Hollister
– After Superintendent Stan Rose warned of
”
choppy waters
”
ahead, the San Benito High School Board of Trustees approved a
balanced budget Wednesday night for 2007-08.
Hollister – After Superintendent Stan Rose warned of “choppy waters” ahead, the San Benito High School Board of Trustees approved a balanced budget Wednesday night for 2007-08.
The general fund budget calls for $25,352,974 in spending – a 1.89 percent increase over the previous year.
Despite an approval, most trustees appeared discouraged by trends in the budget and the effect they could have.
Trustees expressed particular concern over the large portion of the budget going to personnel costs and cafeteria’s budget being in the red.
Most of the comments centered on the fact that in the future the budget would be much tighter and cuts would have to be made.
“We’re heading into some very choppy water over the next couple years,” Superintendent Stan Rose said. “We are going to have to look at where our expenditures are and where we can make studied trims to the budget.”
Jim Koenig, director of finance and operations, said the district needs to study personnel costs in the near future.
Salaries and benefits represent 86 percent of the district’s expenses, Koenig said, and raises have not been factored in to that budget.
Several of the trustees said they were worried to see that percent had grown and felt the repercussions of the trend could cause future problems.
“This is a pattern that we shouldn’t be seeing. This is a concern,” Trustee Evelyn Muro said.
Trustee Steve DeLay echoed her sentiment.
“This is a major indicator of a bankrupt district,” he said.
The budget calls for a 4.8 percent increase in full-time equivalent staffing positions for next year, most made to accommodate additional classes offered before the official start of the school day.
Besides personnel costs, the trustees also looked at the cost of operating the cafeteria.
In the 2007-08 budget, the cafeteria is expected to operated at a cost of $853,371 while only producing $647,969 in revenue – creating a loss of $205,402 for the district that must be taken from the general fund.
“There are a lot of things in the management of that cafeteria that are wrong if we’re not making money,” DeLay said.
Muro said while it is typical for a school cafeteria to run in the red, she doesn’t want to see it occurring in the high school district.
Koenig said trustees were looking at increasing cafeteria food costs and ways in which this encroachment on the general fund may be eliminated.
