by Superintendent Mitch Wainwright
School districts use multiple funding accounts to operate throughout the school year. Some accounts, like Fund 10, are for the general education services provided to teach our students. Other accounts, like Fund 27, are specific for special education programs and support. Still, other accounts cover athletics and co-curricular activities, food service, maintenance and on and on.
Each year, our school board requests and requires a balanced budget based on funding sources and expenditures. If the district is fortunate and has money left over at the end of the school year, the excess money can be left in the Fund Balance account. The current school board policy requires us to maintain a Fund Balance of at least 15%. Mineral Point has a Fund Balance of over 20%. Two years ago, when the city closed down the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District, the school received a sizable refund that was split between Fund Balance and Fund 46.
Last month I wrote about upcoming projects that would be using some of the Fund 46 monies. This is money that can be used for Capital Maintenance projects. The school district has a plan of projects that have been put on hold over the years so that the money was spent on educational needs. The state allows school districts to save the money in Fund 46 until they have enough to begin the work. This summer, the school district will be able to start projects using the money in Fund 46.
The benefit of using Fund 46 is that no money is taken from the educational programs the schools use to support all of our students. While it may look like the district has been sitting on money, the truth is that this money has been building up over the last five years. One of the projects will be replacing the blacktop driveway at the middle/high school. If you have been to any events at the building, you would have noticed and tried to avoid the potholes. There are a few other projects that will be done over the summer that will use Fund 46 to fix doors or add lights to areas in the parking lot.
Due to some positive financial events, the school has been able to work on building the fund. We will continue to work on updating building maintenance over the upcoming years, thanks to this fund and sound board decisions.