March 2025
Hello and welcome to March. This is the time of year when schools receive preliminary budget data for the next school year. This data gives additional specific information on budget numbers which guides decision making for the next school year. Unfortunately, enrollment numbers at Vaughn have steadily decreased over the past three years. Direct state aid for schools is built on a formula that weighs heavily on student enrollment numbers. Essentially, when schools lose enrollment, the school also loses money to operate the school. During March, the finance committee will be meeting to discuss options for next year to address the funding shortfall. Initial budget numbers appear to be in the $55,000 to $60,000 range. These numbers include the enrollment decrease and grant funding that is ending. Options discussed will include staff cuts to save on payroll.
Staffing decisions for the upcoming school year will be addressed over the next three months. In addition to possible cuts coming from the enrollment decreases, another variable that is now weighing on decision making is the future of the Department of Education. If you have been following the news pre and post-election, President Trump has stated that he wants to get rid of the Department of Education. Vaughn school receives anywhere from $140,000 to $150,000 per year in federal funding through the schoolwide Title program. These funds are disbursed through the department. What happens to this funding for our school if the Department of Education goes away? At this point, I don’t know. Nonetheless, that is a substantial amount of funding that affects decision making.
At the March school board meeting, anticipated increases and decreases in non-voted levies were adopted through resolution. There is an increase in the tuition fund to pay for district students' attendance at other schools. For Vaughn this increase is approximately $30,000.
Currently Vaughn school only has one bus driver. We have discontinued transportation for nonresident students to address this and currently operate only one route to pick up district students. We will also be exploring the possibility of contracting our transportation services for future school years. Additionally, we are advertising for bus drivers.
We are also advertising for coaching and the athletic director positions for the next school year. I currently have some applications already submitted. We could be moving forward with interviews later this month.
The window for nonresident/out-of-district students to apply for attendance at Vaughn School for the 2025-26 school year ends on May 8, 2025. All nonresident students need to complete the Form 14.1 which is available at the school office and on the school website. This has to be completed every school year.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the school. Have a great month.
Mr. Dunk
