Board of Education approves budget with projected deficit

Mountain Brook City Schools will have a smaller deficit in the budget this year than year. The Board of Education approved the FY 2016 budget at its Sept. 14 meeting.

The board is projecting a $1.5 million deficit.

“We think we are going to finish a lot better than this year’s $2.6 million deficit,” Superintendent Dicky Barlow said. “This [deficit] started happening in 2008 when the recession hit, and we have fought through this time and time again over the past six years.”

Additionally, the state legislator is looking to cut the Educational Trust Fund for next year, which could affect the budget.

Board President Brad Sklar recognized the work of the system’s staff in creating the budget.

“A lot of department heads were asked to make sacrifice to try to make the most fiscally conservative budget we could,” Sklar said.

Also at the meeting, the board:

• Recognized the Mountain Brook PTO Council 2015-2016; Jennifer Lauriello and the MUSE literary magazine staff who recently had a collection published through Books-A-Million; 24 National Merit Semifinalists at MBHS; and the team behind Institute Day.
• Recognized a new Chromebook program at MBHS. Principal Amanda Hood said that students are working more efficiently than they ever have and now have more time in the evenings after school. “We underestimated how much that would help students,” Hood said.
• Heard a financial report and approved it. For the month of August, the system has received 100 percent of local revenue and is under budget in expenditures at 89 percent.
• Heard a report on enrollment and class size. This year there are 4,353 students in the system, down from 4,459 last year. Since the recession in 2010, Superintendent Dicky Barlow said kindergarten enrollment has gone down about 30 students on average each year.
• Heard a report on professional learning this summer and Ed Camp, which was open to teachers from outside school systems. “The hallmark of Mountain Brook Schools is professional development,” Barlow said.
• Approved updates to career tech policies: I-8, I-10, I-11 and I-32.
• Approved personnel recommendations.
• Discussed establishment a dual enrollment guidelines for career tech in alignment with regulation changes at the state level. The board will receive community and system input between now and the next meeting.
• Approved designated surplus items that are now in poor condition or otherwise cannot be used.