School District No. 1 budget slightly down

WORLAND – The Washakie County School District (WCSD) No. 1 Board of Trustees approved their budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year during a special hearing on Wednesday, July 14.

The general fund for the district is slightly down compared to last year’s budget from approximately $25.8 million down to $25.162 million for the next fiscal year.

This reduction was due to a decrease of Average Daily Membership (ADM) from 1,225 students down to 1,147. This decrease is based on a three-year average of daily membership of students in WCSD No. 1.

According to WCSD No. 1 Business Manager Charlie Cauffman, each student lost in the ADM is a $16,000 decrease in funding for the district.

The district was able to make up for the drop in ADM through a large amount of attrition, which was 13 retirements this year with half of those positions being hired back.

Despite the drop in the general fund, Cauffman is confident about where the district stands with its budget.

“Overall, I think we are in a pretty good spot and our reserves are right where they should be,” Cauffman said.

The board did approve an increase to the base salary for both classified and

certified staff in the district, but Cauffman said that this is an area they are going to need to look at in the future if they want to remain competitive in staffing.

The district did approve a steps and lanes movement for all staff that are eligible.

Cauffman said he is confident with the Wyoming Legislature this upcoming year after a year of uncertainty. He said that preliminary mineral reports look positive for the state, noting taxes on minerals provide primary funding for K-12 schools in Wyoming.

The one item that Cauffman said he is uncertain about in the future however, is how or when the district will receive their Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) III Fund dollars which come through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act of 2021.

He said that the Legislature is determining how they are going to disperse the ARP funds to the districts, if they are even going to allow the funding to come to Wyoming after some legislators have proposed withholding the funding all together from the federal government.

The budget is as follows:

General fund: $25,162,000

Special revenue fund: $7,185,143

Capital construction: $2,485,652

Debt service: $1,611,582

Recreation district: $577,023

Food service: $1,298,812

Insurance trust: $319,359

Private trust: $4,821,813

Pupil activity fund: $381,778

Total appropriations: $43,843,162