MONTAGUE — Montague Area Public Schools' director of business affairs Stacey Brown gave the board a budget update during Monday's regular meeting.
Brown noted that the budget has changed since it was originally passed over the summer without any districts knowing what state allocations would be to school districts. She said the projected revenue is $560,000 higher than budgeted, with projected expenses now set to be $230,000 higher.
The increased revenues are due to the per-pupil state allocations being higher than were budgeted - $10,050. However, Brown also emphasized the increased expenses, referring to the "shell game" of state school funding. The increased expenses are largely related to the costs of running some of the at-risk programs; the state allocated money to districts for those programs, but that doesn't account for the additional costs to run them.
Brown's update also referred to a slight increase in the athletics budget, which is due to the new soccer scoreboard's installation set to take place in the spring.
In the long term, the district will need to be mindful, Brown said, of the declining enrollment trends in the district; there were 1,407 students in the districts in 2020-21 and are 1,268 this year. There is also, she said, an ongoing issue of maintenance and repair work needing to be done in the district. This year the district's fund balance will be about $2.1 million, or 10.2% of the budget, which Brown said isn't sustainable in the long term, but efforts to cut expenses will be made.
One example of those cuts was presented Monday; the district had previously considered a resurfacing of the track, but after a consultant took a look at it and said it was not necessary right now, the idea was shelved for the moment.
The board did not make a decision on whether to opt out of state funding for mental health and safety grants. The funding has been a source of controversy in the state because the state budget includes a provision that those accepting the funding waive any privilege to protect public disclosure of information if there is a "mass casualty event." A group of about three dozen district superintendents filed suit against Michigan last month, stating the provision is unconstitutional. While the case is in progress, superintendent Jeffrey Johnson said districts have until the end of this month to opt out of the funds, which he said would amount to about $187,000 for the Montague district. He said a Dec. 19 hearing will create more clarity about the case.
Johnson added that the City of Montague has received a conditional commitment for future infrastructure money as part of the Safe Routes to School initiative. The funding would enable the city to plan for future sidewalk improvements, and the construction would take place in spring 2028. Johnson said the district has plans in place to utilize the additional sidewalks if all goes according to plan.
The board gave unanimous approval to a deal with DNS Creations for an amount not to exceed $2,500. The graphic design company will provide services to several extracurricular groups in the district, including the varsity volleyball team and the Hope Squad. Board policy required approval for the deal because the company is owned by NBC teacher Dawn Bectel. The board discussed the importance of making sure everything was being handled in an aboveboard manner due to the potential conflict of interest.
Unanimous approval also came down to approving the 2024-25 single audit. The late approval was due to the federal government's late release of supplementary materials.
