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VINCENT -- Warren Local Schools Board of Education discussed its financial five-year forecast, material costs for the new transportation office, and announced reading score improvements at Monday's meeting.
Treasurer Melcie Wells said the board's Finance Committee had met the previous week and gone through the forecast report. Fifty-four percent of district revenue comes from state funding through the Ohio Department of Education, while 32% comes from real estate and 5.7% from public utility.
Wells said she had been watching debt ceiling negotiations in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate since education funding could be at risk.
"If you come into my office here, I'm watching news to see what we need to do, advocacy wise," she said
District expenses are comprised of 44% for salaries, 25% for benefits and 10% for services. Wells said salaries will change next fiscal year due to Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) dollars running out.
"You'll see a big jump in our salaries next year because of our ESSER dollars that we've been using to offset the last couple years. That increase is not really an increase, it just brings it back to the general fund," she said.
However, Wells said she was confident in Warren Local Schools' financial position, despite talk of a "fiscal cliff" due to the ESSER money ending.
"A lot of districts are now facing a fiscal cliff, where they're spending ESSER dollars on programs that they now need to continue those programs. This district is not in that position at all. We used our dollars to utilize some of our current salaries and benefits," she said.
The forecast report passed unanimously.
Another resolution on the agenda was the supply cost of the new transportation office. The contractor, Ron Eddy Builders, included Warren students who built the building at the Washington County Career Center. The cost was listed as $68,800.
Superintendent Kyle Newton said the previous building dated back to the 1940s. The Career Center builds a house each year between its carpentry and electrical classes, but this year Warren Local Schools contracted with the center to build the new office.
"It's like you know what? What if our own kids built it for us? We started last summer, worked with the teacher, and built it all school year," he said.
The board passed the cost resolution unanimously.
Newton said the building was near completion and will be moved to its permanent location within a week or two.