DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

The Bowling Green Independent School District’s planned budget stayed almost entirely in line with its actual revenue and expenditures last school year – reflecting a precision that BGISD anticipates will enable it to maximize funds.

Separately and relatedly, BGISD ended the year with a $486,000 surplus.

District Director of Finance Shaunna Cornwell presented the unaudited findings at BGISD’s Board of Education session Monday. The audit for last year’s review found a roughly 4% variance of a minor discrepancy that was mainly due to timing of capital projects, she said.

BGISD operated last school year on a razor-thin expenditure discrepancy of 0.34%, meaning it had spent 100.34% of what it had budgeted, according to the financial report. Meanwhile, that was compensated for, as revenue came in at 105% the amount anticipated in last year’s budget, Cornwell said.

The precise budgeting allows BGISD to maximize funds, BGISD Superintendent Gary Fields said.

“If we know we’re accurate on our budgeting, then we can be a little more aggressive with things like when we give raises or we decide to initiate a new curriculum program and it’s expensive – we know we have the money for it,” Fields said.

“When you’re talking about tens of millions of dollars, that’s pretty darn good to be on point.”

Added Cornwell, “When you know you’re dealing with precise dollars, then you can make very targeted decisions.”

The surplus also stems from this planning.

BGISD had begun the school year on a $1.4 million deficit prior to the $486,000 surplus. Then, BGISD acquired a 7% increase in funding from Support Education Excellence in Kentucky, the state’s foundational K-12 funding program, largely due to growth in the district’s average daily attendance population, Cornwell said.

The district also capitalized on its investments amid market fluctuations to gain about $900,000 in interest income.

And, the surplus hasn’t accounted for an upcoming BGISD request to transfer Capital Fund revenue to the General Fund, which Cornwell anticipates will add about $3 million to the operating budget.

Separately, BGISD has set aside its usual $8 million as a minimum fund balance reserve for rainy days. Cornwell added that this is helping fund positions that the U.S. Education Department suddenly withheld federal funding for earlier this month – when BGISD already had contractual obligations for those positions.

Teaching staff all but complete

BGISD’s certified teacher team is all but fully staffed for the coming school year – one position short because an English-learner teacher resigned last week, Fields said.

Certified teachers are the foundation of instruction and instructional programs at BGISD, Cornwell said.

The district aims to fill the role in the three weeks prior to school starting, Fields said.

A handful of instructional assistant positions remain open, but this is typical, Fields said. BGISD waits until late in the summer to fill the roles, as people await other job opportunities, and BGISD doesn’t want to fill them too early, he said.

“We can always use more bus drivers, we can always use more custodians, we can always use more staff for our cafeterias, but if we had to start school this week, we would be in great shape to start,” he said.

AP and dual credit gains

Bowling Green High School students took AP College Board exams at a 74% pass rate last school year, BGISD announced Tuesday.

The students took 718 of these exams and earned 1,886 college credit hours, BGISD stated.

“These results reflect the hard work and dedication of our students and teachers,” BGISD stated.

Meanwhile, 354 BGHS students enrolled in dual credit courses to earn college hours while in high school, BGISD stated.

The school offers 33 dual credit courses online and in house through Western Kentucky University, Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College, and Campbellsville University, according to BGISD.

“We always talk about trying to give every kid an individualized pathway, so I think those programs being (…) not only vibrant, but successful, (is) really important to us and important to the kids,” Fields said.