The South Central School Board approved its tentative budget Wednesday night.
Superintendent Kerry Herdes says the projected budget for the fiscal year 2026 looks healthy.
“We’re shooting for a break-even budget, and like I said to the board, that’s our goal each time, to have a balanced budget,” Herdes said. “The budget fluctuates quite a lot from one month to the next. We’re shooting for that, and we’ll get really close. That’s kind of our norm, to balance, or sometimes we fall a bit short. The state aid payments that are coming for transportation, we know we’re taking a little bit of a hit on. Some of the mandated categoricals will be a little lower than what they were in the past, so if there’s a deficit it’s going to be created by that. However, we have very strong reserves.”
Enrollment numbers were also reviewed by each principal. Kinmundy Elementary School has 267 students including preschool. There are 147 at South Central Middle School and 179 at the high school. 36 high school students will be attending some vocational classes at the Okaw Vocational Center in Vandalia.
The board agreed to use up to five e-learning days this school year if attendance cannot be in person.
The board sold a surplus 1997 pickup truck to Lewis Daugherty Senior for $660.
