Mountain Brook school board approves budget with first surplus in 9 years

Mountain Brook School Superintendent Dicky Barlow delivered some good news about the system’s overall financial health at the Board of Education meeting on Monday, Sept. 18.

“All in all, we’re on the upswing,” Barlow said at the meeting, which was held at Mountain Brook High School and attended by about 50 students, staff and residents.

Barlow was referring to the city’s 2017-2018 school budget, which he said is the first in nine years to be projected to finish in the black.

The board voted to approve the budget, which was first discussed at a meeting on August 31.

The system’s revenues for 2018 – counting state, local and other funding – are projected to be about $53,941,000, according to a document supplied by the school system’s chief financial officer, Karen Lusk-Smith.

Expenditures are projected to be about $53,720,000, the document states.

“While it’s still a very lean budget, I think we’re going to finish with approximately $221,000 to the good,” Barlow said.

The superintendent noted that a recent increase in property values is one positive factor.

“Also we spent less, and the state is still giving us a little more money,” he said.

After the meeting, Barlow said that the Great Recession led to the schools’ budget struggles over the last decade.

That epic downtown caused property values to drop for the first time in history, according to Barlow.

And school funding decreased in Alabama and other states.

“We had to think deeply about every decision we made far as spending money,” Barlow said, referring to such budget items as hiring and facilities.

Barlow said that the city’s PTO (parent-teacher organization) and Mountain Brook City Schools Foundation were “huge contributors during the downturn.”

“We live in a good community that values education, and they will do anything in their power to make sure their children receive a quality education,” he said.

“I think we worked so well as a team... to accomplish things with lower funding that other school systems may not be able to,” Lusk-Smith said. “With the state-mandated things that we have to assume as part of our budget, like raises and insurance, I think we’ve done a good job of keeping things on a level playing field.”

In other business, board member Elizabeth Dunn said that the board had completed their annual evaluation of Barlow and that it was a positive one.

“We are pleased with the work that Dr. Barlow has done,” she said, adding that the board appreciated his “excellent leadership.”

She also praised the contributions of the rest of the staff for helping to make “the system run as smoothly as it does.”

Director of Facilities Tommy Prewitt showed photographs of numerous improvements made to city schools over the summer.

The board also recognized E. Donald Clayton, principal of Mountain Brook Junior High School, who was recently named Middle School Principal of the Year by the National Speech and Debate Association. Clayton was honored for his efforts in starting a speech and debate team at MBJH.

The board welcomed and recognized Mountain Brook High School’s 12 National Merit semifinalists.

Board members in attendance were Dunn, vice president Brad Sklar, Tommy Luckie and Nicky Barnes.