Budgets Helena Public Schools for 2015-16helenaschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/... · Budgets – Helena Public Schools for 2015-16 Executive Summary The Montana State Office

Helena School District #1 Budget 2015-16

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Budgets – Helena Public Schools for 2015-16

Executive Summary The Montana State Office of Public Instruction (OPI) requires the Trustees to adopt a

budget for each levied fund by August 20th of each year. The entire process of valuing

property is established through state law and begins with the Department of Revenue. The

department certifies the values for the elementary and high school districts in early August.

OPI establishes the official budget document that is required to be completed for the final

adoption. This document is transferred electronically to the state and a printed version to

the County Superintendent of Schools and Board of County Commissioners. At the

County, all governmental entities submit budgets that are certified and eventually result in

tax bills and levies for property owners in the county. OPI requires budget adoption by

fund total rather than by line item. Line items budgets are prepared for most funds within

each district and are available from the Business Office.

For 2015-16, the elementary district levied $14,497,002 for a total of 155.31 mills for

budgeted funds and excluding debt service. The combined total actual expenditures for all

elementary funds from the previous year was $61,142,444. The high school district levied

$9,202,843 for a total of 79.82 mills for budgeted funds excluding debt service with 2014-

15 actual expenditures equaling $31,631,234. The combined districts have 37 funds and

129 grants which each require separate accounting.

Highlights

Instructional The primary responsibility is to ensure high levels of learning for all students. The District

is proud to highlight the results of student achievement and identify people and programs

that have helped students learn at high levels. The focus to update instructional resources,

improve learning environments and develop a collaborative process for staff to work

together allowing all students an opportunity to high quality materials instruction.

The District updated K-5 math, K-12 Literacy, and 6-12 Social Studies. The focus for the

2015-2016 is centered around 6-12 math. The District has also implemented benchmarking

assessments and intervention programs to assist with our four primary PLC questions.

1) What do we want our student to know? 2) How do we know our students are learning? 3) What do we do when our students are not learning? 4) What do we do when ours students are proficient?

Measuring student growth through assessment and intervention programs has allowed the

District to place instructional and human resources in identified areas allowing for

optimum student growth. We are very excited to see the increase in the number of students

district wide showing increased proficiencies in math and reading.

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2014-2015 math data shows over two hundred incoming 6th graders performing at the 80th

percentile. This is an improvement from past math data and requires our middle schools

to accommodate the increasing numbers of advanced students. Our elementary teachers

also see an overall increased preparedness and have adjusted instruction to meet the needs

of a higher level student. The weekly PLC process has allowed teachers and support staff

to plan and adjust to the advancing level of our students.

Students now have a strong foundation in math and literacy to build from; which allows

the district to offer advanced courses of study and increase rigor. This strong foundation

will propel the District forward into an increase in graduation requirements in the area of

math and science. During the 2015-2016 school year, the District will begin discussions

regarding increased graduation rates, graduation requirements and additional advanced

programs of study.

College and Career readiness is one of three main goals, and the District is doing extensive

work with student results in relationship with the ACT. The data shows a significant need

to increase graduation requirements in math and science as well as prepare students K-8 to

meet the level of rigor that allows them the opportunity to choose post-secondary options

that are areas of interest to the student. The District is confident that literacy and math

cornerstones will allow the district to continue along the academic path encompassing

standard based curriculum and instruction, effective assessments and a collaborative

communication model that will allow teachers to benefit from each other’s best work.

Joan Meyer’s quote sums up the current district status and celebrates the vision and

direction we are taking as an educational community.

“The district initiatives are so significant, they have the power to affect change in the

culture of our schools and community. As our beliefs change, so will our customs,

capabilities and habits; hence a transformative shift. What an incredible time to be teaching

and learning in the Helena schools.” Joan Meyer, CHS Librarian

Curriculum During 2014-15, the Curriculum department adopted a Social Studies curriculum for

grades 6-12. This adoption included the purchase of approximately $1,359,000 of

technology, on line access, textbooks, Chromebooks, and related material from 2014-15

and $182,760 of technology from 2015-16. Projects slated for 2015-16 include Math,

materials update grades 6-12.

Special Education During the 2014-15 school year, Elementary Principals and the Leadership Team focused

on using the Professional Learning Communities (PLC) to provide guidance for special

education staff to meet the four basic goals listed above. The following expectation was

developed for special education teachers: “Students are expected to participate in grade

level core instruction, noting that individual student needs may alter the amount of time

the student is involved with core instruction.” Using this as a guideline, the resource

educators focused on the development of the district Core Plus Model. This model

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supplements the general education core curriculum with additional intervention, if and

when needed. For example, while all teachers and students used the Journeys English

Language Arts core curriculum; in special education, it was supplemented with a variety

of interventions when students were either not meeting the goal of learning or were not

proficient.

To answer the question of “How do we know our students are learning?” Resource

Teachers will be working during the PLC time to analyze benchmark data and weekly and

daily data for students in special education. Based on the analysis, instructional strategies

to assist students in working toward proficiency will be discussed and implemented.

This year, the Special Education Department was monitored by OPI for compliance.

