South Burlington School District

January 18, 2008

To:       School Board Members

From:  John Everitt

Re: Proposed Budget for the 2008-09 school year

The 2008-09 school district budget season in South Burlington is particularly significant.  This will be the first time in many years that the citizens have voted on the complete budget.  The vote comes at a time when government officials and many citizens are questioning the sustainability of Vermont’s investment in the education of its children.

It is my intent to supply the board and the citizens of South Burlington with clear and understandable information about the program and fiscal needs of this highly successful school system.  I believe that armed with this information, the board and the citizens will be able to make quality decisions about educational investment in the city.

This notebook contains a variety of levels of detail and kinds of information about the proposed budget.  It contains the seven sections described below.

1.         Overview – An introduction to the materials and a summary of the thinking behind the budget development.

2.         Description – Written descriptions of the changes to the budget from the current year.  Also included is a description of changes to the proposed budget if the district is held to the CPI Budget.

3.         Programs – Charts showing the amount of resources proposed for each level and activity area.

4.         Staff – A summary chart of existing staff positions and proposed changes for 2008-09.

5.         Expense Types – The traditional summary pages of the various types of expenses (salaries, benefits, materials, …)

6.         Detail – The detail lines in the budget subtotaled by program.

7.         Tax – The residential property tax implications of the proposed budget.