School district approves budgets for next school years
By Paul Hall on Friday, June 4th, 2021 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – The La Grande School District met Wednesday night and approved the budget for the 2021-2022 school year. Information that was discussed from the LGSD on the break-down of the districts budgets.
The 2021-2022 General Fund Budget of $27,070,982 is a modest increase of $252,604 over the prior year budget of $26,818,378 and falls significantly short of covering the existing payroll rollup costs and the impacts of inflation. The total 2021-22 budget of $44,345,688 reflects an increase of $3,180,211 over the prior year budget of $41,165,476 and the use of federal funds to help cover these increased costs.
This budget reflects the Strategic Plan priorities set by the Board of Directors and our staff, students, parents, and community. In addition, our proposed budget is built to address declining enrollment, which creates a reduction of our state school fund. Our budget also addresses numerous priorities that will address the current context of our state and community due to the impact of the pandemic.
Key Priorities:
· We are planning to return to school in an in-person, full-time, daily model. Same for all clubs, sports, activities, etc.
· CDL has not been determined to be a requirement by our state, LGSD does not intend to offer CDL unless required to do so.
· LGSD will continue to offer full online learning options. We also have a Home Link program as well as blended learning models that are a combination of brick and mortar and online learning.
· The social-emotional health of our students and their safety and well-being is always critical, now more than ever.
· Summer School and after school programs will be essential to our program and services over the next 3-5 years.
Multiple funding sources will need to be braided with our core services in the General Fund in order to meet our goal of getting students back to five days of in-person instruction and carry out our financial recovery plan.
This budget keeps our organization moving forward, yet continues to allow the flexibility to be agile and responsive when unexpected pressures come our way. We must provide an ongoing commitment to our families and community with our resources as we prepare for a future beyond COVID-19. Declining enrollment will be a challenge that we are prepared to address with contingencies that we have placed in our budget.
This budget highlights La Grande School District’s ongoing commitment to ensure every student receives the best opportunities to achieve success, K-12 and beyond. I continue to appreciate the wise and intentional leadership of our School Board and Business Director as we begin this new budget year in a strong financial position with an estimated $3.35 million ending fund balance for the 2020-21 fiscal year.In summary, LGSD is implementing a budget based on an Oregon state school fund budget of 9.3 Billion. Due to the impact of the pandemic, LGSD will be implementing a general fund budget that is roughly $252,604 more than the previous year. LGSD is $1.1 million under budget due to roll-up costs for services, compensation, and insurance benefits. Next school year LGSD will be underfunded by at least 60 students due to the anticipated enrollment decline, which accounts for $516,000 of this reduction. We are making up for these losses by carrying forward $669,663 in savings from 2020/21 and utilizing Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) and SIA funds to retain positions. As a reminder, ESSER funds are one-time funds that we can use for 2 years and are not sustainable for use after September 2024.
