Van Buren School Board reviews $46.9 million proposed budget

At the June 8 special meeting the Van Buren Public Schools Board of Education held an open public hearing on the proposed $46,925,063 budget for the 2015-16 school year.
The board will vote on the budget at its regular meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, June 22, at the Administration Building.
Copies of the proposed and amended budgets are available to the public at the superintendent’s office.
The five members of the public present at the meeting were not invited to speak at this hearing, but questions from the Independent were answered.
The meeting featured district finance director Shareen Barker spelling out the details of the proposed budget and the amended 2014-15 budget that also will be voted on next Monday.
At the beginning of the public hearing, School Supt. Michael Van Tassel stated he is not proposing major cuts. He said Plymouth district is having to make $5 million in cuts, the Lincoln schools laid off 29 teachers, Ypsilanti is making $2 million in cuts, and Livonia is laying off 40 teachers.
Trustee Sherry Frazier said Van Buren is one of the school districts with a fund balance, pointing to the net fund balance of 9.9% — $4,767,353 – expected on June 30, 2015 and the 10.18% — $4,774,931 – proposed for June 30, 2016.
School Supt. Van Tassel said some of the other districts have fund balances, but they are trying handle their budget problems without dipping into their fund balances.
He said the state looks at the fund equity and student loss in a district and if the fund balance is less than 5% of the general fund, the district is considered in financial trouble.
Barker said the estimate for this budget is a loss of 133 students this fall. In case it’s more than 133, there is an enrollment reserve for a loss of 50 more students, with $376,100 more earmarked in the fund balance.
Barker said the district lost 100 students last year, instead of the 133 forecast, so they did better than expected. The school population for 2014-15 was charted as 5,037. This shows a loss of 1,321 students in the last eight years, which equates to $9.9 million, Barker said.
The proposed budget shows a savings of $735,000 for “staffing adjustments.”
Human Resources Director Shonta Langford-Green explained, saying Van Buren really doesn’t have to do any layoffs because there are enough retirements. The district didn’t have to send out any layoff notices.
She said the $735,000 savings is because retirements were from teachers at the top of the scale. New teachers are at the low end of the scale.
She said they lost custodial maintenance staff during the year and they are working fine without them.
“It’s almost as if it’s not happening,” Green said.
Trustee Frazier asked if people are encouraged to resign to save unemployment costs and Green said anyone can apply for unemployment.
Frazier asked how many people have retired and was told there were nine retirements and a laid-off social worker. Two custodial maintenance positions were not filled and there was a warehouse position, she said.
Also one mechanic retired, she said, noting the district hired an additional $45,000 supervisor last week.
The Food Service fund will have to take $39,785 out of its fund balance to balance next year’s budget because, “Obama’s lunch program continues to turn students off,” said Supt. Van Tassel. He said students are not buying the food the district has to serve and they are bringing their own food.
“It’s not working out real well,” he said of the federal guidelines for school lunches. “If they are not eating and sitting there in class … that’s a concern to us.”
In discussing the debt retirement fund for the 2009 millage that built the high school, Van Tassel said the home property values dropped, thus reducing the millage income. Now, it’s starting to level off, he said.
He said the board decided not to spend all of the bond money and put some back into the debt retirement fund so they wouldn’t have to ask taxpayers for more. He said they blocked it off for a five-year period.
“If we can’t at least level off, eventually we’ll have to force a tax in the community that won’t be popular,” Van Tassel said.
As to the 2009 Building and Site Sinking Fund which is expiring, Van Tassel said the budget is assuming the sinking fund will pass when it is brought back to voters.