Hoover school board passes $191 million budget for fiscal year 2019

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The Hoover school board tonight approved a $191 million budget for fiscal year 2019, up about 8 percent from the original 2018 budget of $178 million approved a year ago.

It’s also about $11.8 million more than the school system expects to receive in revenue and other sources in fiscal 2019, which starts Oct. 1.

However, school officials are quick to point out that the excess expenditures are all related to an expected $13.3 million renovation of the former Riverchase Middle School, to turn it into a skilled trades facility called the Riverchase Career Connection Center.

Without that project, the general fund budget for recurring operational expenses would end 2019 with a surplus of $147,000, Chief Financial Officer Tina Hancock said.

Hancock also issued a reminder that the school system ended fiscal 2017 with a $27 million surplus (most from one-time revenues) and will be relying on some of that money to take care of the 2019 overage.

She expects the school system to end fiscal 2018 with only a slight surplus, but the school system should begin fiscal 2019 with about $121 million in its overall fund balance, or reserves.

By the end of fiscal 2019, that reserve should stand at $109 million, according to the budget.

The overall $191 million in expected expenditures includes $155 million from the general fund, $18.6 million from special revenue funds such as child nutrition and federal aid programs, $12 million to pay off debt, another $3.5 million for capital projects and $1.9 million from PTO and booster club accounts.

About 84 percent of the school district’s general fund expenditures go toward personnel, Hancock said.

The 2019 budget includes money for about eight to 12 additional teachers, about six additional bus drivers, four additional maintenance workers, at least four employees for the Riverchase Career Connection Center, a bus driver trainer, a mental health and student support specialist, a director of equity and educational initiatives, a bus route specialist and a curriculum coordinator.

The total number of employees funded by the budget is 1,835, including 1,052 teachers, 647 non-certified support personnel, 73 administrators, 33 counselors, 19 librarians and 10 certified support personnel.

While 1,198 of those employees are funded by the state, 465 are paid with local revenues and 172 are paid with federal money, according to the budget. The school board pays the complete salary and benefits for 231 teachers out of local money, with no reimbursement from the state, Hancock said.

Superintendent Kathy Murphy also noted that the school district pays many of its employees above the state salary scale and must foot the bill for that itself as well.

Proposed raises for support personnel

Hancock said the 2019 budget includes $1.43 million to cover proposed salary and benefit increases for support personnel, such as nutrition workers, custodians, secretaries, bookkeepers, registrars, bus drivers and maintenance workers.

The federal government would pick up the $407,000 tab for nutrition workers, but the other $1.13 million would have to come from the general fund, Hancock said.

A committee has been studying such raises since May because the Hoover school district has been losing support personnel to other districts because of pay issues, Hancock said.

A particular problem has been that employees who stay with Hoover more than 10 years are not currently eligible for an annual raise unless the state Legislature approves a raise, Hancock said. Therefore, Hoover is losing experienced employees who see they can make more money elsewhere, she said.

The salary committee looked at pay in the Alabaster, Jefferson County, Homewood, Huntsville, Pelham, Shelby County, Trussville, Tuscaloosa and Vestavia Hills school districts for comparison and is making recommendations that should put Hoover in the middle of those districts, Hancock said.

The school board received the recommendation tonight but did not yet vote on any increases. Board President Craig Kelley said the board has a lot of information to digest.

The support employees are worth the extra money, but the school board has to make sure the system can afford the raises for the long term, Kelley said. He hopes the board can take some kind of action by October or November, he said.

Employees filled the boardroom to hear the recommendations tonight.

Louise Sledge, a child nutrition worker at Simmons Middle School who has been with the Hoover system for 17 years, said she knows something needs to be done to keep employees from leaving. “I know we desperately need it.”

Sharon McCall, a payroll specialist in the central office, said she was hired at the top of her salary schedule in 2001 and hasn’t been eligible for a raise from the school board ever since. The only time she gets a raise is if the state Legislature approves it, she said.

Other 2019 budget details

The 2019 budget includes $113.6 million for instruction and instructional support, $15.9 million for operations and maintenance, $8.2 million for child nutrition, $7.5 million for transportation and $4.5 million for general administrative expenditures.

In addition to the Riverchase Career Connection Center, the budget includes another $3.1 million for other capital projects, including $1.5 million for a partial roof replacement at Hoover High School, $1.17 million to replace heating and air conditioning equipment at various schools, $250,000 for paving projects and $150,000 for painting projects.

Revenues expected in the 2019 general fund budget include $41.8 million from Hoover property taxes, $10.9 million from Jefferson County property taxes, $6.2 million from Shelby County property taxes, $5 million from the city of Hoover, $1.7 million from county sales taxes, $500,000 from the YMCA of Greater Birmingham (which rents space at Hoover schools for after-school programs), $500,000 in interest, $410,000 in Medicaid reimbursements and $171,000 from telecommunication companies.