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Steamboat schools could see financial boost from increasing numbers

Steamboat schools could see financial boost from numbers

Zach Fridell

School Board meeting agenda

The Steamboat Springs School Board meets at 6 p.m. today in Centennial Hall.

6 p.m. Executive session to discuss confidential documents relating to a student

6:15 p.m. Board questions for community forums

6:30 p.m. Call to order, approval of agenda

6:35 p.m. Reports on full-day kindergarten and enrollment figures

7 p.m. Community comments for any item not on the agenda

7:20 p.m. Half-cent sales tax budget implications report

7:40 p.m. Budget report

8 p.m. Approval of minutes

8:10 p.m. Board member, Education Fund Board updates

8:20 p.m. Perry Mansfield sewer easement update

8:40 p.m. Monitoring reports

9 p.m. Consent agenda - resignations, employment of personnel and substitute teachers

9:10 p.m. Debrief

9:20 p.m. Plan for future meetings

9:30 p.m. Adjourn

— The Steamboat Springs School Board will hear tonight that enrollment calculations show as many as 2,115 funded students in the district, a number that is “substantially above the 2,077 that the district has been using for budgeting,” according to the report.

The district receives funding from the state on a per-pupil basis, and if numbers pulled from the new Infinite Campus report are accurate, the district will receive more money than in previous years.

School Board President Robin Crossan said the higher numbers are encouraging for the district.



“The fact that the numbers are up for us, given the economy and some of the big construction projects are winding up, that’s very good news for Steamboat Springs,” she said.

The report indicates the numbers will have to be compared to numbers reported on a daily basis from the individual schools, however, because the figures do not match.



“Because Infinite Campus is new this year and does not compare to the numbers submitted by the buildings, district office personnel are currently attempting to reconcile the differences between the two systems to come up with an accurate number for electronic submission to the state,” the report states.

Board Vice President Denise Connelly said the Infinite Campus system should be more accurate because it incorporates data, including budgets and enrollment, from each of the schools into a centralized database.

The official headcount takes place annually during the first week of October. Districts must submit enrollment figures to the state by Nov. 10.

Preliminary numbers show a total of 2,221 students, but several student groups, such as kindergarten and preschool, are not fully funded, resulting in the final funded count of 2,115 students.

School officials previously had expected enrollment figures to be about equal to previous years, based on preliminary counts.

Full-day kindergarten

Also during tonight’s meeting, Soda Creek Elementary School students will serenade the School Board as part of a full-day kindergarten report and update. The district’s four full-day kindergarten teachers will also make a report to the board concluding a final enrollment of 80 students in the full-day program.

The report states there are no students on the waiting list and an annual tuition has been set at $2,572. That equates to a monthly rate of $257, or $14.70 per day. Of the 80 students, 15 are receiving scholarships for the program.

Along with those budget figures, the board also will discuss the finalized budget for the 2008-09 school year and possible ramifications of the upcoming citywide vote on the half-cent sales tax. Money from the sales tax goes to the schools through the Education Fund Board.

– To reach Zach Fridell, call 871-4208

or e-mail zfridell@steamboatpilot.com


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