Unforeseen expenses discovered this summer - including a flood-damaged Clough Building basement - are adding tens of thousands of dollars to the Portage School District budget along with rising prices of fuel, utilities and food for the upcoming school year.

And it is the job of Margaret Dolde, business administrator for the district, to figure out from where the money will come.

"The Lewiston (Elementary School) well needs to be replaced, the Endeavor (Elementary School) boilers were cracked and need to be replaced, we have some computers that need replacing and we had water in the basement of the Clough Building so we need to remove the flooring," Dolde said.

The estimated costs are $15,000 to replace the well, $20,000 for the cracked boiler, $10,000 for the computers and $12,000 for the Clough flooring, Dolde said.

"We have to fix them and where does the money come from? We have to figure out where to get it because we need to have water at Lewiston and boilers at Endeavor," Dolde said.

The school district has been communicating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency about receiving some financial assistance for the flood-damaged flooring in the Clough Administration Building.

Marquita Hynes, public information officer for FEMA Region V, said that coverage of assistance could include the cost of debris removal, but that she could not comment on how much money the school district could receive or if it is eligible.

"They no doubt have had a kickoff meeting and then there are project worksheets providing estimated costs, damage location, scope of work to repair," Hynes said.

Utilities, bus routes

In addition to the unanticipated costs, the estimated increase for utilities "was a surprise" to Dolde.

"Alliant estimated an increase of 45 percent for the 2008 to 2009 school year, upwards of $322,000 over what the school district budgeted for this. We had (estimated) an increase, but not at that extent," Dolde said.

When replacing the boiler, the district will investigate what types of rebates are available through Alliant and Focus on Energy if it invested in energy-efficient products, Dolde said, which could save some money.

There is no estimate for the cost of fuel yet, Dolde said, but last year there was an increase of $100,000 in transportation costs. The Riteway School Bus Division proposed to the Portage School District that it combine Endeavor bus routes 10 and 11 and combine Pacific-area bus routes 34 and 36. The board approved the proposal, combining four bus routes down to two.

In Endeavor, the combined route would create a longer ride time for students by 20 to 30 minutes, but would save the district around $25,900. In the town of Pacific, combining the routes would add 20 to 25 minutes of ride time, and would save the district around $26,200.

The board requested that the bus changes be reviewed and reported back after the first couple weeks of school to gauge the positives and negatives of the route cuts. It is necessary to also get a figure of how often and how many students ride the buses, Dolde said, and get feedback from students, parents and the board on the changes. However, the changes are expected to save the district $52,100 this year.

When Dolde presents an updated budget to the school board at 6 p.m. Monday in the Clough Building, she will first propose using the revenue saved through possible rebates and the $52,100 from bus routes to cover costs of the boiler, well and other unanticipated costs. Should the revenue not cover the costs, the next step is to utilize a remaining $43,000 from the $1.5 million operational referendum, and then if necessary, dip into the fund balance.

Food funds

The cost of food is estimated to go up between 8.5 percent to 10 percent, according to Holly Denman, food service director for the Portage School District. The Baraboo and Portage school districts are in a co-op with food distributor Sysco Food Services. The benefit of the co-op is getting the same prices on food when combining both food budgets to the distributor, guaranteeing the distributor the sales. In addition, both school districts are able to pick the best quality product for the price.

"We knew with the price of fuel that obviously food prices would go up. This is my sixth year and it's the highest I have seen as a food service director for the Portage School District," Denman said.

The increase amounts to an estimated $30,000 to $35,000 more than last year's budget for food. A rise in food prices equals a rise in breakfast and lunch costs for some students.

Breakfast prices for all students, from kindergarten through grade 12 was $1.15. It now will be $1.25, Denman said. The lunch price for kindergarten through grade 6 remains at $2, but for grades 7 to 12 it was increased a dime to a price of $2.35. Students can purchase an extra milk, but the price is now 35 cents up from a quarter, and a morning milk break for kindergarten through grade 6 was increased to $5.50 a month from $5, Denman said.

"The raise in prices won't even cover the (rising food and milk) costs. We are going to have to watch food costs really well, but still maintain the integrity of the program," Denman said. "But, if it's cheaper to make things ourselves instead of prepackaged items, then we'll do it ourselves. We were always smart shoppers, but we're going to have to be even smarter now."

 

jmccoy@capitalnewspapers.com

745-3519