Riverview Officials Focus on Staffing, Technology Costs

District staffing and technology costs were the main topics at a Riverview School Board budget workshop meeting on Monday.

The district budget doesn't have to be approved until the end of June, but officials are crunching numbers to balance the budget before then. Last month, they .

Elementary school principals reported needs to add some staff members to the board, Technology Director Robert Dunkle presented a list of needs—none of which are included in the current draft of the budget.

The includes a 0.58-mill tax increase, which exceeds the state index limit. The current millage rate is 24.7864 mills. With the proposed tax increase, the owner of a $100,000 home would pay about $58 more next school year.

The district received approval from the state for two exceptions to the Act 1 index, which is the limit a school district is permitted by state law to raise taxes. The state allows for districts to apply for tax exceptions to help alleviate costs outside of the districts' control, for example rising pension or special education costs—Riverview now can raise taxes to receive an extra $148,000 for pension costs and an extra $47,000 for special education costs.

With those exceptions granted, Riverview could raise taxes by 0.67 mills.

School board President John Hackworth said he thinks officials don't want to raise taxes by that amount.

"We may not want our heads bumping against the ceiling again," he said.

Here's what was discussed on Monday:

Staffing

Personnel costs take up about 71 percent of the district's budget, according to Superintendent Chuck Erdeljac.

After incorporating transportation, special education and utilities, there is about 5 percent left to work with for instructional materials and supplies, he said.

Principal Jason Shoaf said an additional custodian is necessary at the school. Currently, there are two custodians at the school, while has four.

Though there are almost twice as many students at Tenth Street, Shoaf said the Verner facility—especially the multipurpose room—is used for many community events, and it would be beneficial to have the extra custodian on hand. The added cost to the district would be about $40,000 or $50,000, including salary and benefits, according to district Business Manager Frank Thompson.

Tenth Street Elementary Principal David Zolkowski said three sections of first grade and sixth grade classes are necessary next year because of special education needs and class sizes.

He said he is hoping to shift around the number of sections per grade level next school year. If retirees are replaced and current teachers are shuffled, that means there only would be the need to hire one extra teacher.

Thompson said an additional teacher could cost anywhere from $62,000 to $73,000 depending on salary and benefits.

Technology

Erdeljac said the technology budget is "not a pretty picture."

For a number of years, district officials alloted $100,000 in the budget for technology, but it hasn't been enough to keep equipment and servers up to date.

"When we were at the $150,000 level, we were making some progress," Dunkle said.

This year, the technology department is asking for an extra $45,000.

Dunkle said his priority list includes the purchase/upgrade of netbooks, 8-year-old Smartboard, 15-year-old network switches, 12-year-old projectors, the district firewall and 8-year-old computers in the lab.

Dunkle presented the board with several scenerios for replacement or purchase of those items.

Next meeting

Budgetary needs at the secondary level—including a request for the district to pay for Advance Placement exams—will be discussed at the April 30 budget workshop at 7 p.m. it will be held at the administration offices at Tenth Street.

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