Monitoring occurs every five years to ensure special education paperwork meets state and

federal guidelines under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). The

feedback received from OPI was favorable overall. The Special Education Department

will continue training staff and monitoring student files to maintain compliance.

Other Special Education Departmental goals include 1) ongoing evaluation and analysis of

student data, 2) training and implementation of core intervention programs, 3)

demonstration of student growth toward proficiency in literacy, math, and written

language, and 4) training to improve special education paperwork and knowledge of special

education requirements for students. Finally, the department will focus on the right side

of the MTSS triangle to assist building staff in improving students’ challenging behaviors.

Building staff will be assisted by the Board Certified Behavior Analyst and three

Interventionalists. Effectiveness of the of the behavior intervention model and in achieving

these goals will be determined in part, by collecting data throughout the school year.

Data Assessment and Federal Grants The goal of the data assessment and Federal grants department is continued implementation

and analysis of student data at grade level, district, state and national levels to ensure that

we have more students learning more. This department has managed the data as well as

provided leadership to move Helena School District students forward academically.

Specifically, we have seen significant gains in national ACT sub scores when compared to

other AA districts across Montana as well as a tremendous jump in K-5 district math

proficiency as measured by a nationally normed product, Renaissance Learning. The

continued District goal of “more students learning more,” will led us through the 2015-

2016 school year with a specific focus on the areas of mathematics and literacy for all

students. Using District data to determine needs in the areas where we receive Federal grant

funding will help pinpoint areas of need with the goal of continued student success.

Human Resources/Business Services During the fall of 2015, the Human Resources and Business Services departments will

implement the benefits enrollment online computerized system. This system will allow

employees to understand, select benefit options, and enroll electronically for the cafeteria




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plan. It will replace tedious manual collection, editing and entry into the system and is

expected to kick off with the opening of the school year.

Other Departments Detailed information and goals for other departments and funds is included in the following

pages.



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FY 2015 FY 2015 FY 2016

EXPENDITURE FINAL ACTUAL PROPOSED

DESCRIPTION BUDGET EXPENDITURES BUDGET

Administrative Salaries 2,032,923$ 2,042,262$ to be determined

Educator Salaries 17,354,367 17,312,892 63,000

Technical/Professional Salaries 3,538,527 3,670,010 to be determined

Office/Clerical Salaries 962,750 965,869 to be determined

Service Work Salaries 1,701,160 1,688,729 to be determined

Para-Educator Salaries 3,702,734 3,361,704 to be determined

Guest Teacher Salaries 288,050 319,208 291,880

Substitute Clerical Salaries 15,000 29,923 15,150

Temporary Service Worker Salaries 39,800 42,320 44,600

Substitute Para-Educator Salaries 54,108 137,206 54,000

Overtime 23,720 13,455 18,550

Sabbatical Salaries 38,792

Coaches Stipends 70,000 62,314 78,100

Educator/Admin Unused Personal Days 18,000 8,600 30,000

Termination Pay/Retirement Incentive 482,000 431,281 482,000

WC/Soc Sec/Medicare 201,200 118,553 to be determined

Undistributed Salary/Benefits/Waived Prem (187,135) 30,483,021

Subtotal Salaries/Benefits 30,523,131 30,017,191 31,497,301

Professional-Educational Services 10,485 15,986 9,415

Electricity 471,000 433,329 448,000

Water/Sewage 101,000 104,147 106,000

Garbage Collection 35,000 33,521 35,000

Repair/Maintenance Services 2,893 1,694 1,650

Rental of Equipment/Land/Bldg 18,535 20,104 19,520

Field Trips 9,700 8,647 9,100

Insurance - Not employee benefits 198,650 261,265 198,650

Telephone/cell/long distance 17,700 22,827 21,700

Internet Fees 5,950 1,482 4,076

Postage 18,781 20,046 19,075

Advertising 14,475 20,410 8,975

Printing/Binding/Duplicating 154,967 172,399 162,672

Travel In-district 47,649 47,304 to be determined

Team Travel 4,425

Travel/Prof Development 136,499 53,745 48,065

Supplies 525,820 440,948 504,990

Software 307,200 488,692 287,224

Gasoline 23,500 17,728 23,500

Books 370,634 485,375 220,207

Minor Equipment 10,033 62,248 31,385

Major Equipment 204,886 418,894 126,906

Dues and Fees 34,070 29,994 45,339

Other Uses of Funds:

Transfer to Multidistrict 250,000

Contingency 234,277 380,000

School Allocations 38,859

Authorized Budget 33,924,289$ 33,924,289$ 34,742,999$

(1) School allocations are supplemental allocations distributed after the fall count.

