2020-2021 [FY21] Budget Prepared by: Dr. Mary Wegner, Superintendent Cassee Olin, SFO, Business Manager April 28th, 2020 Mayor Gary Paxton and Members of the Sitka City and Borough Assembly, On behalf of the Sitka School District, I submit to you our FY21 Budget for consideration regarding the level of local contribution. These documents are the final result of a multi-month budget process that provided opportunity for public participation, and valued all forms that came in. The discussions surrounding our FY21 Budget encouraged our community to holistically look at the Sitka School District’s budget in the context of how it relates to the economic challenges of our Local and State Government. The Sitka School District has and will continue to strategically allocate all resources made available to us to support our children and our community in every way we can. Thanks to a process that has been refined year after year, our budget deliberations facilitated valuable dialogue with the community around what is truly needed to best support student learning. It is our responsibility to carefully monitor and assess the effectiveness and impact of the dollars we spend in educating Sitka’s youth by engaging in conversations with all in our community who have a connection to a child in our District some way or another. If there is one thing that has become clear, it is that our children are going to need a strong educational system now more than ever. While preparing the budget before you, I can state in confidence that every decision was made through a lens of seeking out what is going to be the best choice for our kids. As the result of this deliberative and iterative process, we submit a request for $7,053,234 for the general operations of Sitka School District, (instructional,) $358,759 for various school-related expenditures, (non-instructional,) $150,000 for major maintenance, (reimbursables,) and $57,000 for in-kind utilities. Therefore I bring before you a request in the total amount of​ $7,618,993​. Our revenue assumptions in this final budget include no change to the state-funded Base Student Allocation totalling to $12,156,665. In regards to our Federal revenue sources, we anticipate $110,000 in revenue that relates to Impact Aid funding. We did not make any assumption that we would receive money from Secure Rural Schools. The final revenue source Sitka School District depends on in order to keep our house standing is the financial support of our municipality. This year, the City of Sitka demonstrated an unprecedented commitment to our public educational system. You have funded us to the maximum allowable amount, and done so in an economically uncertain climate in which many critical community needs were also considered. Investing in public education is unlike any financial investment elsewhere, as is an investment in ourselves, it is an investment in developing an educated, thoughtful, and emotionally healthy generation of problem solvers to eventually grow up to take on the challenges of the world. It is the responsibility of us all to ensure that we deliver the most effective and meaningful education we can to the children of Sitka every year. Now is the time that we need this support more than ever, and we are more than thankful for the significant role you’ve played in this. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have with our FY21 Budget. Our common interest in providing the community of Sitka with an excellent public education system is what closely holds us together across differences. As we walk into a very different looking economic and social landscape, let us keep this endeavour at the forefront of our minds so that we don’t forget it’s all about the kids. On behalf of every child who walks through our doors to learn, thank you. Sincerely, Elias Erickson Chair, Sitka School Board FY2021 OPERATING BUDGET SUMMARY PAGE FY2021 City and Borough of Sitka Funding Request Operational (Instructional) Support 7,053,234 Various School Related Expenditures( Non-Instructional) 358,759 In-Kind Utilities for Peforming Arts Center 57,000 Major Maintenance Reimbursable 150,000 Total City Funding Request 7,618,993 Revenues Total Budgeted Revenues 19,494,235 Transfer from Operating Fund Balance 482,622 FY2018 Final Budgeted Revenues and Transfers (Before On Behalf) 19,976,857 Expenditures Total Budgeted Expenditures 19,976,857 FY2018 Final Budgeted Expenditures and Transfers (Before On Behalf) 19,976,857 Difference 0 On Behalf 1,602,456 Final Revenue and Expenditures including On Behalf 21,579,313 FY2021 Final Budgeted Operating Fund Fund Balance Fund Balance June 30, 2020 (est) 1,871,476 Restricted Fund Balance (70,241) Assigned Fund Balance (1,760,838) Fund Balance June 30, 2021(est) 40,397 Introductory Section April 30, 2020 The FY2021 Budget was adopted by the Sitka School District School Board. The budget document and the audited financial statements are the two primary publications that communicate the District’s financial position and future plans for spending. The School Board instituted a new budgeting process, and consequently the superintendent and the business manager have created this new budget document. In following the Meritorious Budget Award (MBA) program criteria, established by the Association of School Business Officials International, we feel that this document provides a comprehensive representation of the FY2021 Budget. The budget presented before you includes sections that provide Introductory, Organizational, Financial, and Informational for the reader. Each major section provides readers with critical information to better understand the Sitka School District budget. INTRODUCTORY COMPONENT STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS In the 2018-19 school year, we decided to re-think how we do our strategic planning process. Specifically, we wanted to get much broader shareholder input into the process. We also wanted to set a strategic direction for the district that was missing from our most recent strategic plans, as they were built around developing Action Research projects that implemented and helped to measure our School Board Goals. Although the Action Research projects were not built on a 3-5 year time horizon they were strategic in nature. In our new strategic planning process, we wanted to maintain the concept of implementing and assessing projects, as we found the iterative nature of project implementation to be cruical in achieving the goal itself. Our research in strategic planning models led us to the InnovateK12 collaborative, which helps school districts run challenges that seek ideas to answer a question posed, and then employs a process to find out the idea that resonated the most with the population – staff, students, and/or community. In order to implement a challenge, we needed a Guiding Team to be part of training that is only held in the summers. In the summer of 2019 we sent a team consisting of a family member, teacher, principal, family engagement specialist, school board member, and the superintendent off for training. This team then designed and implemented our first Leave Your Print challenge in the 2019-20 school year. Once the top idea is identified, then a Design Team is gathered to implement the Design Thinking Process to uncover the underlying need that the idea solves, and that process starts from a empathy point of view. From there, a lean prototype is designed and implemented to begin to test a possible solution. Data is gathered to refine and evolve the solution overtime. Challenges are presented yearly. Page 1 BUDGET PROCESS During the 2014-15 school year, the school board set a goal of revising the annual budgeting process. This goal was met when the school board decided to move from a Line Item (roll-over) budget to an Outcome (initiative- based) budget. It was expected that the transition would take more than one year to complete, and consequently the FY17 budget was developed using the old model; however, staff and community members were invited to be more active participants during the budget hearing process. The new budget process was used first used to develop the FY18 budget and FY19 budget. The new process was also used to develop the FY20 & FY21 budget. In January, a preliminary budget is presented to the school board. The preliminary budget is set by projected enrollment figures for the subsequent year. Based on the projected enrollment, administration determines what resources will be available to fund education and meet the needs of the community. From January through March, several budget Summer: Final Adopted July 1: Fiscal Budget hearings and work sessions are held for further Year Begins Submitted to staff and community input. Additionally, the State school board and city assembly meet at least once to inform the assembly of the status of our May: City budget. In April, the school board approves the Approves October: Local Student Count budget to be presented to the city assembly. The Contribution city must approve an annual appropriation to Sitka School District within thirty (30) days per AS 14.14.060. If the local appropriation is different than the amount of requested funding, the school board will take action in June to approve an April: School November: Board Projected adjusted budget before it is submitted to the Approves Enrollment Alaska Department of Education and Early Budget Due Development. January: January- Preliminary Figure 1: Budget Development Timeline March: Public Budget to Input School Board Relevant State Statute Alaska Statute Sec. 14.14.060. Relationship between the borough school district and borough; finances and buildings. (c) Except as otherwise provided by municipal ordinance, the borough school board shall submit the school budget for the following school year to the borough assembly by May 1 for approval of the total amount.