Hot Springs board adopts budget

The Hot Springs School District is again asking voters to approve a $183,000 levy, but the school board on Monday approved a budget for the 2024-25 school year.

The budget passed unanimously on Monday does not include the levy funds. The school will seek $100,000 in funding from the Impact Aid fund, a federal program which “reimburses school districts for the lost revenue and additional costs associated with the presence of nontaxable Federal property,” according to the program website. If that funding is received, the school would end the coming school year with a deficit of just under $90,000 in the general fund.

The school board and administration spent nearly an hour on Monday reviewing the budget with community members at the meeting, answering questions and reviewing each department’s budget for the year.

The board also discussed athletics for the coming year and options for team travel. In attempting to cut more than $300,000 from the budget, restrictions including that the school will not pay for overnight travel for teams during the regular season unless the teams fundraise to pay for the travel. When parents asked Monday if they could pay for the travel and hotel rooms, Athletic Director Brady Ovitt noted that any fundraising or donations must adhere to Title IX guidelines, providing the same opportunity for all students.

School board member Lynette Ek clarified the separate funds in the budget. “People don’t understand that you can’t borrow from other funds.” While some funds may show a surplus, the funds may not be able to be transferred to the general fund to offset the cash deficit the school continues to manage. Taylor Salmi pointed out that as taxable values increase, the number of mills being levied by the school district has decreased from 247.11 in 2023-24 to 241.58 for the upcoming school year.

District Clerk Carmen Jackson talked about what would happen if the October 2 levy does not pass and eventually, as has been discussed, the school was forced to close a grade level. “That tax money won’t stay local,” she noted. “All the tax money goes to the closest district, which is Plains.” She also stated that taxpayers in the school district would then be assessed all of the levies Hot Springs has approved, as well as the ones Plains has approved.

Addressing questions about the budget, the school board and administration stated that any funding not used in the budget would go to reducing the cash deficit in the district. ‘We are committed to frugal spending practices to reduce the deficit,” Jackson added.

Salmi stated that public forums to help educate people about the upcoming levy election will be scheduled in September.

Superintendent Gerald Chouinard stated that the school’s mission statement has been updated to “The Hot Springs School community is committed to creating a positive and safe learning environment. Through collaboration with parents, staff, and students we strive to ensure success for our future leaders.”

Chouinard also gave an update on the school’s accreditation process. “We’ve made some very good progress in accreditation,” he noted. The elementary school earned an assurance score from the state of 37 out of 48 for the 2023-24 school year, with a student performance rating of 8 out of 8. The junior high and high school each scored 41 in assurance, with the junior high receiving 8 out of 8 in student performance and the high school scoring 2 out of 4. Chouinard said the high school scored low on college readiness. “We’ve made some good strides forward. Overall we have some work to do but we have had some very good performance.”

The next Hot Springs school board meeting will be Monday, September 16, at 7 p.m. in the high school library.