HELENA SCHOOL DISTRICT PROPOSED FY 2015-2016 BUDGET

ELEMENTARY GENERAL FUND


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FY 2015 FY 2015 FY 2016

EXPENDITURE FINAL ACTUAL PROPOSED

DESCRIPTION BUDGET EXPENDITURES BUDGET

Administrative Salaries 1,106,945$ 1,121,882$ to be determined

Educator Salaries 11,908,939 11,951,809 to be determined

Technical/Professional Salaries 2,007,654 1,964,137 to be determined

Office/Clerical Salaries 991,636 964,110 to be determined

Service Work Salaries 905,460 918,843 to be determined

Para-Educator Salaries 751,069 671,484 to be determined

Guest Teacher Salaries 251,910 226,209 260,570

Substitute Clerical Salaries 8,290 16,386 8,440

Temporary Service Worker Salaries 29,800 15,209 27,500

Substitute Para-Educator Salaries 2,500 13,899 2,500

Overtime 13,600 10,516 15,450

Sabbatical Salaries 90,946 29,909

Coaches Stipends 682,948 664,307 575,050

Educator/ Admin Unused Personal Days 25,000 4,143 37,000

Termination Pay/Retirement Incentive 438,000 358,331 438,000

WC/Soc Sec/Medicare 145,000 80,313 to be determined

Undistributed Salary/Benefits/Waived Prem (56,441) 19,262,511

Subtotal Salaries/Benefits 19,359,697 18,955,046 20,627,021

Professional-Educational Services 10,112 16,720 7,200

Other Professional Services 72,930 71,132 144,519

Technical Services 39,569 42,635 41,320

Gas 335,000 237,465 380,000

Electricity 400,000 366,758 390,000

Water/Sewage 101,000 60,988 77,500

Garbage Collection 40,000 32,935 38,000

Repair/Maintenance Services 10,400 9,706 9,100

Rental of Equipment/Land/Bldg 7,100 3,699 4,200

Field Trips 7,150 5,114 6,500

Insurance - Not employee benefits 138,995 215,969 141,195

Telephone/cell/long distance 32,450 14,630 26,450

Internet Fees 6,169 926 4,969

Postage 20,210 17,915 21,627

Advertising 15,340 12,727 16,340

Printing/Binding/Duplicating 103,185 116,462 107,743

Travel In-district 27,047 30,857 to be determined

Team Travel 219,550 224,520 218,900

Travel/Prof Development 77,200 61,487 39,300

Supplies 545,505 380,245 502,749

Software 93,261 137,569 27,400

Gasoline 25,350 18,939 22,450

Books 88,405 332,251 88,849

Minor Equipment 45,975 114,134 61,977

Major Equipment 63,820 448,123 98,141

Dues and Fees 39,395 24,723 32,055

Other Uses of Funds:

Transfer to Multidistrict 20,000

Contingency 48,860 150,000

School Allocations 28,336

Authorized Budget 21,973,675$ 21,973,675$ 23,313,841$

(1) School allocations are supplemental allocations distributed after the fall count.

HELENA SCHOOL DISTRICT PROPOSED FY 2015-2016 BUDGET

HIGH SCHOOL GENERAL FUND


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Salaries/Benefits91%

Operations9%

Elementary General Fund Budget 2015-16

Salaries/Benefits88.5%

Operations11.5%

High School General Fund Budget 2015-16


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2015 FY 2016

REVENUE PROPOSED %

DESCRIPTION BUDGET BUDGET Change

Direct State Aid 12,881,768$ 13,248,166$ 3%

Special Ed. Allowable Costs 1,824,208 1,787,445 -2%

Guaranteed Tax Base 5,504,969 5,701,454 4%

Non-Levy Revenue 7,739 5,191 -33%

Base Levy 3,647,242 3,768,546 3%

Over-Base Levy 6,642,209 6,992,209 5%

Over-Base Tuition 215,970 7,849 -96%

State Block Grants 1,650,786 1,553,253 -6%

Natural Resources Development 91,798 148,732 62%

Quality Educator 1,120,630 1,145,158 2%

At Risk Student 99,610 116,876 17%

Indian Education For All 107,855 110,455 2%

American Indian Achievement Gap 50,200 51,865 3%

Data For Achievement 79,305 105,800 33%

Total Revenue 33,924,289$ 34,742,999$ 2%

MILLS LEVIED: 114.97 115.28

ANB:

K-6 4,107 4,113 actual

7-8 1,180 1,177 actual

TAXABLE VALUE: 89,028,019$ 93,354,867$ 5%

FY 2015 FY 2016

REVENUE PROPOSED %

DESCRIPTION BUDGET BUDGET Change

Direct State Aid 8,914,708$ 9,044,191$ 1%

Special Ed. Allowable Costs 610,827 591,494 -3%

Guaranteed Tax Base 3,612,497 3,687,701 2%

Non-Levy Revenue 3,800 8,592 126%

Base Levy 2,404,188 2,439,200 1%

Over-Base Levy 4,309,929 4,398,425 2%

Over-Base Tuition 8,601 3,090 -64%

State Block Grants 1,200,344 1,141,850 -5%

Natural Resources Development 63,528 101,535 60%

Quality Educator 659,621 676,642 3%

At Risk Student 44,039 64,082 46%

Indian Education For All 62,118 62,724 1%

American Indian Achievement Gap 33,800 34,235 1%

Data for Achievement 45,675 60,080 32%

Total Revenue 21,973,675$ 22,313,841$ 2%

MILLS LEVIED: 60.04 59.31

ANB: 3,045 3,004 3 Yr Aver

TAXABLE VALUE 111,124,592$ 115,304,637$ 4%

State Funding Increase 2.3%

HELENA SCHOOL DISTRICT PROPOSED FY 2015-2016 REVENUE BUDGET

ELEMENTARY GENERAL FUND

HELENA SCHOOL DISTRICT PROPOSED FY 2015-2016 REVENUE BUDGET

HIGH SCHOOL GENERAL FUND


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Other Budgeted Funds – 2002-16

