When COVID-19 broke out, financial aid was given to Harrisburg schools. Recently, this aid has been cut back, resulting in the school board making cost-effective changes.
Superintendent Amy Dixon, who has worked in the district for a year, has been planning to make sure the district stays in a good financial position.
“As superintendent, they hired me to create and manage the budget,” Dixon said. “It is my job to project or estimate how much money will come in annually and make sure we keep out costs/spending within those parameters.”
Every month, the board meets to make beneficial changes for the district.
“The board seeks input at monthly meetings,” Dixon said. “Last spring, the board and I implemented a Strategic Planning process in which we gained input on changes from staff, community members, business owners, parents, and most importantly, our students!”
Since Dixon’s addition to the board, some changes have already gone into effect.
“We have already eliminated an administrative position by eliminating the dean of students position at the HHS and restructured our bonds for a saving,” Dixon said. “Staff will begin paying for their lunches, like they did pre-COVID, on February 1. Tutoring ended in December, and the rest will occur starting next fall.”
Board secretary Jonathan Russell, who has been a board member for seven years, has also been helping with the changes in the budget from COVID.
“We (the board) received quite a bit of extra money from state and federal sources due to COVID, which helped offset many maintenance expenses and improvements,” Russell said. “With these sources now gone, our budget will have to include many expenses that were offset.”
Even though programs have been cut, Dixon hopes to bring them back in the future.
“We are trying our best to make changes that least impact student programs,” Dixon said. “Unfortunately, after-school tutoring and summer school were being paid for by a grant that has ended. Therefore, we are not in a financial position to utilize district funds to support those programs at this time.”
Grants will help bring programs back.
“Hopefully, we can bring those [programs] back in the future,” Dixon said, adding, “We also restructured bonds which will help our finances,” and “As for the budget, we will write grants to bring in additional revenue, potentially not replace people as they retire, and monitor spending overall.”
Russell seems to agree.
“We are looking at many cost-saving ideas and ways to bring in more grants and other sources of revenue to maintain our standards,” Russell said. “Some of our cost reductions will go into effect immediately.”
Dixon plans to keep the district in the best position as time passes.
“We will monitor our expenditures and revenue on an ongoing basis,” Dixon said. “We hope to end the year with a balanced budget and prepare for increased expenditures next year.”
