The East Grand School District (EGSD) Board of Education approved a revised budget for the upcoming school year during the late January Board meeting held on Jan. 19.

According to East Grand’s Finance Director Donette Schmiedbauer the changes are required by the Colorado Department of Education and are tied primarily to personnel costs and per-pupil funding levels received by the school district from the state. East Grand is anticipating a decrease in revenues to the district by $127,000 for the coming school year. According to Schmiedbauer, the reduction is due to a decrease in the actual number of Full Time Equivalent (FTE) students by five at Indian Peaks Charter School and a reduction of 16 FTE students from the rest of the schools in the EGSD.

The decrease in revenues corresponds to a projected decrease in expenditures of $122,000 for the coming school year. That expenditure decrease is an overall total for all schools within the district. Fraser Valley Elementary (FVE) is expected to see an increase of $94,000 in expenditures over previously projected totals for next school year.

According to Schmiedbauer half of the expenditure increase for FVE is derived from the addition of a Special Ed teacher to the school. A portion of the increase was caused by a change in the Counselor budget line. The district received funds from Northwest BOCES to help with counseling needs that adjusted the overall total.

The other half of the expenditure increase at FVE was caused by an initial misallocation of budgeted funds to Granby Elementary (GE) instead of FVE. “The position should have been budgeted to FVE in the original budget but I had the position budgeted in GE,” Schmiedbauer stated.

Granby Elementary is set to see an overall decrease in expenditures of $111,000. “Approximately $40k is due to a Title I teacher/ para position not being rehired but in the original budget,” Schmiedbauer stated. “Another $45k was due to the misbudgeting of a position between FVE and GE.” The remaining $25k in budgetary decrease at GE was caused by hiring new workers at lower pay rates than what was initially planned for in the budget.

East Grand Middle School (EGMS) will see an overall decrease of $40,000. Combining the schools drama, French and Spanish positions into one position created the cost savings. Middle Park High School is expected to see an overall decrease of $35,000. The cost reduction was caused by not hiring an additional Special Education Paraprofessional that was originally budgeted for the year. According to Schmiedbauer the position was not filled because of a decreased need for more special education staff at the high school.

At the District level the EGSD is scheduled to see an increase of $7,000 next year, “due to extra time needed to complete new and changing reports required at the State and Federal level as well as changes due to replacing personnel,” Schmiedbauer stated.

Along with figures from the General Fund East Grand is also expecting changes in the Capital Reserve Fund. Schmiedbauer explained she expects an increase of $149,000 in expenditures for the Capital Reserve Fund for the purchase of a new bus for the school district to be used for out-of-district travel. East Grand’s current bus used for out-of-district travel has 300,000 miles on it. The purchase of the new bus, “will be funded out of current reserves in the fund,” Schmiedbauer stated.

The school district’s Bond Fund is expected to see a revenue increase of $198,000 over previously projected levels for the coming school year. In revenue increase are, “due to the need to build up current cash reserves to time the June 1st payment,” Schmiedbauer stated.

The Capital Reserve Fund’s Grant Fund will also see an increase over previously projected revenue levels. The Grant Fund is expected to see a revenue increase of $41,000 over earlier projections. The increase is due to grants received or awarded to the district after the completion of the original budget.