Sterling Public Schools OKs budgets for district and career center

STERLING – Sterling Public Schools held public hearings and passed spending plans for the district and the Whiteside Area Career Center on Wednesday during a board of education meeting at Sterling High School library.

There were no public comments on either budget.

Sterling Public Schools expects to spend $64.75 million in the current fiscal year.

Broken down, about $21.6 million goes to salaries, nearly $9.5 million is for capital projects and $5.9 million is for contracted or purchased services. Health and dental insurance for employees comes to $3.8 million while other benefits are nearly $3.1 million.

The budget was amended from the one posted a month ago to reflect that the district’s Evidence Based Funding allocation from the state will be $213,980 less than what was initially estimated, said Timothy Schwingle, director of finance.

Superintendent Tad Everett informed the board that there is a correlation between the EBF formula used by the state and what the district gains from the Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax and that’s what required the adjustment.

Adjusted, the Education Fund revenue was pegged at $47.2 million, still above anticipated spending of $46.2 million.

In the main, Schwingle said, “It’s a very good budget for this year.”

The Whiteside Regional Vocational System budget for the Whiteside Area Career Center is $2.261 million. The Education Fund spending will be $1.8 million while operations and maintenance spending will be $517,001.