Highland adopts $47.1 million budget for 2021-22

By Mark Reynolds
Posted 4/21/21

At their last meeting, the Highland School Board unanimously adopted a $47,133,657 budget for the 2021-22 school year. Superintendent Thomas Bongiovi pointed out that this budget, “will not …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Highland adopts $47.1 million budget for 2021-22

Posted

At their last meeting, the Highland School Board unanimously adopted a $47,133,657 budget for the 2021-22 school year. Superintendent Thomas Bongiovi pointed out that this budget, “will not only maintain the programs that we have, but we are adding in the items that the administration cabinet gave to the board a few months ago,” calling these “ready to go.” This includes one full time Elementary teacher to replace a retirement; a full time secondary Social Studies teacher that is a shared position between the Middle School and the High School; a full time Health/PE teacher that was eliminated this year but is needed to fulfill high school graduation; a half-time speech teacher to meet the increase in mandated services and a full time athletic trainer, who will be an employee of the district and will also handle some health and PE classes.

Next year the district is expecting to receive revenues totaling $15,067,510, which is an increase of $1,008,708 from the current school year.

In a slide presentation the district broke down the $47.1 million budget: General Support at $4,538,452; Instruction at $23,203,346; Student Transportation $1,741,144; Community Services $3,500; Employee Benefits $14,155,581; Debt Service $3,331,634 and Inter-fund Transfers at $160,000.

The tax cap levy stands at 2.47% and the proposed $47.1 million budget is $2,187,318 more than the current school year, however, the district is expecting revenues to meet the proposed budget for next year.

School Board President Alan Barone commented on the 2021-22 budget.

“We are adopting a budget that we feel is within the means of the community and I think with the additional items included in the budget this year in some of the areas desperately needed,” he said. “I want to thank the entire administrative team for working on this budget and hopefully we can move this forward with the voters on May 18th.

Signage Issues
Superintendent Bongiovi said the district was not “thrilled” with the new electronic sign that was placed at the high school.

“It was the one that was ordered but we were not overly thrilled with it; it doesn’t have the capabilities that we were expecting it to have. The plan is to take this sign and reinstall it at the Middle School and we’ll have a more capable sign here at the High School installed and a little bigger. In addition, we will be putting a lighted sign that says Highland High School in the front of the building right next to the entrance and this will designate it as the main entrance.” He said this will be paid for with some left over money from the current capital project.

Bongiovi said the district will be working on two grants totaling about $4.5 million. He pointed out that one grant expires in September 2023 and a larger amount of $3 million in September 2024.

“We can expand a lot of the programs that we currently do and pay for. In a few weeks we’re starting that after-school bridge program and that is something that we can sustain in every building, every year and have after school enrichment programs. We also have a summer program and we would be able to expand that, perhaps at multiple levels,” he said.

Bongiovi said the grant money might also be used to increase the district’s Academic Intervention Support program, perhaps by a couple of years. The district will be looking for some guidelines from the state on applying for the grants and how they can be used.