Wayland Union Schools officials believe most sincerely the district continues to be on a roll as it heads into the 2018-19 academic and fiscal year.
The Era of Good Feeling, almost 200 years ago associated with the presidency of James Monroe, is prompted by continued improvement in the schools’ financial condition, a bunch of positive developments outlined in “Points of Pride” by Curriculum Director Theresa Fulk, a projected 12.17% fund balance for next year’s budget, the start of construction projects and the local teachers’ union expressing gratitude for nice pay raises for the next two years.
“There’s a lot of positive things going on here academically, and it’s not just because of the casino,” said Superintendent Norm Taylor.
The Gun Lake Casino contributes about $1.6 million annually in revenue sharing to the district, but that money is not absorbed into the general fund, but instead pays for enrichment programs.
Finance Director Patricia Velie gave school board members a sneak peek at the proposed 2018-19 budget, saying there will be $31,291,973 in projected revenue, $31,122,893 in expenditures for a $169,080 surplus, and a fund balance of $3,788,899.
Of course, all of the figures are only projected because the district does not know what the state has in store for per-pupil funding and it isn’t known yet how many more students Wayland will have next fall.
Velie told board members her budget projections were based on an addition of 25 students.
In other business at Monday night’s meeting, the board:
• Agreed to a bid of $57,100 from the Architectural Group for replacing the baseball. football, soccer and softball scoreboards.
• Decided to renew a three-year contract for $57,000 with Spectrum Health for athletic training services, despite a 13 percent jump in costs in the first year.
“I think our athletic trainer (Amanda Smit) has a good rapport with our athletes,” said board member Teresa Dobry. “And she gets things done.”
• Learned from Velie that the $1.5 million food service budget for the past year showed a profit of more than $98,000. She insisted things are getting better because the quality of the food is getting better.
• Approved hiring Maintenance Supervisor John Huyck at $40 an hour to handle additional oversight of the construction projects this summer. Velie said the district spent $139,000 for oversight several years ago on the science wing, but she prefers hiring someone in the district with a keen eye toward the quality and efficiency on behalf of the local schools.
• Agreed to contract once again with United Bank for cash flow borrowing against state aid. Velie said, “I expect the interest rate will be well under the market rate, as usual.”
The Wayland Board of Education will have a public hearing at 5:45 p.m. Monday, June 18, on the proposed budget. The meeting will be held at administration building.
