With the passage of Senate Bill 175, Kalispell Public Schools officials estimate the district will receive an additional $1 million in state funding for the 2014 fiscal year.

This increases the district’s overall budget by about 3 percent.

Despite the boost, the preliminary elementary district budget currently has a projected $49,712 shortfall with $17,693,529 in expected revenue and $17,743,241 in expenditures.

Superintendent Darlene Schottle said she is not highly concerned about the shortfall at this early stage of budget development.

The high school budget, conversely, has a projected surplus of $85,782.

Schottle said this is primarily due to enrollment growth — which translates into more state funding — and higher-than-anticipated funding from Senate Bill 175.

High school budget revenue is forecast at $18,897,979 while expenditures are predicted to be $18,812,197.

Eighty-five percent of the budget goes toward personnel salaries and benefits. The other 15 percent is spent in areas such as insurance, utilities, textbooks, repairs and maintenance, among other items.

One of the biggest changes to the budget from Senate Bill 175 is to basic entitlement. Previously, basic entitlement was a flat rate per district no matter if a district had one school or, in the case of Kalispell’s elementary district, five.

There are now two components, according to district clerk Gwen Andersen, that help equalize funding.

One component is that districts will receive a flat amount per elementary, middle school and high school levels, which was increased from the 2013 fiscal year rate.

The second component is that districts receive additional funding the more students a district has. At the elementary level, districts will receive $2,000 for every 25 students beyond 250. At the middle school level, there is an additional $4,000 for every 45 students beyond 450.

That rate increases at the high school level with $12,000 for every 80 students over 800.

One new payment in Senate Bill 175 is the Data for Achievement payment, which covers costs associated with data collection and reporting from standardized tests.

An updated and balanced budget will be brought back to the school board May 28 and will include any remaining end-of-year funds and recommended additions or reductions.

At this point, Schottle said she does not foresee that any cuts need to be made, but the district has yet to settle its final union contract with the Kalispell Tutor Federation.  

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].