September 11, 2023 at 5:30 PM - Board of Education Budget Hearing

Rationale:  The Norfolk Public School District's board of education meeting is called to order.
 

Rationale:  If any board member is absent, there will need to be a  motion to excuse the absence.

Rationale:  This is a legal meeting of the board of education, as advertised by the means specified in board policy. A complete copy of the Open Meetings Act is posted in the board room for your review. A copy of the agenda is available at the desk of the recording secretary.

Rationale: 

Welcome to the Budget Hearing for the 2023-2024 school year. The purpose of this hearing is to give taxpayers the opportunity to provide support, opposition, criticism,  suggestions or observations regarding our proposed budget.  This hearing is for the budget only; other items will not be discussed.  (We will hold a separate Tax Hearing at the conclusion of this Budget Hearing...and we will offer a public comment section during our Regular Board meeting for other topics.)

At this time, I will provide a brief review of budget items (which were previously shared in detail during our Board Workshop). Then, the Board will provide an opportunity for public comment. The adoption of the budget will take place by a vote during the Sept. 28th Board meeting -- not at this hearing. 

The attached budget includes all the estimated resources for each fund, including cash reserves.  The district does not anticipate the need to expend all of those dollars this fiscal year, but is required to budget all of it within our expenditures -- in order to account for all resources available in each fund.
 
Our General Fund is our largest and most used fund. It includes all expenses related to staffing, instruction, transportation, maintenance, utilities, technology, contracted services, repairs, etc.   This proposed $71,273,359 budget of expenditures is supplemented via cash reserves in order to minimize the impact of  the large increases we have experienced in costs related to staff salaries and benefits, transportation, utilities, and contracted services.

This budget includes $61,505,256 in actual expenditures and $9,708,103 in cash reserves (which we do not plan to expend). Overall, this budget includes a conservative 2.68%  ($1,861,885.) increase. 

As in past years, the largest portion of our general budget (82.81%) is for staff salaries and benefits. Transportation costs and utility costs have also increased, and we have new contracts with the City and the hospital for services that were provided to us at no charge in previous years.

It is also worth noting that significant amounts have been expended out of our depreciation and special building funds, as we have completed the Junior High, Bel Air, and Lincoln Elementary construction projects.  This trend will continue, as we are budgeting for the completion of a large construction project at the Middle School. The same is true of our QCPUF fund budget.

We will hold a separate Tax Hearing upon the conclusion of this Budget Hearing, but I do want to note that this proposed budget will allow us to recommend a half-cent levy reduction.