VIENNA — Superintendent Teresa Messersmith provided the board with a preview of the 2024-2025 budget. The district has four funds: General, Teachers, Debt Service and Capital Outlay.

The estimated revenue for the General fund is $3,103,253. The estimated expenditures are $2,182,942.16, which would give a projected ending fund balance of $920,310.84.

The estimated revenue for the Teacher fund is $2,541,012 with expenditures of $3,459,291.36. The early estimates always show the expenses outnumbering revenue because the district uses the leftover money from the General fund to cover salaries.

The estimated revenue for the Debt Service fund is $350,050 with expenditures of $297,625 for an estimated ending balance of $52,425.

The Capital Outlay fund has an estimated revenue of $16,000 and projected expenditures of $11,500. Messersmith said the district’s capital projects next year will be dependent upon whether the Proposition K.I.D.S. bond passes in the April 2 election. The results of the election were unavailable at press time. The district will end the year with an estimated $165,000 in reserve, so funds will be available in case of emergency if the bond did not pass.

After previewing the projected totals for each fund, the superintendent shared the factors she considered when looking at the cost of salaries. She factored a $500 raise to the base salary on the certified salary schedule, which brings the base to $33,000 with a $500 step. The increase would bring the teachers a raise of about 1.5 percent. Messersmith also factored the 1.5 percent raises for administrators and non-certified staff. The discussion of the salary schedule was only informational, and the board has not yet voted on changes to the salary schedules.

Messersmith said she would have liked to provide more of a raise, but that was the best the district could do while keeping the budget balanced. The proposed budget brings the fund to within $2,000 of deficit spending. Messersmith said she was comfortable getting that close to the limit because of the district’s estimated 40 percent reserve.

Another potential increase Messersmith considered was a piece of legislation in the General Assembly that would require a minimum salary of $44,000 for any teachers who have 10 years of experience and a master’s degree. Currently, teachers in the district meeting those qualifications make $40,100, so the legislation could bring them a $3,900 raise. Fourteen teachers in the district have a master’s degree and 10 years of experience, which would mean an extra annual cost of about $63,000 to the district.

For the last few years, the state has provided help to school districts to reach a $38,000 minimum salary for teachers. The state has paid 70 percent of the increase from a district’s base salary to $38,000 and the schools have paid the other 30 percent. Messersmith said she made the preliminary budget with that practice still in place though it is not yet confirmed to happen for next school year.

Board member Matt Novak asked if the expectation was for the reserve to continue for the next few years.

Messersmith said the district has no plans to deficit spend. She said the administration had considered looking at some possible one-time uses for reserve money, such as textbooks, to help in the classroom.

Board member Dave Garro said his only concern for the reserve in the future would be if the state decides to end the 70-30 split to help schools reach the $38,000 salary minimum.