Woodland schools poised to add teachers, raise lunch prices
Thursday, July 17, 2008 10:42 AM PDT
By Leila Summers
Printable version
E-mail this articleWOODLAND — School lunch prices will go up, three additional teachers will be hired and the Woodland School District expects only modest enrollment growth in a budget scheduled for adoption July 28.
A draft 2008-09 budget the school board reviewed Monday night projects an 8.8 percent increase in spending over this year’s budget.
The proposed $21.3 million budget is a $1.7 million increase from this year.
Along with food, fuel expenses also are up this year and will cost the district an extra $200,000, said Stacy Brown, business manager for Woodland Schools.
The district will raise lunch prices 15 cents at the elementary school and 25 cents at the middle and high schools. Even so, the district expects food services to be $4,000 in the red next year.
The district expects enrollment to increase by about 25 students.
The district plans to hire three full-time teachers next year, including two first-grade teachers. Last year the district saw an unusual increase in kindergarten enrollment, Woodland Superintendent Michael Green told the school board on Monday. Staff levels will likely be adjusted for this large class as they move through the system, he said.
The district is adding an English/math teacher at Woodland Middle School, Brown said, and a part-time teaching assistant for math at the middle school.
The district is losing a full-time special education assistant due to the decline in the numbers of special-needs students.
Spending is going up slightly faster than revenues, and the district will balance the budget with $60,000 from the capital projects fund, Brown said.
This is the first year the Legislature is allowing districts to use capital projects money for general fund expenses, and it must be used for technology, Brown said. The district is using the money to purchase software and plans to replenish the capital improvement fund with state forestry funds, she added.
The district also cut $53,000 by purchasing curriculum materials through this year’s budget.
“We already bought it,” Brown said..
The budget includes state-mandated salary increases for teachers and other certified staff (5.1 percent) and classified staff, such as school cooks (4.4 percent).
Employee benefits are up 14 percent from last year. Part of that is due to a sharp increase in retirement costs, Brown said.
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