Arcadia schools ahead of budget projections, summer school slow in ‘21

The Arcadia School District saved about $500,000 more than they expected to during the 2020-21 school year, superintendent Lance Bagstad told the school board on Monday.

The board’s annual meeting and budget hearing for 2021-2022 is set for Monday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m.

District revenues were about $111,000 more than district expenditures last year, but that money isn’t readily available for the district to use, Bagstad told the board.

“Sometimes that’s the thing that a lot of people get confused by that,” Bagstad said. “They say, ‘Well, you’ve got 1.8 million sitting there, why can’t you use it for this?’ Well, It’s not cash on hand, it’s not a savings account that sits there.”

For the entirety of the 2020-21 budget, the district ended the year with about a $500,000 surplus. The money was split into different fund categories so that the district doesn’t lose it when the new budget calendar begins.

Many areas led to savings.

• Fuel was part of the difference because there wasn’t as much traveling with middle or high school sports due to COVID, which also canceled most of the field trips that would require district transportation.

• The district spent almost $53,000 less on open enrollment money, as less students left the district boundaries than officials had planned for. About $40,000 in savings stemmed from tuition paid to other schools, and $39,000 less than originally planned was paid to CESA because COVID changed programming, Bagstad said.

• The district saved $14,000 in area technical college programs for students and about $74,000 on athletics with coach salaries, referee costs and other factors playing a role.

Budget numbers have been audited, and the audit report will be ready in about two months for board review, Bagstad said.

Summer school numbers were down for both students and staff this year, according to a presentation from summer school coordinator Derek Newsom at Monday’s meeting.

Elementary-aged summer school had 379 students, and middle/high school saw 307. A majority of the older students were either in credit recovery or academic enrichment courses, Newsom said.

Staffing summer school this year was a challenge, Newsom said. 

Board member Brian Steinlicht asked why staff weren’t as interested in teaching summer school this summer, and Newsom guessed a lot of staff were burnt out after COVID created a long year.

Prior to COVID, summer school was run in three separate sessions of two-week classes. Newsom said he hopes to see the future follow the two sessions of two-week classes that ran this summer because teachers need a break, too.

“As a teacher, it was very, very draining mentally, physically trying to keep kids separated the whole time. It was very draining. I think teachers just needed a break,” he said.

There were no COVID cases during summer school, Newsom said. He plans to review the data again and mull over possible changes for next summer, including the possibility of having students who are only taking swim lessons have a separate section from other classes.