Putnam Schools Aiming To Stay Out Of Reserve Fund

New money will keep the Putnam County Schools from dipping into its reserve fund, as the School Board approved the second reading of its budget Thursday.

Director of Schools Corby King said the district’s expected expenditures still sit at some $123 million with some $122 million in expected revenues. He said the latest TISA estimate includes an increase of some $138,000, to go along with a property tax increase of some $750,000.

“We have the unbudgeted TISA increase from last year’s allocation, the fast growth allocation of $1,750,000,” King said. “So our recommendation is just to use the unbudgeted TISA funds to balance the budget.”

The TISA funds will cover a gap of some $1.2 million, compared to a gap of some $2 million in draft one. He said much of the new proposed budget mirrors draft one and certified staff will still receive $1,500 starting salary increases and step increases.

“We feel confident with this,” King said. “It’s a $700,000 approximately less gap than what we had in draft one.”

He said the total increase in salary and benefits in the budget totals some $3.4 million. He said the district still plans to spend another $3.6 million on new positions. He said the chance to keep many of the budgetary goals in tact while also being able to avoid drawing from reserves is great news.

“We’ve had a lot of back and forth with the state to make sure our data’s accurate,” King said. “And several things with how we’re tracking student enrollment and data to make sure that it’s accurate has led to some of the increases in TISA, and so we’re very thankful for that too.”