By Gary Lloyd
The Trussville City Board of Education on Monday approved its budget for the 2014 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2014.
The budget will be an “extreme, lean” budget, said Trussville City Schools Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations Jim Kirkland.
The budget projects budgeted revenues and other fund sources Oct. 1 of $8,459,810 and a budgeted expenditures and other fund uses Sept. 30, 2014, of $9,980,147.05. That difference of $1,520,337.05 is about $1 million less than a year ago. Kirkland said that means the school system is reducing its deficit spending by about $1 million compared to last year. This would leave the budgeted ending fund balance on Sept. 30, 2014, at $7,329, 230.52.
Kirkland said the school system has reduced its deficit spending despite approving a 1 percent pay raise for the 2013-2014 school year earlier this summer. The Alabama Senate approved a 2 percent pay raise for K-12 education employees in May.
The 1 percent pay raise the board approved equates to 5,638 and is all Trussville City Schools funding, Superintendent Pattie Neill said in June.
“That’s big,” Kirkland said.
Neill said despite decreasing the school system’s budget, increasing the teachers’ pay feels like the system got a raise.
“That’s incredible,” Neill said.
The budget projects enrollment at Hewitt-Trussville High School to be 1,365, at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School to be 997, at Paine Intermediate School to be 952 and at Paine Primary School to be 858. It states that the average teaching experience for a Trussville City Schools teacher is 13 years.
Kirkland said the approved budget is a “straightforward budget.” Board President Bill Roberts said that after this year, the school system will still have a “healthy reserve,” though he hopes that two budget approvals from now Trussville City Schools will have a balanced budget. Kirkland said that’s a possibility, assuming no unforeseen circumstances or state proration.
Monthly financial reports are available at www.trussvillecityschools.com.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.