Proposed $10 million budget for 2021-2022 reviewed at Boyceville school district annual meeting
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — A proposed revenue budget of $10.03 million and an expenditure budget of $10.4 million for 2021-2022 were reviewed at the Boyceville school district’s budget hearing and annual meeting October 13.
The expenditure budget represents an increase of $926,527 over the 2020-2021 budget, and the revenue budget represents an increase of $408,425 over the 2020-2021 budget.
The anticipated tax levy will be $2.8 million, and anticipated state aid will be $6.7 million.
The anticipated mill rate will be $7.50 per $1,000 of property value, compared to a mill rate last year of $8.89 per $1,000 of property value, representing a decrease of 15.6 percent.
The tax levy will be set at the regular meeting of the Boyceville Board of Education on October 27, said Nick Kaiser, school district administrator.
Unpredictable rising costs will affect the 2021-2022 budget, he said.
School staff members are focusing on student achievement, and “it’s great to have the students back in the building,” Kaiser said.
One of the biggest challenges for the school district is attracting and retaining employees, he said.
The school district also continues to focus on safety issues. ALICE training (alert, lockdown, inform, counter and evacuate) for an active shooter in the school buildings will be conducted soon with school staff, and there will be a drill coming up soon for students as well, Kaiser said.
Student enrollment is coming closer to pre-pandemic numbers, although declining enrollment in Boyceville has been an issue for the past several years, he said, adding there is a big difference in enrollment because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to information included in the annual meeting booklet, the third Friday in September student enrollment count was 725 full-time-equivalency.
The September of 2020 count was 704, and the September of 2019 count was 733.
Over the last 13 years, the highest count was in September of 2009 at 790.
The largest decrease in enrollment was 45 students, with an enrollment of 783 in September of 2014, and an enrollment of 738 in September of 2015.
Equalized value in the school district for 2021 is $372,699,952, which compares to an equalized value of $339,743,671 for 2020, representing an increase of $32,956,281.
Parliamentarian
Steve Weld of the Weld Riley law firm attended the annual meeting as parliamentarian.
There appeared to be only two district residents in the audience, and Weld said that other annual meetings he has attended this year have been quite contentious.
Weld also introduced a new attorney who had been hired by Weld Riley, Justin Andrews, a 2010 graduate of Boyceville High School.
Resolutions
Electors in the school district approved the following resolutions during the annual meeting:
• Authorized the Board of Education to borrow funds, if necessary, for the operation of the 2021-2022 school year.
• Authorized the school to sell and dispose of excess and obsolete school property not needed by the school district.
• Authorized the Board of Education to lease school sites, buildings and equipment not needed for school purposes to any person for any lawful use at a reasonable rental fee.
• Authorized the Board of Education to levy the amount needed to operate the district but not to exceed the allowable levy limit for operating costs and debt service and assessed against all taxable property of the Boyceville Community School District.
• Set the salaries for Board of Education members at the current rate: president, $2,150; vice president, $1,600; clerk, $1,750; treasurer, $1,750; other board members, $1,600. When board members travel outside of the school district on school board business, they will be reimbursed for actual mileage, meals and other necessary expenses. When school board members are conducting business outside of the district, they will also receive a per diem of $100 for a full day or $50 for a half day.
• Authorized, when needed, an independent hearing officer from the Weld Riley law firm.
• Authorized the Board of Education to defend or prosecute any action in which the school district is implicated and hire the proper personnel for such action.
• Approved as public depositories Peoples State Bank and the Local Government Investment Pool.
• Authorized the Boyceville Community School Board to set the date and time of the 2022 annual meeting.
Special meeting
Following the budget hearing and annual meeting, the Boyceville Board of Education held a special meeting.
During the special meeting, the Boyceville school board:
• Hired Neil Fruit as a full-time custodian.
• Accepted the resignation of Carol Quin as the night custodian at Tiffany Creek Elementary. Quin resigned because she wanted to work days, Kaiser said.
• Hired Darren Brettingen as the night custodian for Tiffany Creek Elementary. Brettingen is a graphic designer but wanted to have a supplemental income, Kaiser said.
• Learned that the summer school transition days at the beginning of the school year, which were optional for students to attend, along with other summer school hours, had added three full-time-equivalency students to Boyceville’s enrollment. There was good attendance at Tiffany Creek Elementary and somewhat less attendance at the middle school and high school, Kaiser said, adding that the school district will plan to do the two transition days again next year.
• Learned that it is time to harvest the school forest again. Dunn County will put the school forest out for bid, and the harvest will be a two-year process, Kaiser said. The last time the school forest was thinned 10 or 12 years ago, the school district received between $13,000 and $14,000, he said. Steve Olson, school board member, noted that the pulp market in Wisconsin is not very good right now because there is nowhere in the state to send pulp wood.
