Shelton school board considers $78M budget

The Shelton School District is considering a $78-million budget for the 2022-2023 school year.

Brenda Trogstad, the district’s director of finance, gave the Shelton School Board a final overview Tuesday of the proposed budget. The board will host a public hearing on the budget at its meeting at 6 p.m. Aug. 23 in the Mountain View Elementary School cafeteria. The meeting can also be viewed live on MasonWebTV. The district is required to approve its budget by Aug. 31.

The budget is based on the district’s projected enrollment of 4,125 full-time equivalency students.

The preliminary budget projects $78,766,889 in revenue, and $78,087,902 in expenditures. The expenditures are $3.6 million higher than the 2021-22 budget.

Of the $78 million, $64.8 million is for personnel, including $32 million for certified salaries, which include teachers, principals, librarians, counselors and some district administrators; $14.54 million for classified salaries, which include para educators, office personnel, custodial, grounds workers, maintenance, bus drivers, food service, department administrators, technology, pool staff and coaches; and $18.25 million for employee benefits and payroll taxes for certified and classified employees.

The remaining $13,284,653 in expenditures are $5,907,653 for supplies and instructional materials; $7,066,801 for purchased services that include vendor contracts, utilities, insurance, Educational Service District services, conference registrations, consultants and trainers; $116,199 for travel expenses such as milage, meals and lodging; and $194,000 for single-item capital outlay items of more than $5,000.

Trogstad told the board the state will give the district almost $43.7 million for basic education — 55.45% of its revenue — and almost $15.4 million for other educational programs. The district will receive $12.1 million from the federal government, $5.4 million from local taxes, and $1.6 million from neighboring districts for cooperative programs such as transportation and non-high fees to educate secondary students from other districts.

The district begins Sept. 1 with an estimated beginning fund balance of $2.5 million.

Last summer, the district was forced to pass its budget with only a few hours to spare.

The board was scheduled to pass the budget at its regular meeting on Aug. 24, 2021 in its first in-person gathering in the Mountain View Elementary School gym after 17 months of Zoom meetings.

But about 40 attendees refused to wear facemasks, prompting the school board members and staff to pack up their paperwork and laptops and leave after giving audience members five minutes to put on their facemasks. The Aug. 31 meeting was conducted via Zoom.