On April 29, high school journalists from schools all around Douglas County came together at Rock Canyon High School for a student press conference. The students were joined with Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Fagen, Board of Education President Kevin Larsen, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Dan McMinimee. The Chief Financial Officer and Director of Budget also joined the conference.
Douglas County School District answered questions about the district’s budget process during the conference. Students were also informed on the impact of the School Finance Act and the latest 2014-15 budget information.
For the last four to six years, the district budget had been reduced by 1 billion dollars from the recession. The economy is still fragile, so the district is only asking for 2 million dollars. School funding is largely controlled by the legislature, but they have not yet decided on the final budget. The district is looking at increases that can be turned around to the employees.
“[We try to] push out as much decision making as possible,” Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Fagen said.
With the new school budget, the county hopes to pay attention to technology in the upcoming year. They want to continue to build their technology resources in each school located in Douglas County.
“We really believe that even with a district as big as Douglas County, we [believe] its important to focus locally [on each individual school],” Board of Education President Kevin Larsen said.
The Board of Education presented their proposed budget this month and it will be adopted by June 30. An increase in revenue can bring more money into classrooms and teachers would receive higher raises.