(Special to the Independent News)

 The Hazelwood School Board on June 12 approving a new balanced budget for 2018-2019 after a long budget process

Chris Norman, chief financial officer and assistant superintendent for the Hazelwood School District, lead a budget workshop on June 11 to share the District’s proposed 2018-2019 budget. The workshop took place during a special school board meeting at the District’s administration building in Florissant. Approximately twenty-four members from the community attended the two and half hour workshop to witness firsthand as board directors reviewed every page of the 298-page budget document.

The budget workshop is an annual meeting where the District’s CFO presents a proposed budget to the Board of Education during a public meeting. This meeting is designed to allow transparency and clarity around district spending.

The Hazelwood School District is the second largest school system in St. Louis County. As of May 30, there were 18,108 students enrolled in the District’s 33 schools: three high schools, six middle schools, 20 elementary schools, three early childhood education centers, and one alternative education center.

   The District has an operating budget of $198.5 million. Similar to most school districts, nearly 82% of the operating expense budget is salary and benefits. While the budget includes the reduction of 18 teaching positions, these positions were not reduced to balance the budget. The staffing levels are based on enrollment and maintaining class sizes within the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) guidelines and Hazelwood School Board policy. The budget also includes the addition of 17 teaching positions for driver’s education, gifted education, early childhood education, and English Language Learners.

The Board of Education was presented with a plan during the February 6 school board meeting to address staffing needs for English-language learners as this has been a growing need within the District. During this same meeting, the school board voted to begin driver’s education courses this fall.

“While our budget is somewhat fragile, I am pleased to deliver a proposed balanced budget, which includes teacher and staff raises,” said Norman.

“However, in order to address major revenue declines that began several years ago, the District was forced to review all spending in order to balance the budget. The unfortunate reality is that school district costs are primarily personnel and, therefore, that is an area that must be considered in order to reduce expenses. In keeping with the Board Policy DIAA, the District’s fund balance remains at 15% of operating budget, which is equivalent to about two months of operating expenses.”

The Fund Balances policy establishes guidelines to be used during the preparation and execution of the annual budget to ensure that sufficient reserves are maintained for unanticipated expenditures or revenue shortfalls.

This policy is based on a long-term perspective with a commitment to keeping the Hazelwood School District in a strong fiscal position that will allow it to better weather negative economic trends.

During the budget presentation, Norman shared how district enrollment has declined over a 10-year span, but also noted the fact that it has stabilized in the last five years.

“We would like to thank the nearly 60 parents, patrons, faculty, staff, and administrators who participated on our budget subcommittee earlier this year. This committee was tasked with continuing to identify potential reductions while at the same time, considering opportunities for repurposing of funding. They did an outstanding job of doing research, analyzing our budget, and making recommendations, which helped us to prioritize projects and to maintain a balanced budget.”

   A copy of the 2018-2019 proposed budget may be found on the school district’s website under finance and facilities www.hazelwoodschools.org.

Zella Williams was unanimously voted and sworn-in to fill the vacancy on the Hazelwood School District Board of Education. She will serve out the remaining term of Karlton Thornton who retired earlier this year. Dr. Williams’ board term will expire in April 2019.

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