Describing the Powell school district’s financial standing as “excellent,” Superintendent Jay Curtis said priorities in the 2019-20 budget are to continue taking care of students and staff.

The first goal is to “make sure all of our students’ needs are met in the classroom — that they have proper technology [and] proper materials,” Curtis told the board this spring. “And then also to take just as excellent care of our people as we possibly can.”

To that end, most employees in the district will see a bump in their salaries in the coming year.

The Park County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees will consider a $27.8 million budget during a hearing Wednesday night. The budget includes funding everything the school district needs to serve roughly 1,800 students who attend Powell schools — from the books they read to the school buses they ride to the teachers who provide instruction.

Salaries and benefits make up more than 80 percent of the district’s general fund budget.

Similar to last year, district leaders are recommending that certified staff, such as teachers and administrators, receive step and lane increases if they qualify in the coming year.

Employees receive a “lane” increase by advancing their education, such as getting a master’s degree. Lane increases are valued at $1,100 per year.

A “step” is earned over time, and amounts to an annual increase of $1,150 on the salary schedule.

The district has about 170 employees who are topped out on the scale, meaning they can’t receive another step
increase, Curtis said.

“With all of the cost pressures increasing on our people, if they remain stagnant, if they’re topped out on their scale, they actually lose money by working for us,” Curtis said.

He proposed adding a step for those longtime employees, “so we’re taking care of everybody.”

A step won’t be added on the administrators’ salary schedule, since none of those employees have topped out.

The district also is proposing modest increases for substitutes and temporary hourly/summer employees, Curtis said. It’s been 10 to 11 years since those hourly employees received a bump, he said.

In addition to those increases, Curtis also recommended again doing a one-time performance stipend for employees who qualify, just as the district did in the 2018-19 budget.

“I’m not going to probably recommend this every year, but right now, I think it is the best tool that we have to ensure that we’re taking care of our people,” Curtis told the board.

He said the performance stipend isn’t just for teachers, but for all regularly employed staff in the district — bus drivers, custodians, administrative assistants, para educators, administrators, school nurses, counselors and cooks.

“This is every individual in our district who we are approaching with the equality lens,” he said.

The amount of the stipend will vary by employee, as it’s based on the number of hours they work.

He said the dollar amount won’t be set until the end of the school year, when there’s a better idea of how much funding is available.

“All of this is contingent upon available funds at the end of the year,” Curtis said. The fiscal year ends June 30, 2020.

The superintendent said he favored the one-time performance stipend and step and lane increases over a bump to the base salary.

“When you look at our budget for next year, a legitimate argument could be made that money could be added to the base, and I would not make that argument,” Curtis told the board. “There’s so much uncertainty when we look to the future right now.”

With state funding for the K-12 education system facing deficits in recent years, legislators have proposed various cuts.

If the district increased base salaries, “it’s into perpetuity,” Curtis said.

“There’s no wiggle room when the landslide comes, if it comes — you have only one tool in your toolbox, and that’s to reduce staff,” Curtis said. “And that is not a prospect that I like. It’s certainly not good for the district, it’s not good for morale in the district.”

He said teacher morale “has a tremendous impact on our students.”

Chairman Greg Borcher said he agreed there’s no reason to increase the base.

“I know that wages and salaries are under a microscope at the state Legislature still,” he said.

Borcher said the district has some rather large expenditures coming up with the proposed ag facility while the football field turf will need to be replaced within the next three to five years. In addition, the district’s one-to-one technology program provides an electronic device for every student.

“Do you think we’re financially able to do all of that when it comes?” Borcher asked.

Business services coordinator Mary Jo Lewis said the funding for the one-to-one technology “is not a problem.”

“We’re actually doing that continually,” Lewis said.

She also said the reserve funds are solid.

In a budget note to the board, Lewis said the district doesn’t anticipate spending 100 percent of its budget, and expenditures will continue to be below actual revenue.

“We will continue to be good stewards of the public’s money and continue to be prudent with our spending and needs for the students of our district,” she wrote.

Superintendent Curtis commended Lewis’ work on the school’s finances.

“Our financial standing is excellent because of years and years of proper management of our finances,” he said. It starts at the board level “and it also has a lot to do with having a really, really good business manager who is very savvy in how to make this all work,” Curtis said.

The budget hearing begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the School Administration Building, 160 N. Evarts St.