Elementary Mill Levies - last fifteen years

Bus Adult Bldg DebtGeneral Trans Depr Tuition Ed Tech Flex Reserve Service

2002 116.68 13.93 0.60 2.00 12.72 7.42 2003 118.51 15.02 0.59 2.00 0.67 12.46 8.12 2004 120.06 14.02 0.79 2.00 8.32 8.23 2005 119.17 14.88 0.79 2.25 8.07 9.60 2006 119.31 18.82 0.78 2.42 7.52 7.52 8.10 2007 117.49 17.27 2.21 7.26 7.26 7.72 2008 114.86 17.67 0.61 6.79 13.04 7.47 2009 114.45 22.71 1.02 1.67 6.60 12.68 7.82 2010 114.69 19.18 2.52 6.27 12.04 6.39 2011 112.22 22.83 3.89 6.05 11.63 7.05 2012 113.17 19.36 3.86 5.92 11.37 6.97 2013 113.01 19.67 4.38 5.86 11.26 0.69 2014 112.60 24.48 0.94 3.24 5.70 10.96 - 2015 114.97 28.62 0.05 2.79 5.85 14.04 - 2016 115.28 18.29 0.37 2.40 5.58 13.39 0.45

145.93

149.25

145.19

145.16

156.37

151.49 152.97

159.13

154.7

156.62

153.68

154.18

157.92

166.32

155.31

130

135

140

145

150

155

160

165

170

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Mills

Fiscal Year

Elementary Mill Levies Excluding Debt Service2002-2016


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High School Levies - last fifteen years

Bus Adult Bldg DebtGeneral Trans Depr Tuition Ed Tech Flex Reserve Service

2002 72.94 4.40 0.53 0.13 2.00 7.20 5.67 2003 73.72 6.04 0.53 0.04 1.95 0.24 7.10 6.89 2006 69.74 7.40 0.59 2.62 6.42 6.37 7.64 2007 69.25 5.35 0.03 2.62 6.20 6.15 6.88 2008 63.65 6.89 2.09 5.81 5.71 6.53 2009 62.72 6.91 1.33 4.28 5.63 5.53 6.11 2010 62.15 6.62 0.70 5.99 5.39 5.30 5.96 2011 62.73 5.58 1.05 5.35 5.21 5.12 6.24 2012 60.76 4.96 1.28 4.82 5.10 5.02 6.54 2013 58.72 5.16 5.14 5.05 4.96 5.99 2014 59.80 8.06 3.61 4.89 4.81 5.02 2015 60.04 7.71 0.27 2.11 5.03 4.81 5.02 2016 59.31 6.66 0.91 1.59 4.85 4.81 6.50

87.20

89.62

93.14

89.60

84.15

86.40 86.15

85.04 81.94

79.03

81.17

79.97 78.13

70.00

75.00

80.00

85.00

90.00

95.00

2002 2003 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Mil

ls

Fiscal Year

High School Mill Levies Excluding Debt Service2002-2016


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History of Taxable Valuations – Helena School District #1 Elementary and High School

Fiscal Year Elementary % change High School % change

2001 59,365,037 101.65% 76,383,166 95.04%

2002 60,512,771 101.93% 77,121,547 100.97%

2005 64,428,519 103.08% 81,371,382 103.09%

2006 69,175,840 107.37% 87,169,925 107.13%

2007 71,650,218 103.58% 90,299,409 103.59%

2008 76,708,606 107.06% 96,262,143 106.60%

2009 78,882,371 102.83% 99,383,267 103.24%

2010 83,027,698 105.26% 103,816,296 104.46%

2011 87,562,975 105.46% 107,360,198 103.41%

2012 87,967,076 100.46% 109,639,585 102.12%

2013 88,818,771 100.97% 110,845,060 101.10%

2014 91,268,261 102.76% 114,384,554 103.19%

2015 89,028,019 97.55% 111,124,592 97.15%

2016 93,354,867 104.86% 115,304,637 103.76%

0

20000000

40000000

60000000

80000000

100000000

120000000

140000000

2002 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016


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Summary – Other Levied Funds Transportation Fund: Accounts for activity relating to student transportation to and from

school except for field and activity related trips.

Transportation Funds Elementary High School

County Reimbursement - On schedule $473,347 $170,705

State Reimbursement - On schedule 473,374 170,705

SD #4 fees 39,356 -0-

School Block Grants 113,333 44,161

District Tax Levy 1,707,915 768,205

Interest 750 400

Cash Re-appropriated 857,060 294,594

2015-16 Adopted Budget $3,665,109 $1,448,770

2015-16 Levies 18.29 6.66

Prior Year Adopted Budget $3,800,000 $1,315,000

Prior Year Levies 28.62 7.71

The budgets for the Transportation Funds combined encompass a variety of underlying

expenditures: contracted bus services, fuel, wages, video/gps equipment and routing

software. The Elementary Transportation Funds decreased by approximately 4% for 2015-

16 because of decreased costs of routes and a reduced contingency over the previous year.

