School Board begins work on 2009-10 budget
Chuck Kajer, Managing Editor
The New Prague Area School Board took its first steps of a long journey during a work session Monday, Oct. 27.
Instead of its regular meeting, the board held a workshop to start the process of forming its 2009-10 budget. Superintendent Craig Menozzi and Finance Director Dan Pyan led the board through some of the steps they will be taking over the coming months.
The session started with a discussion about the district's unreserved fund balance. The balance was $638,821 at the end of the 2006-07 school year, or 2.45 percent of revenues, but dropped to $327,706 at the end of the 2007-08 school year. The current budget calls for a fund balance of $301,717 at the end of the current school year.
Board members last spring took the first steps toward rebuilding the fund balance, setting goals of a 1 percent fund balance at the end of the current year, 2 percent at the end of the 2009-10 school year and going up one percent each year until it reaches 5 percent.
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