The Brownfield ISD Board met in a special session on Monday evening, August 3 to look at the proposed budget for 2020 – 2021.
David Martinez, Chief Financial Officer for the District, gave the overview of the planned budget. Numbers show there is a drop in revenue from the 2019-2020 budget of about $425,000. Martinez stated that the planned budget had been gone through carefully and the upcoming budget would be less than last year’s budget by around $425,000. The projected budget will still come in as a deficit budget by about -$281,456.
BISD Superintendent Chris Smith stated, “Everyone knows that the COVID has caused a situation where our tax base has gone down. We will only feel a part of that this year because the tax base was already set. We will likely see a bigger hit going forward.”
Smith also stated that every year since he arrived at BISD, the district has adopted a deficit budget and still was able to put some money back in Fund Balance at the end of the year. “That will likely not be the case this year. This is a legitimate deficit budget. This not what we want and we will continue to work toward a balanced budget but we have so many expenditures we are having to make in dealing with the COVID situation. Most of the money we are having to spend in taking precautions will not be refunded to us by the state,” stated Smith.
No raises were brought to the Board at this time. There will be a new short term disability program for employees of the district which protects their income in the event that the employee has to miss work for an extended period of time due to their illness or that of a family member.
Smith stated, “I am not going to give a gloom and doom scenario to the district. We are really sitting pretty good compared to a lot of districts. We have all that we need to be ready for the new year. We are still going to work hard to come in under budget.”
In the Food Service category, it was projected that there will be a 10% decrease in revenue. Martinez stated that this was a real unknown. “In the beginning, we will be doing a lot of sack type lunches so costs will be up. Packaged foods always cost more.”
Smith stated, “This is another one of those situations where we are given guidance in a certain area and there is no additional revenue to cover it.”
For those who do not attend face to face classes, meals will still be available, much like they were in the spring of this year.
Smith stated, “We do not anticipate bringing an increase in tax rate to the board at our next board meeting. We are not planning a raise in taxes.”
In the Superintendent’s report, Athletic Director Aarrhon Flores stated that the district has been able to keep all their games, so far. “We have been having good numbers for football workouts. We are still reaching out to parents and other athletes. We are working hard and following all protocol. We are providing face masks. We are working hard on sanitation on all equipment.”
Smith stated that the extension of Cub Drive should be poured this week. This is a joint project with the City and the County. He also stated that there should be much more activity seen at the BHS construction site.
The Board did approve the Back to School Plan template for the year. This 35 page document includes all protocol for all levels for coming back to school. (This plan was shared on Facebook by BISD and TownTalk Radio.)
The Board also passed a resolution making students who have voluntarily chosen to do all remote learning ineligible for any UIL extracurricular activity. The same is true for any extracurricular activity that is non UIL.
The Student Handbook and Code of Conduct was approved by the board, along with the BISD Employee Handbook for 2020-2021.
The Board also approved the Employee Compensation Manual for 2020-2021.
The Board will meet in regular session on Monday, August 17, in the Board Room of the BISD Administration Building.
