The fund balance fo
r the Wayland Union school district continues to get healthier, but the school board Monday night was told expenses seem inevitable for technology infrastructure.
Scott Getter, who serves both the Wayland and Hopkins districts as technology director, told board members that a lot of infrastructure, such as switches and servers, “are reaching the end of life” and will need to be replaced as early as next year.
When asked by Board President Nancy Thelen how long such items generally last, he replied about 10 years and this equipment was approaching eight to nine years in age.
Getter said he will put together a proposal for the board in January. He said the good news was that with grants and the competitive bidding process, there’s a good chance about $300,000 worth of equipment may be obtained for between $43,000 and $80,000 because of discounts and grants.
The bad news was received at the same time Finance Director Bill Melching said revised budget estimates at the midway point in the fiscal year show the schools bringing in about $339,000 in revenue over expenses, pushing the all-important fund balance to about $2.7 million, or about 8.46% of the budget. This, he said compares favorably with the low fund balance of less than 7.5% less than two years ago.
Melching said several factors are driving the financial improvements, including higher than expected enrollment and state aid, reduction in heating and snow plowing costs in a mild winter thus far and decreases in costs for fuel and natural gas.
Also on a positive note, Melching said the district will be able to refinance its bond payments between now and 2025, down to slightly less than 3 percent, which will save Wayland schools an additional $1.2 million.
PHOTO: The school board Monday night was serenaded with a special holiday performance by the Wayland High School Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Kelli Smith. They performed “Big Noise from the North Pole,” a takeoff of the old 1940s jazz standard, “Big Noise from Winnetka.”
