Proposed Park Hill Budget Largest Ever
Park Hill officials plan on spending more than ever for the upcoming school year, this after and $80 million increase over last year’s budget.
In a presentation to the Park Hill Board of Education, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Paul Kelly reported that revenue projections are up for the next school year, which should offset expected expenditure increases for teacher and staff salaries, insurance rate hikes and expanding fuel costs.
In all, the proposed budget weighs in at $105.65 million, 75 percent of which is supplied by local taxes. Next year, the District expects to pay 61 percent of the budget to salaries, and face a 7.5 percent hike in supplies and materials – mainly from increased costs in fuel for busses and paper.
Kelly said recent state legislation prevents the district from ever collecting the entire voter-approved tax levy if the Board rolls part of the levy back. He proposed taking action before the new law takes effect to recapture the 3.6-cent portion of the tax levy that the Board voluntarily rolled back last year. Board members indicated that they would like to have more discussion before they consider Dr. Kelly’s proposal.
For what they do spend, Park Hill officials can point to various measures of success. Park Hill High School was recently recognized in Newsweek magazine for being one of the top 1,300 schools in the United States. The index ranking is based upon the number of Advanced Placement tests taken by all students at a school in 2007 divided by the number of graduating seniors. Park Hill High School ranked 556th nationally according to this measure.
Earlier in the year, the Park Hill School District received word that we earned Missouri’s Distinction in Performance Award for the seventh year in a row. Also, three Park Hill School District schools appeared on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Highest Performing Schools Top Ten List for 2007: Chinn Elementary, English Landing Elementary and Park Hill South High School.
The Board will continue to see updated budget presentations through the spring. The final 2008-2009 budget recommendation will be made to the Board on June 26.