The Pine Bluff School Board voted 7-0 Tuesday to accept an operating budget with expenditures of $35,552,443 and revenue of $35,553,321 for the period of July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016.
Pine Bluff School District Director of Business and Finance Pam Winkler said the total anticipated revenue is $75,553,479.56 and the total projected expenditures are $72,963,758.57. The total beginning balance was $9,131,389.14 as of July 1, 2015, she said.
Board member Phyllis Wilkins asked about businesses closing and the impact relative to the money the school district receives. Winkler responded that “a business closing affects us a lot. There are a lot of vacant properties.”
Winkler said she expects the budget to be tight.
“We lost around $378,000 in state foundation funding,” Winkler said. “We are going to have to watch what we do. We are going to monitor every month.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Winkler said they will save money by ordering from a central warehouse.
Board member Stephen Bronskill used to teach in the Pine Bluff School District. He said that the hardest part of teaching is finding a printer with ink.
Board member Andrea Roaf-Little asked where the district is announcing job vacancies. Interim Superintendent T.C. Wallace Jr. responded they are announcing job vacancies in newspapers.
In other business, Wallace said that the district is not using external providers. Wallace said that a representative of an external provider is giving a false impression that it is partnering with the district.
“We are not utilizing services of external providers,” Wallace said.