The Santa Rosa County School District will see a 4.7 percent increase in state funding which will give the district more than $8 million in the recently approved state budget. Superintendant Tim Wyrosdick is thankful for the increase, especially in light of recent decreased revenue.
“Over the past 7 years, as a result of the recession, education has taken a revenue decrease,” Wyrosdick said in a email. “In Santa Rosa County it amounted to nearly 23 million dollars per year in missing revenue. Our delegation made educational funding a high priority during this session.”
Both Wyrosdick and Susan McCole, the assistant superintendent for finance, said the additional funding will assist in making up for lost revenue stemming from the recession.
In addition to using a percentage of funding for categorical costs and increasing the school district’s financial condition ratio, officials plan to use the funding to hire additional staffing, planning higher quality curriculum and expand on implementing advanced technology in classrooms.
The school district steadily improved their financial condition ratio, which indicates the overall financial status of each school district to state officials, McCole said.
“Over the past few years, as a result of the recession, our FCR fell to a low of 2.17 percent,” Wyrosdick said. “The additional 8.2 million will assist us in moving our Financial Condition Ration to an acceptable level. We are projected approach the 5 percent FCR at close of the 2014-2015 school year. This should be finalized in September.”
The additional funding will also help with the increasing population size, McCole said.
“We are growing so much and schools are starting to get crowded, which means we need to hire additional staff and teachers,” she said. “It will definitely help us.”
Wyrosdick said the school district’s student population increased by 250 students and the school district is anticipating the same level of growth for the upcoming school year.
“Student population growth requires additional teachers,” he said. “By projection, we will increase our teacher population by nearly 30 teachers. Supporting these new employees will require an additional $2 million of salaries and benefits.”
A portion of the funding will also be utilized towards expanding certain curricular activities, like workforce academies, gifted education and duel enrollment programs. Wyrosdick said the school district has previously been unable to expand such programs due to the loss of revenue.
Another area is expanding technology in classrooms. Wyrosdick said the district has budgeted nearly $2 million in technology enhancement for teachers and students in the classroom. Wyrosdick said exposing students to digital curriculum is crucial.
“The digital classroom today is a reflection of how our world operates,” he said. “Students need to be exposed and taught through the use of technology.”
Although the additional funding will provide some financial relief, both Wyrosdick and McCole said the increasing utility and fuel costs, employee retirement, providing required matching funds for grants and other costs will serve as a challenge for the district for years to come. However, Wyrosdick believes the district’s school board has managed to make a positive budget.
“Even through some tough economic times they have placed students at the top the list,” he said. “We will do what we do best and serve the citizens who support us financially by being good stewards of their money and at the same time continue the excellence they expect and our students demand.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: County schools to receive additional $8 million from state budget