BELLWOOD — Overviews of department budgets were presented at Bellwood-Antis School District’s Committee of the Whole meeting this week.
Business Manager Gregory Gates said some increases are anticipated due to inflation while other items purchased last year were one-time purchases that are not reflected in the upcoming budget.
Amanda Owens of the Nutrition Group said the proposed food service budget projects a loss of $43,238 in the upcoming year.
“Not much has changed from this year to the next,” she said.
The budget is based on the current enrollment of 1,169 and 96% attendance.
A la carte prices were increased due to higher participation and media center sales.
“We are projecting higher participation, so even though I am projecting a loss, we do hope to have a return,” Owens said.
She budgeted food cost shows a 10% increase with an 8% rise for paper and cleaning supplies. These reflect the increase in costs that the company has seen this year, Owens said.
Stephanie O’Donnell is budgeted as the director of food and nutrition.
USDA commodity usage is budgeted at the current rate of 30 cents for the 2023-24 school year.
Reimbursements are based on current National School Lunch Program rates.
All non-food expenses were raised by the current consumer price index of 6.5%.
Additional reimbursements of 15 cents for breakfast and 40 cents for lunch have been included in the total reimbursements for 2023-24.
Athletic director Charles Burch projected his budget to be about $182,443, which is up $3,000 from last year.
He attributed this to a $1,000 raise for a trainer and the costs associated with joining the Laurel Highlands league including dues, which Burch said could be about $1,000.
“If the profits are what we hope for and the championships, that can be nothing,” he said.
Other areas of the budget included the cost for things such as transportation, supplies, new uniforms and new golf bags.
Mike Lingenfelter said the technology budget is about $52,000, with $33,000 of that being the new annual Cisco Meraki payment.
His budget included the cost for applications and tools that the students and staff are using.
Thomas Kovac said the buildings and ground budget is projected around $285,000, which is $14,000 more than last year.
The increase is attributable to inflation and BASD having to pay more for services and supplies.
Kovac said they still try to do as much as possible in-house and save some money by removing items from a storage unit and storing them onsite.
Director of Special Education Carol Bear said for once the costs for her department are going down.
“I’m happy because you don’t always have control over these things,” she said.
Beard attributed this to the district taking over some services that the intermediate unit used to provide such as an emotional support person, having their own autism assessment team and having their own social worker.
Elementary school Principal Matt Stinson, middle school Principal Donald Wagner and high school Principal Rick Schreier said that their budgets all remained the same with some increases to prepare for the potential cost for materials.
Gates said there would be a budget presentation at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
Mirror Staff Writer Cati Keith can be reached at 814-946-7535.
