School Board Set to Adopt First Draft of Next Year's Budget

The public will get its first glimpse of next year’s school district budget tonight as the Valley View school board appears set to adopt a tentative budget for the 2012 fiscal year.

The balanced budget will spend nearly $247 million and leave the district with an operating deficit of $7.9 million, roughly , said Gary Grizaffi, the district’s assistant superintendent for administrative services.

That deficit should be made up for with the district’s fund balance.

Valley View continues to feel the pinch from a state cutting back.

The state is expected to reduce the amount it gives via General State Aid—school districts’ main source of money from the state—by more than $2 million. It is the fourth consecutive year the state has dropped its state aid offering. What was once more than $27 million for the district in 2008 has fallen to just more than $20 million expected next year.

The state is also likely to dish out less money in transportation costs, which has sunk the district’s transportation fund over the years.

Since 2009, the district’s transportation fund has dropped from $7.5 million to an estimated $1.7 million by July 2012.

No relief seems imminent.

According to the budget proposal, no real funding reform is expected in the near future. Because of that, the district said it might have to make further budget reductions in coming years, focusing mainly on expenses. The board has cut more than $20 million over the last three years.

The district is expected to reestablish its capital improvements program, which has been ignored for the last two years, Grizaffi said.

According to the proposal, the district’s buildings and grounds department has created a five-year construction plan that will improve areas of need around the district. Further details on that plan were not immediately available.