Hearing set on School Board budget

A project of a $157,000 in excess revenue in the St. Landry Parish School Board’s 2015-16 budget may be trimmed by $71,000.
The board plans a public hearing on its proposed budget at 4 p.m. Monday at the Supplemental Resource Center, 1013 E. Creswell Lane, Opelousas.
Tressa Miller, finance director, made a preliminary presentation of the budget at the board’s Finance Committee meeting Monday.
“We don’t have a whole lot of wiggle room there,” she said at one point about the budget.
The cut in projected excess revenue arrived as the committee sent a $650 stipend for performance achievement in the Compass program, an evaluation system for teachers and other school leaders. They are evaluated annually as Highly Effective, Effective: Proficient, Effective: Emerging, and Ineffective.
The stipend is proposed for those evaluated as Highly Effective and Effective.
In a summary of the budget, general fund revenues total $105,212,592. Revenue sources listed are $25,824,902, local sources; $79,318,223, state sources; and $69,467, federal sources.
Total expenditures are $116,355,326. Expenditures are $73,628,860, instructional programs; $40,635,627, support programs; $3,591, non-instructional programs; $120,000, facility acquisition; and $1,967,248, debt service.
The budget summary includes a beginning fund balance of $12,581,784 and ending balance of $12,739,117.
The board’s budget year is July through June.