S/T School Board OKs $13.6 million budget

He noted that the district benefited last year because the number of students was estimated very conservatively and at the end of a year the average daily membership was a lot higher than estimated. This brought more money into the district since it receives money for each student’s daily attendance.

“The key is how much are you going to assume we have next year,” said Ollerton, who explained that the district’s administrators felt additional enrollment would be minimal.

“The bottom line is, it will be very close to what we had last year or under that. That’s kind of our goal,” said Ollerton noting he will be working with Navajo County on numbers.

The $13,675,213 budget is an increase of 7.4 percent from the previous fiscal year.

One of the highlights Ollerton mentioned was Proposition 301 money, which will go away in 2021. “It’s been really a good increase for teachers,” he said, noting that this year they paid $70,000 to teachers.

Superintendent Hollis Merrell added that he has heard that renewing Prop. 301 is a priority of the state legislature and the governor’s office. Some groups want to increase this funding. “It would be a devastating blow to our educators if it’s not renewed,” he said.

Ollerton noted that there is a 1.06 percent increase for teachers’ salaries in the budget, but there are “a lot of strings attached.” This went to certified teachers that taught in the district in the 2016-17 fiscal year; it does not include new teachers or those who come from out of state.

Merrell noted that this will continue next year, but it is not permanent money.

Ollerton said it would be paid as a stipend and that out of the district’s 115 teachers, 100 are eligible for the money.

Merrell noted that there has been a lot of concern about transportation issues and they would like to see that addressed, especially at Snowflake Junior High School.

Ollerton said that the district approximately $190,000 that can be used at SJHS for transportation issues.

Merrell pointed out that money from adjacent ways could be used for school property.

The superintendent has also talked to officials of the towns of Snowflake and Taylor, and to Snowflake-Taylor Police Chief Larry Scarber. Chief Scarber has applied for a temporary stoplight, but didn’t feel it would be approved. Even so, this would show that they have done a lot regarding the traffic problem.

“There has been quite a bit of interest at the community level,” said Merrell, adding that Navajo County has granted $27,000 on the district’s behalf to have the project engineered. “I’m very pleased with their efforts,” he said.