Batavia school district outlines tentative budget at Aug. 22 board meeting

The Batavia Public School District 101 board’s tentative 2024-25 budget is expected to have a surplus of just more than $2 million, officials announced at the Aug. 22 board meeting.

The budget is estimated to be $135 million, the school district’s Chief Financial Officer Anton Inglese said.

He said the district is projected to have a budget surplus of $2.2 million.

“Overall revenues have increased by 3.1% to $137 million,” Inglese said. “Meanwhile, our expenditures are expected to increase by 5.3%, so it’s a good thing we have a surplus.”

Meeting documents show staff salaries are expected to rise by 8.5%, in part because of a new contract for teachers.

“The reason why salaries are increasing as much as they appear to be is because we have several vacancies for support staff that went unfilled in the prior year,” Inglese said. “Since we didn’t actually spend that money in the prior year, it looks like a bigger increase.”

Inglese said staff benefits are expected to increase to 5.9%.

Student enrollment for the year will see a projected decrease by 2.2%, according to meeting documents.

The board will vote to adopt a final budget during its Sept. 15 meeting.

Also at the meeting, new Superintendent Tom Kim said much of his summer was spent reaching out to students and community members.

“It’s been an amazing early journey,” Kim said. “There’s so much support for this school district. It is so clear from inside our organization and outside our organization people love and care about our district and our students.”