are making their best estimates as to budget outcomes in the midst of uncertain financial …
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With the fiscal year coming to a close at the end of June, school districts in Warren County are making their best estimates as to budget outcomes in the midst of uncertain financial times.
Typically, the numbers would be more clear at this juncture. But with the uncertain economic impact of COVID-19, Warren County R-III and Wright City R-II are waiting for feedback from the state as to revenue losses incurred during quarantine and the closing of schools. The fact that districts operated at limited capacity may help balance the numbers.
“Since we’ve been shut down we haven’t had as many expenses,” said R-III Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith. “We should be about where we thought for this year. The tricky part will be budgeting for next year.”
Klinginsmith said revenue from the state will be a major variable for the district, as he anticipates local property tax funds will not be as impacted.
“Moving forward for next year is all speculation,” said Klinginsmith. “This is a real tough year to budget, because we don’t know if we’ll have more revenue coming from the state.”
R-III is expecting to receive about $500,000 from the federal CARES Act relief package to help with setbacks from COVID-19. The district has already applied for and received about 75 percent of those designated funds.
“Our plan is to cover the loss of revenue from this year,” said Klinginsmith. “We’re using our COVID money to cover those losses and free up funds for next year — basically to keep it even this year.”
Wright City is anticipating a setback of about $260,000 in combined withholdings from state revenue. R-II is set to receive $256,000 through the CARES Act, meaning a minimal difference in the outcomes of the budget.
Like R-III, Wright City benefited from reduced expenses with the final two months of school being moved online. Transportation costs were down with a partial fleet being used only for meal delivery.
“We had 45 days where we didn’t have teachers,” said Superintendent Dr. David Buck. “We did still use buses, but not as many with only running 18 for meal services instead of all 26 buses.”
Contrary to Warren County, R-II plans to use its COVID-19 relief in a more forward-looking manner for precautionary modifications related to the pandemic.
“We’re using those funds for things we wouldn’t normally have in our expenses,” said Buck. “There’s a whole laundry list of things that will take up the CARES fund. Our original intent was to help out with expenses created by the pandemic.”
Those expenses include the replacement of punch card time clock systems with touchless key fobs and face shields for cafeteria workers in preparation for the 2020-21 school year.
