Mount Vernon school district’s budget for the upcoming 2023-24 school year is $2,748,393 less than its budget for the just completed 2022-23 school year.
The district’s fiscal year runs each year from July 1 through June 30 of the following year.
The budget for this past 2022-23 school year (fiscal year 2023) was $33,179,259.
The budget for the upcoming 2023-24 school year (fiscal year 2024) is $30,430,866.
The school board voted unanimously at its April meeting this spring to approve the new amount for next school year.
In addition, the district’s certified enrollment—including open enrollment into the district—has declined slightly for the past three school years, though it is not declining by 20 or more students a year like some districts are, said school district treasurer Michael Marshall.
District enrollment of residential students has gone from 1,122.4 in fiscal year 2022 (school year 2021-22), to 1,119.5 in fiscal year 2023 (school year 2022-23), to 1,111.2 in the 2024 fiscal year (school year 2023-24).
Along with the decrease in student enrollment has come a decrease in the percentage of total per student funding the district receives each year from the state. This results in the district getting lower and lower amounts of funding from the state each year.
From the 2021-22 to 2022-23 school years, the district had an increase of $186 (2.57 percent) in state funding per student but lost 2.9 students from the previous year, resulting in an actual funding increase of just 2.31 percent for the year.
From the 2022-23 to 2023-24 school years, the district had a further loss of 8.3 additional students, which lowered the student enrollment to 1,111.2 students.
At the same time, the district’s regular program district cost increased $185,158 in fiscal year 2023-24, or 2.2 percent compared to fiscal year 2022-23.
In addition, the combined district cost increased by $304,562 in fiscal year 2023-24—an increase of 2.7 percent compared to fiscal year 2022-23.
Superintendent Greg Batenhorst noted that if the district continues increasing its spending each year by only such small amounts, “all new money will be eaten up by teacher salaries and benefits.”
For example, the district’s projected maximum spending in fiscal year 2024—without a drop in its unspent authorized balance—would be $16,863,818, and 83 percent of that would go to salaries, which can’t be cut, Batenhorst said.
Future considerationsBatenhorst noted considerations that will affect future budgets include:
• Enrollment growth. The district estimates conservatively that it will get about 2.5 new students per year.
• State supplemental aid amounts. The district has no idea what these will be in the future, Batenhorst said.
• State funding, including the voucher bill. State legislators think education is getting too much funding now, and decreased the amount this year, Batenhorst noted. He added that it remains to be seen what the legislators will do in the future.
• Property valuations. These will increase a bit but not substantially, and schools will get only “a percent of a percent” of the increase,” said Batenhorst.