School board approves budget

This will be the second year in a row that the Carrington School District passes a budget that does not levy any miscellaneous mills and instead calls for deficit spending.

At their September 10 meeting, the Carrington School Board approved the 2024-25 final budget. The district is expected to bring in just under $8.09 million in revenue and spend $8.47 million to educate approximately 600 students.

Officials again noted the healthy general fund balance, which totaled $3,306,675.15 as of August 31. Therefore, the approximately $380,000 in projected deficit spending accounts for about 11% of the general fund balance.

Food costs have noticeably risen, affecting not only district families' budgets but also the school's hot lunch program. The increase was noted in the hot lunch budget reviewed by board members. The district spent $22,000 more than they budgeted for food costs alone during the 2023-24 school year. Business Manager Kimary Edland said that food costs could grow another 15%, to $245,000 in 2024-25, and accounted for that in her budget.

The district will not receive any more non-food assistance, which resulted in a $19,000 revenue cut. The school will, however, receive the fresh fruit grant again, a total of $21,453, which is used to serve fresh fruit three days per week.

The hot lunch budget approved by the school board is balanced with a $55,000 infusion of cash from the activity fund. Within the activity fund the school district holds dollars to be used to shore up the lunch fund as needed. Edland said any transfers from the activity fund will be reserved for the end of the year and made only if needed to cover expenses. The 2024-25 hot lunch budget totals $488,000 in both revenue and expenses.

More discussion was held regarding the building fund. Officials see facility needs within the school and want to increase the building fund levy. The question about whether to increase the building fund levy was first brought to voters this summer, yet failed with only 51.6% in favor of the increase. The district needs 60% support in order for the measure to pass.

Board president Joel Lemer shared some research with the board, which he had compiled from the N.D. Department of Public Instruction. Many neighboring school districts have a 10-mill building levy. In fact, the statewide average building levy is 10.5 mills, and other districts with enrollment similar to Carrington have building levies as high as 20 mills. Also notably, Midkota and Central Cass Schools do not have a building levy, while Rugby's levy is the same as Carrington's, 5 mills.

"I'd like to see the building fund constantly at 10 mills. It shouldn't ever really go away. Every 10 years we're going to need to do something," said new member Joey Irmen.

Officials reiterated the need for security upgrades at the high school, as well as exterior window replacement, additional classroom space and more centralized administrative offices in the 60-year-old structure.

The decision about whether to hold another special election regarding the building fund levy was tabled until the October meeting, and should they decide to move forward the vote would not be held until after the November election. With Measure 4 on the statewide ballot, officials agreed that it is prudent to see the result of that vote before moving forward.

Superintendent Janelle Helm provided an update on facility improvements underway. The new football goal posts will wait to be installed until after the season is over, to avoid damaging the field. The walk-in cooler needs repair, which will be completed by Red River Refrigeration. Larsen Plumbing is moving the sprinkler system meter from the crawl space to the boys' locker room and winterizing the system.

Gabby Hewitt will coach speech this year. Mallory Hooey and Taylen Mehring will coach fifth and sixth grade boys' basketball.

Enrollment is up 20 students compared to May 2024, to 569 in grades K-12. With 40 students in pre-K, enrollment has surpassed 600.

The district generated over $12,000 in revenue from activity ticket purchases already this fall, and officials noted that 92-95% of students opted to purchase Cardinal Insurance, which brought in $8,645. The program covers repair and replacement of school-issued student devices.

The board ended the meeting by approving no tuition agreements for 14 out-of-district students currently attending school in Carrington: two from each Fessenden-Bowdon, Kensal, New Rockford-Sheyenne and Pingree-Buchanan, as well as six from Midkota. Transportation was approved for eight of those students.

They also approved a no tuition agreement for one student from Carrington to attend school at NR-S.

The next regular board meeting is set for Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 4 p.m.

The school's Technology Committee will meet Sept. 30 at 5:30 p.m. The Lunch Committee has set its fall meeting for Nov. 6 at 5 p.m.