Fayetteville School Board reviews budget

FAYETTEVILLE -- Superintendent Paul Hewitt put a high priority on planning for a pay raise for School District staff in this year's budget, he said.

The School District hasn't provided a raise since 2008, Hewitt said.

Hewitt wants to give teachers a $1,000 pay raise, but the proposal will take a few months to enact because it requires approval from staff and the School Board, he said. The raise would be in addition to the annual bump in pay teachers receive as they move up the district's salary schedule.

The proposed budget for 2015-16 will go to the board Thursday. School districts must report their budgets to the Arkansas Department of Education by Sept. 30.

The proposed budget of $97,568,861 is about a 1 percent increase in spending compared with the 2014-15's $96,661,511. The 2015-16 budget would set aside $900,000 for a teacher raise; would provide $100,000 to start a fund for replacing items, such as furniture; and includes a transfer of $734,563 to the district's building fund.

The district in January refinanced a bond that included an accelerated savings program that produced additional revenue for the building fund, said Kathy Hanlon, the district's chief financial officer. The money must be spent on buildings, Hanlon said.

Hanlon adjusted the way money flows to campuses.

Last school year, campuses received a lump sum of money per student that paid for campus purchases, including field trips, library books, building repairs, computers and classroom supplies.

This year, campuses will receive a reduced amount of money per student, but the building budgets will no longer have to include money for building repair, furniture, computers, paper copies, library books or field trips, Hanlon said. The district will take care of building costs and technology purchases, and campuses will receive additional money for library books and field trips.

Hewitt said, "Their buying power has increased."

All schools will receive $6 per pupil for their libraries and $15 per student for field trips, Hanlon said. Elementary schools will receive $55 per student, down from $59.43; middle schools and junior high schools will receive $85 per student, down from $94.05; and the high school will receive $95 per student, down from $98.40.

School Board member Susan Heil asked Hanlon about how teachers would pay for implementing a new approach to curriculum.

Hanlon said if the new strategy requires a classroom set of blocks, for example, the money would come from the building allocation, but if the new strategy was more involved, staff would have to consult central administration for a larger expense, such as for training, software or new lab space.

"They should have the money they need," Hanlon said.

The School Board approved a new copier contract over the summer that will reduce copier bills, Hanlon said. The campuses were paying 4 cents a page for black-and-white copies and 10 cents a page for color copies. The campuses now have black-and-white copy machines that will cost them one-third of a penny per page. The district still has two color copiers available, but teachers will have to plan ahead for color copies, she said.

The School District in 2014-15 spent $1.2 million on substitute teachers, an expense Hanlon said she hopes to reduce for 2015-16.

Hanlon said district administrators will evaluate the policy on the number of days teachers can be absent for personal reasons and how substitutes are used.

Changes in how items are categorized in the budget has left School Board members without a way to compare the 2015-16 budget to past budgets, School Board member Bryn Bagwell said. She asked Hewitt and Hanlon to consider providing some benchmarks to help board members in tracking the budget through the school year.

NW News on 08/21/2015