Rockwood's Budget Shortfall Covered by Reserves

The Rockwood School District has adopted a budget for the 2013-14 school year that will require pulling $4.6 million from reserves to balance the budget.

The deficit for the district’s operating funds is being driven by several factors, including a package of pay raises for teachers and administrators, a refresh of school technology and several major capital projects.

Tim Rooney, Rockwood’s CFO, explained the numbers to the board of education at their meeting last Thursday. In total, the district is projecting it will spend $212,890,225 and bring in $207,551,947.

That’s an increase in spending of $8.7 million from last year. Revenues are expected to stay mostly flat, with a $2.1 million increase in sales tax collections offset by reductions in state and federal funding sources.

The budget includes $3.1 million in capital projects for securing the foundation at Ellisville Elementary, providing additional security cameras and replacing older heating/air condition units at several schools.

The increase in teachers’ salaries is a result of the board re-negotiating its contract with the district’s teacher’s union. Administrators are also seeing bumps in pay thanks to a revised pay scale.

Rooney said this adds $2.1 million more to what the district spends on salaries and $2.4 million to what it spends on benefits.  He added that it is designed to bring the average pay for Rockwood’s staff more closely in line to the St. Louis County median.

Rockwood will still have plenty of money left in its reserves, which will drop from $57.6 million to $53 million, a figure that represents 24.9 percent of the district’s total operating budget. District policy requires that it be at least 18 percent.

After Rooney finished his presentation, Board President Bill Brown said Rockwood patrons are “getting a good deal,” noting that Rockwood’s per pupil expenditures of $9,364 per student ranks 20th out of the 22 school districts in St. Louis County. 

Given the high academic performance of the district’s students, Brown said it indicates how efficiently Rockwood spends its money.

Rooney also took a moment to clarify what he described as a common misunderstanding in the way that ranking is calculated. The formula excludes all capital expenses, no matter what fund they fall under.

“It would not be a good explanation to say capital is the reason for this because capital is excluded from all these districts,” he said.