Schools

Novi School Board Discusses Budget Amendment, Elects Officers

"We can't bury our heads in the sand and hope that funding is going to improve," Treasurer Ann Glubzinski said.

At its annual organizational meeting Thursday night, the Novi Board of Education discussed a budget amendment to the 2011-12 school year, which shows the district gaining more and spending less than the administration had predicted. 

The majority of the increases in revenue came from $100 per pupil the district got for completing its Best Practices, which is a checklist of items the state asked districts to complete in return for the funding.

Budget Amendment Summary

Original Budget Budget Amendment I Revenue $66,691,333 $68,074,383 Expenditures $70,588,308 $70,013,118 Revenue under expenditures ($3,896,975) ($1,938,735) Beginning fund balance as of July 1, 2011 $9,396,547 $11,527,101 Budgeted ending fund balance for June 30, 2012 $5,499,572 $9,588,366

Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Steve Barr cautioned that despite the amendment showing more revenue and less spending than originally planned, the budget remains very tight. The budget amendment will be officially adopted by the board at its Jan. 19 meeting. A second budget amendment will be brought to the board in June.

Find out what's happening in Noviwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

He also presented the board with some rough projections for the budgets for the next few school years. Barr said he made predictions based on the best numbers he has available now but noted that they do not reflect any changes in funding from the state, teacher salary increases or changes in enrollment.

The projections for 2012-13 do include increases in the retirement rate and increases in salaries.

Find out what's happening in Noviwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Forecasted Budget Summary: 2011-12 to 2014-15

2010-11 Actual 2011-12 Projection 2012-13 Projection 2013-14 Projection 2014-15 Projection Beginning fund balance $9,526,455 $11.527.101
$9,588,366 $4,591,397 $209,428 Revenue 69,963,788
68,074,383 66,653,599 66,653,599 66,653,599 Expenditures
67,963,142
70,013,118 71,650,568 71,035,568 71,825,568 Revenue over (under) expenditures 2,000,646
(1,938,735) (4,996,969) (4,381,969) (5,171,969) Ending fund balance $11,527,101
$9,588,366 $4,591,397 $209,428 ($4,962,541) Ending fund balance as percent of expenditures 16.96%
13.70% 6.41% 0.29% -6.91%

Barr said a lack of funding from the state and a decrease in enrollment are the two biggest factors hurting the budget.

Kindergarten enrollment numbers are at their lowest since 1996-97. Enrollment peaked in 1990-91 with 450 students and is at 384 this year. Michigan schools also continue to face cuts in funding from the government.

"As sad as the news is, we can't bury our heads in the sand and hope that funding is going to improve over the next year and that we can just continue business as usual — because there's nothing that's business as usual, unfortunately, with Michigan's economy," said Treasurer Ann Glubzinski.

Barr said the administration will spend the next few months reviewing everything in the district to look for savings.

Superintendent Dr. Steve Matthews said the district will also have to focus on adjusting salaries and benefits while still maintaining educational quality.

"I would remind you, as Mr. Barr noted, that salaries and benefits constitute 84 percent of our budget," Matthews said. "So we can cut around the edges, but the reality is we have to look at salaries and benefits."

Board of Education Officers Elected

  • President: Bruce Bagdaddy (re-elected)
  • Vice president: Dennis O'Connor (re-elected)
  • Secretary: Bobbie Murphy
  • Treasurer: Jason Manar


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