By Silas Allen
Stillwater NewsPress
STILLWATER, Okla. —
Money will be Stillwater Public School' biggest challenge this school year, Superintendent Ann Caine said.
Stillwater district officials anticipate a substantial budget shortfall in the current fiscal year because of a combination of reduced revenue, reduced state appropriations and increased cost on certain mandatory expenditures such as insurance premiums.
Caine said district officials are working to make ends meet in a number of ways. Still, she said, the district is faced with the problem of how to improve test scores and continue to implement best practices on a limited budget.
“I think that’s a huge challenge for us,” she said.
Caine said the district will see larger class sizes in the upcoming year than it has in year’s past.
At the Stillwater School Board’s June meeting, the district’s chief financial officer Phillip Storm proposed $2.6 million in budget cuts, including the elimination of 18 certified teaching positions. Included in those cuts were eight positions at Stillwater High School and four full-time positions and one half-time position at Stillwater Junior High.
Still, Caine said, the district is positioned better than many districts around the state. The district will begin the upcoming year with a fund balance of 9 percent of its total budget. District officials had expected to begin the year with a fund balance of about 7 percent, Caine said.
The difference came for a number of reasons, Caine said, including frugal behavior on the part of administrators around the district.
Caine said the state also reimbursed the district for certain programs more quickly than usual, which contributed to the higher fund balance.
District officials are taking steps to prepare for the budget shortfall, Caine said. Student organizations will likely have to rely more heavily on PTAs and booster clubs for funding, she said.
Caine said she has met with several teachers with good ideas for projects and programs, but the district doesn’t always have the funding to implement them. In many cases, Caine said, she is leaving decisions to school principals about which projects to fund.
Stillwater students return to school Aug. 23.
