WILLMAR -- For the past six months, there's been a slow, steady drumbeat of good financial news for the Willmar School District.
It continued Monday evening when the School Board approved the first revision of the $40 million budget for this school year.
For the first time in recent memory, the district's financial planning projections include a plan to add a teacher each year to deal with a potential increase in enrollment. Projections in previous years have listed the need to cut staff as enrollment declined.
The signs that the district's finances were entering a more positive phase began last summer. The state's official enrollment figures indicated that the district had registered more students than the year before, the first time in more than a decade.
With the strong enrollment numbers came more state aid and a decision that the district didn't need to go to the voters for a referendum on an operating levy.
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Projections now indicate that the district will likely break even after this school year, leaving its $5.4 million general fund reserve largely intact.
Business and Finance Director Bob Haines has urged caution as these positive signs have come along. But on Monday, even he acknowledged that the district's financial situation shows signs of having turned a corner, at least for now.
"It's the best view of the future we've had," he said. "I don't foresee budget reductions this spring or a referendum next fall, and that is great news."
The healthy bottom line now comes after budget cuts of more than $1.5 million in the past two years. "That has really helped, but it's been painful," Haines said. "It's helped us be stable."
The district's financial planning model uses a number of assumptions to look into the future. It indicates that the district's general fund reserve should remain healthy for the next few years. However, the reserve could decline after that, depending on what happens with things like enrollment, staffing costs and state aid levels.
It's difficult to make accurate forecasts for more than two or three years, Haines said. The budget revision approved Monday reflects an increase in both revenue and expenditures. The original version of the budget was adopted in June 2006, for a fiscal year that began on July 1. Much of it was based on estimates, and more is known now about state aid and grants that will be expected.
Enrollment is projected to fall about 55 students this year, after increasing 17 students last year. A small decline is expected next year before numbers begin to climb gradually.
The increase in staffing would begin as numbers climb "so we can keep class sizes stable," Superintendent Kathy Leedom said.
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In other business, Board Chairman Mike Carlson gave a report on Leedom's annual evaluation, which was conducted in a closed meeting during the Jan. 8 board meeting.
Carlson said board members rated Leedom as meeting or exceeding expectations during the evaluation. She was asked to continue her work on implementing the district's strategic plan and on improving communication between the district and the public. She will also develop a board workshop focusing on the Senior High's block scheduling and how it could be used to improve academic learning.
