Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/352007
Weidner singled out Food and Nutrition Services Director Beverly Girard for special praise, telling the School Board her reserve fund balance would reflect 32 percent of her budget, "and that's the highest in my whole career here it's ever been." Weidner has been a district employee for 32 years, he told The Sarasota News Leader in June. In wrapping up his presentation, Weidner said, "We continue to budget conservatively," adding that he hoped to be able to craft a spending plan for the 2015-16 fiscal year that will not necessitate the use of rainy day funds. "It's been a long haul since I've been able to present a balanced budget." BUDGET DETAILS During the 2014-15 school year, district staff has projected an increase of 1,077 students in the regular schools and 891 in the charter schools, Weidner told the board. However, he has heard from a couple of charter schools that their enrollment figures are trending lower than expected. Therefore, Weidner said, some regular district schools may have more students show up than anticipated. The ending enrollment figure for all schools during the 2013-14 school year was 41,874; the 2015 number is projected to be 42,951. The school district has lost about 603 teach- ing positions since the 2007-08 school year, Weidner said in a brief interview after the meeting. A hiring freeze has been in effect since that same year, he added. When a per- son leaves district employment, the position is not advertised to be filled unless it is of a specialty nature, he noted, such as a teacher of special needs students. Whenever a long-term substitute can handle a teaching job, the district assigns such an employee to it, he continued. That action has saved the district money, because substitutes do not receive benefits. The expense for salaries in the 2014-15 bud- get is projected to be $230,538,678, or about 58 percent of the total appropriations of $398,779,126. According to unaudited figures for the 2013- 14 budget, 59 percent of appropriations, or $229,681,560, went to salaries. Employee benefits made up 18 percent of that spending plan, for a total of $69,299,644. Employee benefits account for $72,297,031, or about 18 percent of the 2014-15 budget. The year-over-year increase results from an expected 10-percent hike in the district's group health insurance rate, effective Jan. 1, 2015, according to the budget's executive summary, along with a Florida Legislature- mandated increase in the contribution the district must make to the state retirement plan for teachers. The district paid for the equivalent of 3,041.1 filled instructional positions in the 2013-14 budget, of which 2,372 were teachers and 544.8 were aides. The 2014-15 spending plan projects a total of 3,168.1 instructional per- sonnel, with 2,470 teachers and 572.7 aides. Board members complimented Weidner and Corcoran for their work. "I think the two of you are a great team," Chairwoman Jane Goodwin said, attributing to them the district's AA+ rating by Fitch and a long history of top national honors for financial reporting. % Sarasota News Leader July 25, 2014 Page 13