Glasgow School Board Addresses Budget Shortfall

The Glasgow School Board of Trustees continues to address the budget shortfall to the general fund, the main source of funding for the District.

On April 23 the Board met in a work session and made the decision to move forward with the elimination of a principal position, after the Irle School Principal requested to be transferred to a teaching position. One principal position will be absorbed by attrition, saving the district nearly $84,000. This is in addition to $160,000 in cuts previously made, also through attrition, including three teachers and one paraprofessional aide. 

(Editor’s Note: For the 2023-2024 school year there were four principals: Irle School Principal Ed Sugg, Irle School Vice Principal Brenner Flaten, Glasgow Middle School Principal Mike Zoanni and Glasgow High School Principal Brett Huntsman).

These cuts, along with the Safety & Security Building Reserve Levy request of $197,500 currently being put to a public vote, will allow the District to successfully meet the needs of students during these trying times. As previously communicated, the Safety & Security levy is asking for the additional $197,500, but with decreases in other permissive levies, the net increase will only be $58,152.

The process of public-school funding is a hard topic for many people to understand.  Schools have different buckets of monies including permissive (non-voted) funds for transportation, bus depreciation, retirement, tuition, & adult education that can only be used for specific expenses as their name indicates.  Another component of school funding includes levies that are voted on by the public including the technology fund and the debt service fund (bonds).  Then there are the general fund and the building reserve funds that have a combination of voted and permissive levies.  The building reserve fund is generally for the improvements to buildings, but recently the security levy has been added and can be used as a tool to not only cover expenses for safety, but also give relief to the general fund.  The general fund includes expenses for all the other costs it takes to run a school including staff salaries & health insurance, textbooks, utilities, etc.  The general fund is the main funding for the district and includes the “general” day to day operations of the District. The general fund is also funded by State monies and is based on a formula using enrollment numbers, and when enrollment drops, funding can be greatly affected.  This is what the District is now faced with and the need to make budget cuts. 

The public’s support of schools is very important to the trustees, staff members, and students.  Thank you for your continued support.