For the fifth consecutive year Big Sandy schools will not have a trustee election. There were two trustee positions open this year, a one year term and a three year term. By the April 5, 2018 deadline there were two candidates file for the two positions so the election was officially cancelled. Jeri Roth will be the trustee for the 1 year term and Heather Pleninger will be the new trustee for the three year term. Both trustees will be sworn in at the May reorganization meeting where the board will also select their board chair and vice chair for the upcoming year.
Once again there will not be a mill levy election. In the past 5 years we have only ran one small levy election for the general fund. With the changes made at the previous legislative session and an increase in enrollment in the junior high and high school we are seeing a small increase in our overall general fund. Our general fund will increase about 2.5% from the previous year. Any increase is nice, but that increase does not match inflationary costs of operating the school, so once again we have to be cautious with our expenditures. The main component of school funding is enrollment. On the positive side our enrollment has stayed level over the past five years. In 2013-14 our overall K-12 enrollment was 192 students and today we are currently at 186 students K-12. Our higher enrollment numbers have shifted from the grade school to the high school and if we continue to have incoming kindergarten classes of 15 students our enrollment should continue to remain steady.
Trustees have reviewed the preliminary budget at a previous board meeting and will set the final budget in August. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the budget or budget projections for the upcoming year please don’t hesitate to contact a trustee or administration. Thanks again for your support of the students of Big Sandy schools.