The High School Transportation budget increased by $133,770 again because of routing

changes. Mills for both district decreased because of a combination of increased taxable

valuations and cash re-appropriated. The current year adjustment for the transportation

contractor is .8% based on the Consumer Price Index, as defined in the transportation

contract. For budgeting purposes, diesel fuel prices are estimated at $4.25/gallon.

Employee salaries and benefits for district staff that provide support for transportation

services were adjusted per the collective bargaining agreements.

Helena Public Schools operates 46 regular education busses and 15 Special needs buses

that serve approximately 3,210 students daily. These busses travel approximately 745,200

miles annually. The strategy to provide additional classroom space at Jim Darcy has

reduced the need for overflow bussing from the north valley. This strategy coupled with

routing efficiencies that modified the use of middle and high school busses allowed the

district to reduce the number of bus routes in 2015-16 which accounts for the overall budget

reduction. The variables associated with student location as it relates to schools of

attendance when providing pre-school - 12 special needs, Montessori and homeless student

transportation continues to be a challenge. The contingency within this budget anticipates

that the district will have to add transportation services for these programs as the school

year progresses.

Tuition Fund: This fund accounts for tuition payments and related costs for students who

are residents of Helena but are enrolled in another district. The high school levy includes

payments for detention center charges for Helena students. The tuition fund laws were

expanded starting in 2013-14 to permit districts to pay for costs associated with intensive


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need special education identified students. The elementary district funds one FTE nurse

from the elementary district and 2 FTE special education resource teachers from the high

school district.

Tuition Funds Elementary High School

Cash Re-appropriated $9,568 $10,554

District Levy 34,172 104,446

2015-16 Adopted Budget $43,740 $115,000

2015-16 Levies .37 .91

Prior Year Adopted Budget $46,000 $116,000

Prior Year Levies .05 .27

Retirement Fund: Accounts for the District portion of employer taxes for employee

retirement plans, social security, Medicaid, and unemployment taxes. The levy is county

wide for all school districts and is set by the County Commissioners. Employment taxes

relating to federal grants can not be paid from this fund and are required to be paid from

each grant.

Retirement Funds Elementary High School

County Share

Interest

$4,542,095

1,200

$3,125,593

800


2015-16 Adopted Budget $5,123,000 $3,360,000

2015-16 Levies N/A N/A


Prior Year Levies N/A N/A

Adult Education Fund: The adult education fund accounts for all activity relating to the

district adult education program. This program has three components: the traditional adult

education program, adult enrichment courses and Access to Success. The traditional

program includes adult basic education (ABE), English as a Second Language (ESL), and

High School Equivalency Testing (HiSET) prep. The budget cannot be used for persons

who are less than 16 years of age and who are regularly enrolled, full-time pupils for the

purposes of ANB computation. Students are from all cultures, nationalities, and range of

abilities - from ESL to post-secondary education. Additionally, the ALC (Adult Learning

Center) provides individual assessment for various purposes during the year and open

entry/exit educational opportunities. The Center staff works with many referring agencies

and within a tri-county area for students in need of HiSET preparation.

The Adult Basic Education/HiSET program is housed on the Helena College campus as a

joint effort to increase student educational opportunities and graduation. The ABE program

will be required to become compliant with the “Workforce Innovation and Opportunity

Act” (WIOA). This shift from the old “Workforce Investment Act” will require a unified

state plan where all of the Montana ABE programs will be required to develop a work plan

to begin implementation including three new Title II Activities; 1) Integrated education


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and training, 2) Workforce preparation activities, 3) Integrated English Literacy and Civics

(IEL/CE). The following criteria will be used to measure our program progress:

1. Percentage of program participants employed during the second quarter after exit,

2. Percentage of program participants employed during the fourth quarter after exit,

3. Median earnings of program participants,

4. Percentage of participants who obtain a postsecondary credential,

5. Percentage of participants who during the program year achieve a measurable skill

gain,

6. Effectiveness in serving employers.

The Adult/Community Enrichment program is administered by the Helena College. The

school district pays a portion of the advertising and some administration costs.

Access To Success, the adult education transition/dropout reengagement program, began

operations in the spring of 2009. This educational opportunity targets those who are

severely at-risk or who have completely dropped out of high school. Access to Success is

a high school diploma completion program. All coursework is provided in an adult

learning environment and is housed on the Helena College campus. Eligibility is limited

to those who are at least 16 years of age, meet minimum reading levels, and are not

currently enrolled in school. Those not meeting eligibility requirements will be referred to

other skill building programs within the district (ABE). The Helena School District, along

with the Office of Public Instruction and the Montana School Boards Association,

continues to explore permanent funding through legislation for alternative diploma

programs. Under the guidance of the OPI, Helena no longer collects ANB funding for

Access to Success Students and follows statues for the education of students who are over

the age limit. This program is staffed by certified Helena School District teachers. The

goal of the District is to continue to transfer of Access operations to other funding sources

in the next three years. Currently 2.5 FTE are funded from other sources. Access is not

currently offering a night program as in the past but is exploring options to provide

flexibility to working individuals seeking high school credit.

