Giltner school budget approved

Giltner School Board members approved a budget for the 2022-2023 school year at the Sept. 14 meeting following a presentation by Supt. Nick Mumm. 
The levy was raised just under 1 percent of the total from last year’s rate. The approved rate is 84.96 cents per $100 valuation, an increase from 84.68 cents last year. 
The combined property tax request also went up to $2.95 million from $2.91 million last year. 
Mumm talked during his presentation about balancing the school’s needs with the constant rise of inflation and keeping a “watch” over the budget. 
“Our funds were eating some (of our) attention,” Mumm said. “They have gotten that -- the support of the six of these board members -- to continue to grow those funds, to continue to make sure that we’re watching. As long as I run a budget, they get watched daily, weekly (and) monthly...We’re also going to make sure that (funds) continue to grow and they keep Giltner healthy, financially, for years to come.”
Mumm later explained about why the balance was important with an example about the lunch room.
“I don’t know that we’ve ever had the lunch room, (in) past years on a real kind of tight budget,” he illustrated. “Obviously, we have a budget there, but we’re making sure we’re really watching our product (as) it’s something that has went up all of a sudden. Now, we’re really watching every item super close because of the supply issue. We’re watching our grants real close...So just looking for all those (revenue opportunities) to make sure that we’re being as efficient as possible by finding every avenue to resources.” 
He also stated that the selling of three residential homes has helped balance the special building fund for the foreseeable future. 
“The selling of the school homes, I bring it up because now the three of them are (sold). That stabilized our special building fund,” Mumm told the board members. “That was suffering and with the selling of those three homes it stabilized it. We can use that money, with other resources, for kids’ safety and other improvements in Giltner. Yes, we’re still keeping homes for our staff to be able to use, but (we’ll) not have to try to figure out how we’re going to repair them and update them all.” 
Mumm spoke on several areas that will need attention with the upcoming budget, the first being concrete in front of the high school gym and parking lots.
“It‘s starting to heave and we didn’t want it to be a tripping hazard,” he elaborated. “We also are talking about approaches into the parking lot so we can control our parking lots a little better. They don’t drain really well, so (we’ll need) some approaches when people take off and come in. 
“We would also have to fix the drainage of our east parking lot they would drain into the ditch,” he continued. “We have some concrete on the south side of the building by the elementary flagpole that needs to be replaced.”
Another item of major importance that board members approved was the installation of steel doors at the back of the elementary school, which includes bricking the sides of the doors as well.
“Unfortunately, every year...there’s a tragedy somewhere,” Mumm commented. “And not that school safety wasn’t important before, because it’s always at the top of our list, but obviously it keeps amplifying and then people come up with new ideas and new things that make us as safe as possible.” 
Mumm also commented on the partial conversion of the bus barn to an ag classroom, which has received up to $40,000 from the Giltner Public School Foundation. 
He also credited the school board, staff and business manager Chris Vaught for their help in crafting the budget this year, which he described as “a work of art.”
“We’re being audited right now: today, tomorrow and Friday,” he stated. (The auditor’s) comment was ‘You just have the fewest amount of things you need to correct.’ And that’s because of Chris, namely in what she does with it every day. So the ‘22-‘23 budget, pretty proud of where it is, what it stands for and what we’re trying to do for all of our community members, districts constituents, staff and students to make sure Giltner continues to prosper and move forward.”
In other action, Giltner School Board members: 
* received confirmation that a bus ordered 14 months ago will be completed Oct. 31;
* approved a Safe to Return to School plan;
* heard from Mumm on a leak repaired at the football field near northeast light pole, where metal posts pierced the pipes.