Mehlville Board of Education Passes Budget

Mehlville Board of Education passes sound budget for 19-20 school year
Posted on 07/03/2019
budget-adoptedThe Mehlville Board of Education approved the budget for the 2019-2020 school year (fiscal year 2020) at their June 27 meeting.

“We are operating with a fiscally sound and responsible budget in the 2019-2020 school year,” said Dr. Chris Gaines, Superintendent of Mehlville School District.

The FY20 budget of $124.5 million allows for staff salary increases. The budget also includes two new positions, an English Learner teacher and a Social Emotional Learning teacher to provide additional teaching support to our students.

“We want to attract and retain high quality teachers to work with our students. Unfortunately, we often lose teachers to higher-paying school districts,” Dr. Gaines said. “In the 2019-2020 school year, we’ve been able to increase our salary budget by $2.5 million, or 3.8 percent. The majority of those resources, $1.9 million, are being used to boost teacher salaries.”

The budget continues to fulfill the promises the district made to the community during the passage of Prop R in 2015 and Prop A in 2016.

Those propositions pay for much-needed capital maintenance and improvements, including new roofs, and improved heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Additionally, Prop R provides for ongoing staff development initiatives and curriculum revisions to improve student engagement and achievement.

The FY20 budget anticipates a $1.1 million operating fund gain, due largely to an anticipated increase in local funding from increases in assessed valuation. Assessed valuation is the dollar value assigned to a property by the St. Louis County Assessor's Office in order to measure taxes. 

Non-operating funds show a $1.7 million loss this year due to a planned increase in debt payments. The district has been restructuring its debt in order to pay down principal sooner and save money on interest payments. Learn more about how Mehlville School District is saving money on debt payments.

View the entire budget.

“Despite responsible budgeting, we know we still have far more facilities and maintenance needs than we have money,” Dr. Gaines said. “We have the opportunity to make a significant investment in facilities in 2020 without increasing our tax rate, and we’re looking forward to the recommendations that will come out of our Facilities Steering Committee.”

The Facilities Steering Committee is composed of parents, staff and community members. The committee is currently visiting all Mehlville School District schools to gather feedback on facilities. The committee will identify needed projects and prioritize those projects at each school and across the district. The steering committee will help to make a recommendation to the Mehlville School District Board of Education on what should be placed on the 2020 ballot. 
The Mehlville School District strictly prohibits discrimination and harassment against employees, students or others on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, or sex including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity and other characteristics protected by law. The following individuals have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: contact Adam Smith at 314-467-5006 or [email protected].