Adult Education Funds Elementary High School

Interest and other revenue $200 $200

District Tax Levy 223,660 183,067


2015-16 Adopted Budget $315,000 $350,000

2015-16 Levies 2.40 1.59

Prior Year Adopted Budget $338,000 $390,500


Technology Fund: The technology fund is used to support the operational and equipment

procurement costs to support school districts technology. Operational costs include

personnel, annual software maintenance/licensing, network connections, repair parts, and

consumable supplies. The balance of this fund is used to purchase equipment that supports

the academic and administrative functions of the district.


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The three overarching issues with technology in the district are consistency, complexity,

and reliability. Over the past year, in the consistency goal, the department expanded the

use of management systems to provide more consistency in the classroom and office.

Simplicity and reliability were increased through the continued reconfiguration and

replacement of key infrastructure, such as the wireless system. The District continued to

utilize opportunities for cost effectiveness including the utilization of cloud services where

appropriate. For example, the new website, emergency notification, email, and

collaboration systems use the cloud to more effectively and efficiently communicate with

students, parents, staff and the community.

The department completed a number of critical infrastructure projects over the past year.

The wireless project was completed and network capacity between district buildings and

Internet connectivity was increased. Other projects included the deployment of virtual

desktop infrastructure and the mirroring data and infrastructure services between Helena

Middle School and Capital High School for redundancy and high availability.

The success of the wireless project which was wrapped up last year, was not known until

after school started. By the middle of the year, the wireless system supported over 5,000

simultaneous connections. In the future, the district expects to support over 6,500

simultaneous wireless connections. The wireless network project enabled the district to

purchase online text books for the World Cultures and World Languages curriculum

adoption (2013-14).

The network capacity between the district’s buildings and the Internet was upgraded. This

was a significant capacity upgrade, and provided a cost savings to the district. All district

buildings are supported by 2Gbps fiber and are connected to Helena Middle School and

Capital High School by a 20Gbps fiber backbone. Internet capacity was increased fivefold

to 1Gbps. The district is using almost 60% of that capacity today.

Between the wireless and connectivity upgrades, the district saw significantly fewer

outages. These upgrades allowed testing/assessments with high speed, low latency, and

reliable connections to our assessment providers. The end result was reduced technology

frustration and higher confidence in the results. The department deployed a virtual desktop

infrastructure environment for additional capabilities to achieve a consistent experience.

In the past, district had one location where all data and key infrastructure services were

held. Over the last year, the technology department began to build Capital High School as

a redundant location to the systems at Helena Middle School. Today, the district’s

information, such as PowerSchool is now stored at both Helena Middle School and Capital

High School simultaneously. In the future, the goal is to provide uninterrupted services to

the district, even in the event of a catastrophic event at either location.

In the upcoming year the department will continue to enhance and increase the use of the

management systems with the goal of providing anytime, anywhere, any device access to

information in a consistent manner. Simplicity and reliability will be increased through the


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reconfiguration and replacement of outdated wired network equipment. Reliability will

also continue to be increased through projects to provide battery backup power for

telephone and network services in the buildings. The district will also be implementing a

system to continue operations from another location and expand the use of cloud services.

Some projects that are planned for this year include:

1. Expand Virtual Desktop Infrastructure - $105,000 (estimated). This project is to

further expand the use of the technology within the district. It includes adding

additional capacity to the storage, computing power, and software licenses. This

project provides the ability to use Windows applications on non-Windows devices,

or personally owned devices.

2. Wide Area Network Upgrade - $41,000 (estimated). This project replaces outdated

network routing and switching equipment at CR Anderson, Helena Middle,

Capital High, and Helena High Schools. The purpose is to provide redundancy and

capabilities in these schools and to set the path for additional network capacity and

bandwidth.

3. Network Systems Reliability - $55,000 (estimated). The use of the network and

the systems is not just for academics and operations, but also for safety and

security. Cameras and communications systems run over the same network, which

adds to the criticality of the network. This project has two parts which includes

providing additional intelligent battery backup systems in the schools to keep the

network up in the event of a power outage. The second part is to add computing

capacity at Capital High School to serve as a redundant site to Helena Middle

School.

4. Internet Capacity Enhancements - $55,000 one time and $24,000 re-occurring per

year (estimated). The district has seen exponential growth in the use of the Internet

over the last two years. If the trend continues, the district will need to add another

1Gbps Internet service before the start of the 2016 school year. Not only will this

provide the district with additional capacity, but this circuit will built to be

redundant of the existing service already provided. This will provide the highest

level of availability and redundancy for instruction.

5. Wireless Network Expansion - $45,000 (estimated). The current wireless network

simultaneously supports 5,000 devices using 300 wireless access points. excluding

1,500 Chromebooks that were recently purchased for the World Cultures/World

Languages curriculum for the 2015 school year. The purpose of this project is to

place a wireless access point in each of the classrooms that utilizes a Chromebook

cart. This will provide the capacity to support the multitude of wireless devices

that are present in each classroom.

