Going into its new fiscal year, the Chelsea School District is planning to see revenues and costs both go down a bit.
As the 2023-24 fiscal year came to a close, the school district introduced a new budget plan for the new year that begins July 1. The CSD Board of Education meeting on June 24 saw a budget hearing presentation. The school board approved the new budget plan.
In it, the 2024-2025 General Fund Expenses are estimated to be $35,017,517 while 24/25 General Fund Revenues are estimated to be $34,292,712.
The 2023-2024 General Fund Expenses were $36,418,150 and 2023-24 General Fund Revenues were $37,154,261.
As to some of the reasoning behind the decreases, Nicole Darby, CSD’s Chief Financial Officer, said a few changes for the 2024-25 budget “include a student count of 2,240 (it was 2,276 for 2023-24) and foundation allowance of $9,849 (it was $9,608 for 2023-24).
The foundation allowance is the amount per pupil that each school district is allocated from the state.
Darby also said grant funding was also updated to account for grants that were no longer available after 2023-24 (ESSER for example).
ESSER funds are defined by the Michigan Department of Education as “The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund, part of the United States Education Department’s (USED) Educational Stabilization Fund Program awards grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) for the purpose of providing local educational agencies (LEAs), including charter schools, with emergency relief funds to address the impact that Novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. LEAs must provide equitable services to students and teachers in non-public schools as required under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).”
Darby said “ESSER funds were used to help offset expenses for tutoring, summer school, software, curriculum, and a portion of K-5 teacher salaries and benefits.”
Other reasons for the decreases in the new budget include the retirement rate was also reduced for 2024-25 and the district also had increased revenue and expenses for programs such as athletics and community education.
