The South Central School Board has approved a $7 million budget for the current school year.
Superintendent Kerry Herdes says surplus funds are available to cover two small fund deficits.
“We’ve got some shortfalls there in regard to transportation and some areas that mandated categoricals hurt us, not getting a hundred percent of the amount of money, and actually they were pro-rated a little bit from what we did get in prior years. So, that’s created a little bit of a deficit. However, we have very good fund balances.”
Herdes expressed his concern Wednesday night about a shortage of school bus drivers. He reports they have a bus driver for each route, but no substitutes or extra drivers to handle field trips and athletic events. He commended the current drivers for handling extra routes. Herdes says coaches are also driving more and he could use some more small busses that don’t need the bus driver certification license to drive. He’d be interested in talking to anyone interested in getting the bus driver certification or who is already certified.
The board approved the purchase of a new drivers ed car from Engel Brothers Ford. The 2025 Ford Escape will cost the district $27,000.