Technology Funds Elementary High School


E-rate and State payments 253,370 164,112

District Tax Levy 520,500 559,500


2015-16 Adopted Budget $1,623,390 $1,352,400


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2015-16 Levies 5.58 4.85



Debt Service Fund: Accounts for the accumulation of resources for the payment of the

current portion of general long term debt, principal, interest, agent fees, and special

assessments (storm water drainage, lights, street maintenance etc) from the City of Helena

and Lewis and Clark County. The Helena Elementary amount is for SID’s only. The

Kessler issue retires in six years and as per the consolidation, only Kessler resident

taxpayers are responsible for that levy. The high school district has two issues which retire

in 2016 and 2017.

Debt Service Funds Elementary Kessler High School

District Tax Levy $42,230 $13,857 $679,038

Cash Re-appropriated 67,770 478 426,912

2014-15 Adopted Budget $110,000 $14,335 $1,105,950

2014-15 Levies 5.15 2.40 5.89

Prior Year Adopted Budget $105,000 $14,605 $1,102,700

Prior Year Levies -0- 2.63 5.01

Building Reserve Fund: The voters approved both Elementary District and High School

District building reserve levies in November of 2013. The Elementary District receives

$1,250,000 annually and the High School District receives $750,000 annually for 10 years.

This fund accounts for the voter approved Elementary and High School district building

projects. The entire projected cash balance must be budgeted in addition to the tax levy in

order to be spent.

The building reserve funds are used to support the district's capital improvement and

deferred maintenance programs. The majority of this work is focused on code compliance,

safety and replacement of building systems that have reached the end of their service

life. Major projects completed this past year or that are in progress this summer

include: 34,000 sf roofing replacement/structural upgrades at HHS, portable classroom

installation at Jim Darcy, Bryant ES Gym roof replacement, asbestos removal/boiler burner

replacement at HHS, replacement of 15,000 sf of flooring at various schools, CRA gym

floor restoration, Four Georgians SPED expansion, Bryant exhaust fan installation, CHS

boy’s locker room upgrades, Bryant gym furnace replacement, CHS/HHS/CRA/HMS

elevator repairs/code compliance, FSLC fire main rupture/fire suppression system code

upgrades, HHS Science wing floor slab repairs, HHS/CHS gym floor re-finish,

CHS/HHS/Vigilante athletic field restoration, Vigilante stadium light re-wiring/repairs,

CRA electrical service upgrade, stand-alone classroom re-roofing at Lincoln/Jim

Darcy/CRA, storage building construction at Lincoln/FSLC/CRA, IT Center construction

at HMS, playground improvements at Smith/Lincoln/Broadwater, Kessler irrigation well

repairs, HVAC controls upgrades at HHS/CHS/Kessler, CHS classroom construction, CHS

textbook library construction and a variety of system repairs performed by the maintenance

department.


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Major projects under consideration for 2016 include: HHS gym roof replacement, HMS

boiler replacement/asbestos removal, Jefferson re-roofing, Kessler re-roofing, Warren re-

roofing, Broadwater re-roofing, HHS re-roofing, CHS re-roofing, Four Georgians fire

alarm, Rossiter flood mitigation (partnership with county), MBC heating controls upgrades

and district wide playground upgrades. The 2015-16 project recommendations will be

further defined and presented to the Board Facility Committee for consideration at the

conclusion of this year’s construction season after the final project costs for 2015 have

been reconciled.

Building Reserve Funds Elementary High School


District Tax Levy 1,250,000 750,000


2015-16 Adopted Budget $2,172,679 $1,102,700

2015-16 Levies 13.39 6.50



Elementary District

Fund 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 Trend

General 31,095,701 31,728,674 32,255,997 32,844,243 33,924,289 34,742,999

Transportation 3,028,923 2,957,855 3,329,450 3,450,000 3,800,000 3,665,108

Tuition 96,532 46,000 43,740

Retirement 4,650,000 4,387,000 4,250,000 5,550,000 5,300,000 5,123,000

Adult Education 334,500 451,000 393,800 401,200 338,000 315,000

Technology 1,350,804 1,243,193 1,398,767 1,554,854 1,630,826 1,623,390

Building Reserve 2,481,101 1,289,361 1,694,643 1,975,747 1,262,911 2,172,679

Debt Service Helena 944,768 951,338 418,688 135,000 105,000 110,000

Debt Service Kessler 14,716 14,491 13,140 12,740 14,605 14,335

Totals 43,900,513 43,022,912 43,754,485 46,020,316 46,421,631 47,810,251

High School District

General 20,874,714 20,920,925 21,112,519 21,799,855 21,973,675 22,313,841

Transportation 1,072,222 1,057,810 1,130,000 1,300,000 1,315,000 1,448,770

Tuition 113,000 140,000 10,000 15,000 116,000 115,000

Retirement 3,225,000 2,892,000 2,800,000 3,500,000 3,350,000 3,360,000

Adult Education 619,000 627,775 592,150 474,850 390,500 350,000

Technology 1,241,447 1,109,100 1,144,157 1,130,131 1,326,497 1,352,400

Building Reserve 2,471,839 2,129,543 2,361,683 2,240,360 1,229,841 1,554,333

Debt Service Helena 1,144,428 1,142,468 1,093,968 1,109,950 1,102,700 1,105,950

Totals 30,761,650 30,019,621 30,244,477 31,570,146 30,804,213 31,600,294

History of Adopted Budgets - levied funds only


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Non-Budgeted Funds State law does not require the trustees to adopt a budget for the following funds:

