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FY24 Proposed Budget | February 7, 2023

Date: Tuesday, February 7, 2023
Subject: FY24 Proposed Budget

Dear District Families,

Work on the fiscal year 2024 (FY24) budget is ramping up, with the school board diving into the FY24 Proposed Budget. Due to the ongoing financial challenges facing our district, we have had to make some difficult decisions regarding reductions to the district budget. Our goal is to minimize, as much as possible, the impact on the classroom and maintain a quality education for our students.

The FY24 Proposed Budget was prepared with a few assumptions:

  • Base Student Allocation increase to $5,960 ($30 increase)

  • Minor decrease in enrollment of 18 students (projected enrollment of 12,625 students)

  • Increase in Local Contribution of $3.4 million (increase in funding from the Borough)

With those assumptions, the school district is facing a $17 million deficit for FY24. The following is a high level summary of what is proposed to balance the budget:

Reductions

Investments

  • PTR increases in all grades

  • 33.0 FTE Teachers, including ELP, Hutch small school allocation, eLearning

  • 31.0 FTE Teaching Assistants, including Math & Literacy and Kindergarten

  • 9.0 FTE Secondary Library Assistants

  • 3.0 FTE High School Grade 6 Secretaries

  • 3.0 FTE High School Safety Assistants

  • 2.5 FTE Health Services Positions

  • 3.0 FTE SMART Positions

  • 1.1 FTE ELL Tutor

  • 1.0 FTE Accountant II

  • 1.0 FTE Communications Specialist

  • 1.0 FTE System Database Administrator

  • Five non-student contact days for school term support staff ($620k)

  • FCSA Contract ($530k)

  • Curriculum materials ($415k)

  • SPED Summer Enrichment ($268k)

  • CEC lease and related custodial ($120k)

  • 3.0 FTE North Star College Staff

  • 1.0 FTE Program Secretary in Alternative Schools & Programs

  • 1.0 FTE Grounds Maintenance

Remaining CARES funding (est. $4.3 million) will be used to pay for 37.0 FTE teachers

Chief Operations Officer Andy Degraw shares about the budget process and challenges the school district faces this year.

For detailed information, the FY24 Proposed Budget document is available at k12northstar.org/budget. The FY24 Recommended Budget will be available April 1, with the FY24 Approved Budget in May-June. Learn more about the budget process.

The school board has several meetings this week and in the future that will include work on the FY24 budget. I encourage you to tune in for an in-depth budget overview at the following scheduled meetings:

  • Tuesday, February 7 at 6pm: School Board Regular Meeting

    • Overview by Chief Operations Officer Andy Degraw

  • Wednesday, February 8 at 5:30pm: School Board Work Session

    • Departments discuss impacts of FY24 budget

  • Monday, February 13 at 5:30pm: School Board Work Session

    • Departments discuss impacts of FY24 budget

Detailed meeting information can be found on the School Board Meeting webpage and you can watch the meetings live at k12northstar.org/WatchBOE. You can also watch School Board meetings afterwards on the School Board youtube playlist.

I’m hopeful we will see additional support from the State to help mitigate some of the reductions we are facing in FY24. The school board and district leadership have been advocating - and will continue to advocate - for increased public education funding. 

Actions you can choose to take to support public education funding include:

If you believe there are cost-saving measures the district has not addressed, you can email the school board at schoolboard@k12northstar.org.

I recognize this is a challenging process for us all. There is uncertainty compounded by the difficult decisions being made to create a balanced budget. We will work to keep you informed as we move through the budget process for FY24. 

All the best,
Karen Melin
Chief School Administrator