Principal
Even being the principal, Julie Chaplain was not able to provide in depth information about forgoing fees. However, she was still able to share some possibilities going forward.
Chaplain provided the budget for the past year to give some background to the upcoming situation.
The past year’s school budget added up to a total of $10,582,575. $450,000 of that goes to operating costs, which is everything to run the school excluding utilities. The remaining money goes to staffing excluding custodial, kitchen, and integrated staffing.
“I think it’s a great desire on the behalf of the district and lower costs for families. The goal is that families can attend public school without extra fees that they have to pay,” Chaplain says.
Chaplain goes on to explain the positive outcome of students gaining equal opportunities to classes that currently include fees. The only downside being the question, where will the money come from?
The school has a money reserve built into the budget to act as a sort of cushion for any unexpected costs, and has to keep three to five percent of reserves based on the total budget. Meaning, three to five percent is set aside in case of any unexpected expenses.
“We would potentially have to use some of our reserves in order to [cover some of the fee expenses]. So I’m trying to budget a little bit more for our operating expenses, just because I anticipate we’re going to have to give some more money to departments than what we have in the past. I don’t know if I budgeted enough or not.”
Even Chaplain is in the dark on how everything will be paid for, so she is preparing the best she can for what she can assume to expect in the next few months.