Mitchell Board of Education to get look first look at 2021-22 budget

Erik Kaufman, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·2 min read

May 9—The Mitchell Board of Education will perform a preliminary review of the 2021-22 school year budget at its next meeting.

The meeting, scheduled for Monday, May 10 at 5 p.m., will take place in a virtual format.

According to the agenda and materials for the meeting, the board will consider a general fund budget of $19,947,406 and a capital outlay budget of $4,572,770. Those are increases over the both funds from 2020-21, which came in at $19,718,176 and $3,547,269, respectively.

Steve Culhane, business manager for the Mitchell School District, notes in the board agenda that the slight increase in the general fund is due to the loss of some long-time employees.

"We are seeing a slight increase in the budget for next year. The main reason for the small increase is the loss of long time employees and the reduction of the health insurance premium starting next year," Culhane said.

The capital outlay fund has shrunk due to the lack of new technology purchases.

"We see a total reduction of overall expenses as we are not purchasing all new technology equipment this year. Also, we are seeing a reduction in debt payments due to the refinance of the PAC certificates," Culhane said. "Also, we continue to grow the capital outlay fund balance as per our plan to help fund the new high school down the road."

The proposed budget can be found in the meeting agenda, available at www.themitchellkernels.com/ under the School Board tab.

Personnel

The board is expected to consider the following personnel moves:

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The new certified hire of Rayann Larson, 7th/8th math teacher, $45,787, effective 2021-22 school year

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The 6th class assignments of Riley Berggren, both semesters (biology); Ken VanOverschelde, one semester (civics); Christina Siemsen, one semester (geography); Danise Hoffman, both semesters (personal finance); Bruce Mastel, both semesters (physical science) and Kaitlyn Huska, one semesters (psychology). All assignments effective 2021-22 school year.

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The resignations of Sarah Bartunek, paraeducator at L.B. Williams and Kirk Hanson, food service worker. All resignations effective 2021-22 school year.

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The MTC new hires of Erin Yost, farm business management (FBM) instructor, $10,398, through July 31, 2021, effective June 1; Erika Hennessey, temp hire, financial aid, $13.50, effective May 12.

Other business

Also at the meeting, the board is expected to:

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Consider approval of a tentative agreement with the Mitchell Classified Education Association.

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Review and/or revise K-12 board policies 700-900 on first reading.

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Hear board member reports.

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Here superintendent report.

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Hear public commentary.

Members of the public wishing to attend the virtual meeting can do so by calling 1-312-626-6799, then inputting the meeting ID 924-7445-4450 and then entering the passcode 897187.