March 15, 2023
The Mount Vernon School District teaches, supports, and challenges thousands of students through high-quality instruction and social-emotional learning. Our district vision is "To graduate inspired and critical thinkers who embrace diversity and are committed to the betterment of their own lives and the lives of others."
At the March 1, 2023 board meeting, we provided your board with an update of our budget outlook for the 2023-2024 school year. As anticipated, we face a significant difference between the estimated revenues and expenditures for the 2023-2024
What contributes to this difference? The manner by which the state funds school districts has not kept pace with the costs of running a school district, including the salaries and wages we believe our staff deserve. Federal ESSER funds that enabled us to address student needs and cover rising costs can no longer be relied upon as they come to an end next school year. The number of staff we employ is well beyond the number of staff the state funds. While each school district has unique financial circumstances, we see these same factors in many districts currently.
To address this challenge and present a balanced budget to the school board this summer, work is underway to identify potential reductions. The District is exploring options to reduce expenditures in line with our anticipated revenue. Your District Cabinet Team has been meeting to identify priorities, discuss adjustments and reductions, and develop recommendations for school board consideration as part of their budget adoption process. Given that 86% of our expenditures cover staff costs, reducing positions and hours will occur. To date, we have shared information with the following partners:
February 16, 2023 - shared budget information with the District Leadership Team
February 21, 2023 - shared budget information with building principals
February 22, 2023 - shared budget information with labor union partners
March 1, 2023 - shared budget information and update with the Board
We will continue to work with union leaders regarding staff reductions and ensure timely notification of those impacted. Additionally, updates will be provided to all staff throughout the upcoming months.
April 14, 2023
I want to provide you with an update from our board meeting on Wednesday April 12, 2023. First, I want to share my appreciation for the staff and community members that attended the board meeting in person and on Zoom. We truly appreciate your presence and the public comments that were shared.
During that meeting, we presented a Budget Update to the board in which we shared the contributing factors that led to the difference between estimated revenues and expenditures for the 2023-2024 school year. We also provided information about potential reductions that are under consideration.
If you would like to view the Budget Update that was presented to the board, you can find it here. The video was recorded live and the camera angles covered small portions of the presentation text. The PDF is attached here for your reference. I highly encourage you to watch the video narrative (first link) presented during the presentation to better understand the context and rationale of the information.
Budget reductions of this magnitude are very challenging and I know they raise anxiety levels. Our goal is to maintain our efforts with our strategic initiatives for our students while still making necessary reductions to balance our budget. As we continue working with our school board and they engage in this work, the comments, questions and ideas shared at the board meeting are examples of input that we all carefully consider.
As we shared with the Board, we will continue these reduction considerations, continue our communication with our union leadership teams, and continue discussions with district and building administrators. There will be time during the April 19 School Board meeting for the Board to further their engagement with this work. Additional updates will be provided as we proceed. Please reach out to me with ideas, questions or concerns.
Thank you for your continued commitment to our students and our District.
April 21, 2023
I want to provide you with an update from our board meeting on Wednesday, April 19, 2023. Thank you to the staff and community members who attended the meeting in person and on Zoom. We appreciate your presence and the public comments that were shared. As we have mentioned, we are not taking any of these decisions lightly and are doing our best under the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
During that meeting, we addressed questions and feedback from board members during and following the April 12th presentation. This was an opportunity for the Board to seek additional information, raise questions and concerns, and provide ongoing guidance as the reduction plan eventually informs the 2023-24 budget adoption. We also provided additional information about potential reductions that are under consideration.
If you would like to view the Budget Update that was presented to the board, you can find it here. I highly encourage you to watch the video narrative presented during the presentation to better understand the context and rationale of the information. The PDF of the presentation is attached here for your reference.
Budget reductions of this magnitude are very challenging and we know they raise anxiety levels. Our goal is to maintain our efforts with our strategic initiatives for our students, while still making necessary reductions to balance our budget. As we continue working with our school board and as they engage in this work, the comments, questions and ideas shared at the board meeting are examples of input that we all carefully consider.
We will continue these reduction considerations, communication with our union leadership teams, and discussions with district and building administrators. Additional updates will be provided as we proceed. Please continue to reach out to me with ideas, questions or concerns.
Thank you for your continued commitment to our students and our District.