Liability Fund – This fund is authorized to pay for the liability and building

comprehensive insurance and legal costs related to potential claims against the district. It

was established with seed money from the various funds several years ago. In order to

operate, this fund assess all other appropriate funds a portion of the annual liability

insurance premium. The liability insurance premium for 2015-16 is $506,982. The

beginning balance of this fund is $287,494.

Multi-District Fund – This fund was created in March, 2012 with year-end transfers from

the elementary and high school general funds. The current balance is $720,822 and there

are no plans for expending this balance in the current school year. It has been earmarked

for transitional expenses and or instructional needs.

High School Scholarship Fund – this fund was created decades ago by large legacies

from 1) a former teacher, 2) a well-wisher and 3) from minor donations of others. The

districts hold the funds in trust and legally restricted to spend the interest earnings only for

Helena High School scholarships. The cash balance (principal) is $231,391.

Activities – “284” The Activities budget for 2015-16 has been established at $297,000 and

includes revenue from advertising, and a mandatory facilities rental surcharge. In addition,

an expenditure transfer of officials’ salaries of approximately $50,000 was budgeted in the

High School general fund. These modifications were made to stabilize the account rather

than increase event prices or student “pay to play” fees.

Print-Shop: The district print-shop is responsible for duplication services and the on-site

school copier leases. Last year the print-shop printed 7.3 million copies down slightly from

the previous year. The number of print jobs was 33,366 in 2014-15 (about the same as the

previous year.) Revenues from printing were a stable $278,598. The budget for 2014-15

is projected to be $265,000. The department will solicit pricing for the two large copiers

that are operated at the facilities below the Helena Middle School. During the summer, the

entire fleet of leased small copiers (on site at the schools and departments) was replaced.

In order to absorb the increased leased costs, the copier charges will be increased slightly.

The department is staffed by 1.468 FTE staff. Per copy printing costs will increase to 3.5

cents per page.

Warehouse: The budget for the warehouse is based on supply sales internally to all

schools and departments. Approximately 1,000 orders were received and shipped from the

art, paper and office supplies that are warehoused beneath HMS next to the print-shop.

This is about the same as the past several years. In addition, the warehouse receives and

processed all purchase orders - 967 in FY15 (again about the same as previous years). A

final service provided by the warehouse is interschool mail delivery which includes internal

mail, items received from purchase orders, from the art, paper, and office supplies, and

print-shop print jobs. The district employs 1.468 FTE staff for warehouse activities. The


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budget for 2014-15 establishes revenues at $70,000 and expenditures at $125,000. The

shortage will be funded from the cash balance of $93,140. Other than salaries, purchases

of supplies are the largest expenditure and dependent on inventory balances and sales.

School Aged Child Care: The SACC program is located at every elementary site, except

Bryant which has a program in a partnership with YMCA. The before school sites are

located at Rossiter and Jefferson Elementary schools. The program provides child care

and enrichment activities for students K-5 year round. The fund operates as a private

business would – charging tuition for care to cover all costs associated with the program.

Tuition revenues for 2014-15 were $660,250 ($690,049 last year), federal food

reimbursements of $71,653 ($72,842 last year) and interest of $423 ($170 last year.)

Expenses last year totaled $616,622 ($622,693 last year). 85% of the total expenses were

for salaries and benefits. Tuition was not increased for the 2014-15. About 400 students

are enrolled for the school year program and 110 are enrolled for the summer program.

The fund is budgeted is to break-even at $750,000 with wages projected to be $600,000

and food at $51,000.

Self-Insurance Fund: The Self-Insurance fund was established by the Board of Trustees

as allowed by state law in 1992. Rather than paying insurance premiums to an outside

private insurance company, the premiums are paid into this fund that is owned by the

district. Medical, dental, and vision claims are processed weekly by an independent third

party administrator (Allegiance) for an administrative fee. The revenues from employee

premiums, retirees, COBRA and rebates were $8,540,999 while the claims paid for

employees, stop loss, employees, administrative fees and wellness incentives were

$8,019,213 for a net increase over the previous year of $521,786. The cash balance as of

the end of the fiscal year was $13,700,833. Because of the reserve balance, the trustees

did not increase premiums. As a result, the budget for the next school year is expected to

be approximately $8,541,000 and the cash balance is expected to increase again but at a

lessor rate since health insurance costs are expected to increase. The fund realized savings

of slightly over $44,000 for the $10 co-pay plans at Cost-Care and St. Petes.

Budgets Helena Public Schools for 2015-16helenaschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/... · Budgets – Helena Public Schools for 2015-16 Executive Summary The Montana State Office

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