FAYETTEVILLE — The School Board approved the School District’s final budget of expenditures for fiscal year 2023 at its regular meeting Thursday night.
The ending balance was $24,171,446, according to information presented by district Finance Director Mickey McFetridge. The 2023 fiscal year ended June 30.
There was a lengthy discussion by the board about a $5 million transfer to the building fund requested by McFetridge, bringing the building fund total to $22,264,286.
McFetridge said it was important to keep a “healthy balance” in the fund to take care of the district’s extensive facilities.
Board member Megan Tullock said reducing the building fund transfer by $1 million, to $4 million, would provide money to dedicate toward classified staffing needs and salaries. Classified employees include bus drivers as well as food service and custodial workers.
Board President Nika Waitsman asked McFetridge if $1 million could make an impact in the classified sector, where it can be difficult to recruit and retain workers.
“It would be a study of how long that million dollars would make an impact for those employees,” McFetridge said.
Waitsman said her preference is for the board to figure out how much money is needed to provide a true boost in the classified area, then make that part of the budget process moving forward. She said she prefers that approach rather than using some money right now and just hoping it makes a sustainable difference.
The fiscal year report — including the $5 million transfer to the building fund — was approved on a 5-2 vote. Justin Eichmann, Tim Hudson, Katrina Osborne, Tracey Pomeroy and Waitsman voted yes. Keaton Smith and Tullock voted no.
In other business:
The board unanimously approved a proposal for repairs at Holt and McNair middle schools. The bid from Nabholz Construction was for $250,010 to make masonry improvements and do gutter/downspout work at both the schools, according to School District information.
Superintendent John Mulford updated the enrollment numbers for the district. As of Wednesday, total enrollment for prekindergarten through 12th grade students was 10,361, Mulford said, and kindergarten through 12th grade enrollment was 10,246.
The board voted unanimously to give the authority to approve legal student transfers to Mulford. The authority is limited to approving transfers into and out of the district, according to information provided by the district. Act 731 of the 2023 legislative session allows school boards to delegate their authority to approve legal transfers (sometimes called board-to-board transfers) to the superintendent, according to district information. Under the measure, the board keeps its authority to deny transfer petitions.
