ROGERS -- A $151 million budget for this school year got a review from Rogers School Board members Thursday night.
The budget will be up for approval Tuesday.
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The Rogers School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Sept. 16 in the Joye R. Kelley Administration building, 500 W. Walnut St.
Last year administrators spent $150,277,593 to run the district, according to a report delivered by Jake Haak, chief financial officer.
This year he estimated it will take $151,111,048 to do the job. That budget has about $9 million from federal programs, $7.8 million to run the school's food service program, $2.3 million in technology and $8 million in donations to clubs and sports. State and local money of $124.6 million will pay salaries for teachers, principals and aides, maintain buildings, keep buses running and pay loans for the existing buildings.
There were some changes in the way state money was divided to school districts, Haak told the board. School districts will be given $6,521 per student this year, up from $6,393 last year. Some categories of per-student money went up, but the state cut the teacher development money Rogers receives from $648,000 last year to $393,000 for this year.
District administrators will keep training teachers and try to make up the difference out of other money, Janie Darr, superintendent, told the board.
Haak described the budget as conservative.
The operating budget has about 2 months of reserve. That is enough to carry the district through the summer payroll when money is not coming in, Darr said.
"You really have to be strategic to achieve that," Haak said.
Jerry Carmichael, board president, said the district had been good stewards of taxpayer money. School finance requires planning because bills and revenue don't always come together.
"On school funding you can't just divide it by 12 and expect it to happen," Carmichael said.
Board members talked about buildings and possible expansion during the meeting.
The big project for next summer will be the outdoor staircases at Rogers High School, Jim White, chief operating officer, told the board.
The metal stairs rust, White said. Repairs were made this summer, but installing concrete stairs will fix the ongoing maintenance issue, White told the board.
Kristen Cobbs, board vice president, broached the topic of a millage increase.
It's her goal to keep ahead of the district's growing enrollment, Darr said.
The state's official tally of average attendance in Rogers last year was 14,723 students. There are more than 15,000 so far this year, Darr said. That number is still in flux, she said.
An official enrollment count from Oct. 1 will be used to form three-, five- and 10-year enrollment projections, Darr said. She plans to appoint a committee to count any empty classrooms, compare them to the projections and form a plan.
"We know it's time to look at that and see where we are and where we need to be," Darr said.
A millage increase will let the district get credit to build for the future, Carmichael said.
"The reality of it is that's something that will probably come," he said of the millage vote.
It might be a few years away, but at some point there will be the need to build again, he said.
Board members discussed the possibility of expanding New Technology High School or expanding the idea to the middle school level. Administrators said they would consider the idea.
"I think it's important to start those discussions about expanding," Cobbs said.
NW News on 09/12/2014