Othello SD passes 2022-23 budget
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 7 months AGO
The Othello School District Board of Directors passed the district's nearly $92 million budget last week with large portions of funding going to managing debt, capital projects and transportation.
SOURCE: GOOGLE
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | August 29, 2022 1:20 AM
OTHELLO — The Othello School District will operate with a $91.87 million budget for the 2022-23 school year. Othello School Board members approved the budget proposal at the Aug. 21 regular meeting.
The vote was unanimous.
The budget includes a general fund of about $87.65 million, which covers most expenses and operations. The general fund includes most staff salaries and benefits as well as most school operations.
Amy Suarez, OSD executive director of business services, went over budget details in a presentation to the school board Aug. 8.
In Washington, school budgets are based on projected enrollment, and Suarez said district officials are projecting an enrollment of the equivalent of 4,441 students. That’s 76 students more than the actual equivalent enrollment in the 2021-22 school year, she said.
The capital projects fund was budgeted at $900,000, and Suarez said that reflects the replacement of the roof on two schools. The debt service fund pays for bonds issued as part of the proposal approved by voters in 2007, Suarez said. The projected debt service budget is just under $2.5 million.
Suarez said the Associated Student Body fund is generated by the students for the students. It’s budgeted at about $435,000. The Transportation Vehicle Fund pays for new buses and was budgeted at about $416,000.
Suarez included a chart that showed enrollment growing from the 2009-10 school year to 2020-21. It has declined the last two years, but the projection for the coming school year anticipates it will return to about pre-pandemic levels, Suarez said.
District officials have managed to maintain staffing levels, even with the drop in enrollment, Suarez said. But enrollment is projected to drop slightly over the next few years, and if that happens the current staffing levels would be unsustainable, she said.
The TVF includes money to buy two new buses. Suarez said the price of buses has increased beyond what the district had saved to pay for them, and the purchase will require a transfer of about $150,000 from the general fund.
Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at [email protected].
Othello School District budget 2022-23
General fund: $87,654,000
Associated Student Body: $435,000
Debt service: $2,47000
Capital projects: $900,000
Transportation Vehicle Fund: $416,000
Note: Numbers above have been rounded to the nearest $1,000.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Road closures, roundabout, mean construction season underway
EPHRATA — The grass is starting to turn green, the trees are starting to leaf out, construction crews are starting to build roundabouts – hey, it’s spring. At least one roundabout project is in its final phase, held over from fall 2025. The intersection of State Route 282 and Nat Washington Way will be closed the week of April 6 to allow crews to install permanent lights. “This really is the final (closure),” wrote Grant County Administrator Tom Gaines in a media release. “The roundabout will close at 6 a.m. Monday, and we plan to reopen by Friday, possibly sooner if the work finishes early.”
Ybarra announces run for Washington Senate
QUINCY — State Representative Alex Ybarra, R-Quincy, has announced his candidacy for the Washington Senate. If he’s elected, he would replace Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, who announced her retirement in March.
Othello Community Museum to open April 25
OTHELLO — With a couple of new exhibits, a new heating-cooling system, rearranged displays and a thorough cleaning, the Othello Community Museum will open for the summer April 25. The goal, said Molly Popchock, museum board secretary, is to operate for a full season.