Public school finances are facing many challenges, and that includes Mount Vernon’s, said Mount Vernon superintendent Greg Batenhorst at the Jan. 9 school board meeting.
Board members Lori Merlak and Bill Thomsen were absent from the meeting.
Batenhorst noted that recruiting and retaining staff won’t get any easier as the talent pool for hires shrinks. Schools used to have 10 to15 applicants for each open position, but now have only seven to nine.
Staffing needs also continue to rise. The district has to decide whether to spend more to make additional hires, such as a third buildings and grounds person and/or a third full-time music position, hesaid.
Even when the school district pays more for staff, some staff are living only paycheck to paycheck.
The amount of supplemental state aid the state sends to schools is also a wild card, Batenhorst said. The legislature’s focus now is on new tax cuts that will “eat away extra dollars” the state could have given to school districts.
In order to deal with these problems, the district needs to decide on its financial approach and philosophy, Batenhorst said.
For example, is it the situation that taxpayers pay taxes for the district to spend on students? Or is it that the district shouldn’t touch those tax dollars because a rainy day is coming?
Also, is it that unspent balances should be spent on staff? Or is it that the district shouldn’t touch taxpayers’ money? asked Batehnorst.
Currently, 82 percent of Mount Vernon School District’s money goes to staff salaries and benefits, which is a little higher than other school districts, Batenhorst said.
In addition, Mount Vernon has a lower tax assessment and higher taxes than other districts.
The school board discussed what the school district’s ratio of cash flow to its liabilities (its solvency ratio) should be.
School board discussionThe state school board association recommends staying with a cash flow ratio of between five and 15 percent, and most school districts stay at about 10 percent, said school board member Jeremy Kunz.
Kunz recommended Mount Vernon keep its solvency ratio between five and 10 percent so it has money to fix its issues and can be “spending with a purpose.” For example, the district could pay for staff insurance or vacation time, he said.
“I don’t want us to reduce anything we’re doing,” Kunz added. “I think we’re not doing anything wrong now. We don’t want to be a district that sits on our money and not do anything with it.”
Batenhorst said he “was told to spend more now because tax cuts are going into effect, and if we have money we’re not spending, the state will take it if it runs into a financial crisis.”
Kunz noted that 10 percent of savings was a lot, and he’d be more amenable to five percent in savings. “If we don’t fix the problem, it will keep growing, and then we won’t have the money needed to fix it.”
“We’ve got the money. We should be spending it on what we need,” said school board member Rick Elliott. Similar to Kunz, Elliott said the district should save about five to eight percent of its revenue.
“Money should go to help people in town, not to later generations,” said school board member Lance Schoff. He’s “more on the conservative side” on how much to spend, because “we’re getting less from the state. I see we could get less from taxes.”
Board member Denise Brannaman said the district should spend between five and 10 percent. “I’m with Lance—find the spot in between the ends (of the possible amounts to spend).”
“The 10 percent target is in our policy, but it’s not necessary,” said Batenhorst. “We need to be creative in where we spend our money so we can keep people here—be purposeful in where we spend it.”
District actionsThe week of the school board meeting, the school district put out a staff survey on work conditions and job satisfaction, and it has talked with the schools’ leadership and teachers, Batenhorst said.
The district has looked at some adjustments to the teachers’ extra duty pay scale, with the idea that it should be tied to teachers‘ experience rather than to their amount of extra education.
It is also looking at the district’s focus, with an eye on how it will continue to recruit and retain quality staff members.
The district is looking at staff benefits, insurance and what other benefits the district could give people such as non-monetary benefits, and is doing a cost study of all these things.
It is also looking at leave policies, such as possibly giving teachers more personal days a year for illness and other types of leave.
The district could also possibly give other benefits such as memberships to the Lester Buresh Community Center, tuition remission, signing bonuses, or paying for teacher licensure and certification, said Batenhorst.
Mount Vernon school board discusses financial and staffing priorities
January 19, 2023