Deficit school budget approved

The Vandalia Board of Education on Tuesday passed a deficit budget for the current year that shows estimated revenues of $13,712,409 and estimated expenditures of $14,837,305.
That $1,124,896 shortfall will be covered by the district’s operating fund balance (which currently stands at $4,097,390).
Superintendent Rich Well said that the deficit resulted from a combination of factors – a decrease of nearly $1 million in federal and state funds, and an increase in the cost of supplies and services needed by the district.
 “This kind of year is the reason we’ve worked so hard to put money away and create a fund balance,” Well said.
“We will monitor this all year long, and if we have to make some decisions, we will.”
Part of the reason for a downturn in state aid is because enrollment in the district has dropped about 50 students from last year – to a total of 1,491 this year.
That drop results in a decrease of general state aid of $271,678, according to a presentation Tuesday night by district Business Manager Lori Meseke.
With the exception of a couple years of slight gains, the district’s enrollment has been trending downward for the past 15 years. For instance, the 1996-97 enrollment was 1,892. The enrollment 10 years ago was 1,795.
Meseke’s presentation indicated that the education, operations and maintenance, and the transportation funds will likely have deficit spending this year.
Well said that the district has made about a $6-million turnaround in the past five years – going from a $2-million deficit to a $4-million surplus.
He said that during the past five years, the district has been watching its expenses and placing money in a rainy-day fund to help cover shortfalls such as this – and to avoid the expense of borrowing money to bridge the gap during times of the year when the district is waiting for tax revenues to come in.
For instance, though the budget year started on July 1, the school district won’t receive its first installment of county property tax revenues until the end of September.
And funding from the state has been sporadic in recent years – with many payments coming late, and some not coming at all.
“We’ve got to be ultra-observant on the numbers,” Well said after the meeting. “We’ll battle it like we’ve done every year. We must be prepared, and we must be watchdogs of our money.”
For the purpose of making the budget as realistic as possible, Well said that the revenues were estimated low and the expenditures were estimated high. Thus, he’s hoping the actual performance comes out better than the budget.
After about 25 minutes, the budget hearing was adjourned and the school board began its regular monthly meeting.
During that meeting, the board heard reports from building principals and from Well.
Well noted that parent/teacher conferences will be held Sept. 29-30 at the high school, junior high and OKAW Area Vocational Center. Conferences at the primary school and elementary school won’t be held until Oct. 27-28.
Also on the calendar is the all-school alumni banquet on Oct. 1 at the Crawford-Hale American Legion Home.
VCHS Principal Randy Protz said that Dr. Elizabeth Ladin will talk to high school students about suicide prevention on Wednesday, Oct. 12. She also will be doing a presentation for the public at 6 p.m. that evening in the VCHS gymnasium.
Well also noted that e-mail addresses for district faculty and staff have been changed to say “vandals” rather than “fayette.”  For instance, Well’s address now is rwell@vandals.k12.il.us; it previously was rwell@fayette.k12.il.us.
At the end of the meeting, the board took the following action:
• Approved bids for oil and tires. Oil: Knapp Oil, $1,231.45. Tires: South Central FS, $15,096 for one type of tire and $21,064 for another type.
• Approved the employment of VCHS boys basketball assistant coaches – Lucas Benning and Mitch Johnson.
• Approved an amendment to the lease with an option to purchase between the district and Midland States Bank.
• Approved the resignation of Shelly Forys as fifth- and sixth-grade student council sponsor.
• Approved the assignment of Annette McClintock and Lee Hicks as fifth- and sixth-grade student council co-sponsors.
• Approved the employment of Bryan Hobbie and Gena Nance as VCHS girls basketball assistant coaches.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:57 p.m.