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By Ashley Wilkins

With more information in hand, the Shelby County Board of Education will hear the district’s tentative budget Thursday at its regular meeting at 7 p.m. at the district’s office.

The meeting is just part of a busy night across the school district as both high schools will also celebrate their senior awards nights.

The tentative budget was originally scheduled for discussion and approval at the May 14 meeting, but due to the timing of some of the numbers, the projections were not ready in time.

Last month, Superintendent James Neihof shared with the board the process for establishing the budget and said it includes the local draft budget, the state Support Education Excellence in Kentucky funding rate, and the local tax rates.

The draft budget was set in January and is very preliminary because the state budget is not yet set.

Once the state budget is set in April the district can begin working on balancing its budget combined with projected local revenue.

The working budget will be discussed and approved in the fall, after the district sets its tax assessment.

Neihof said the tentative budget to be presented would be significantly different from the draft budget presented earlier this year because there are considerable changes in revenue, but he said the tentative budget will be balanced. However, until the property valuation and final enrollment numbers are in, the budget will not be final.

Last month, Susan Barkley, the director of finance, gave the board a small taste of the budget. Barkley shared that the budget committee would be making recommendations for the expenditures of approximately two percent of the General Fund budget.

Those priorities included expenditures to provide: a digital device for every high school student, an electronic platform for all communication and storage for students, digital technology support teams for those devices, a program for world languages, two licensed practical nurses, additional repairs, 7 Habits training for new staff, teachers to students not experiencing growth in achievement, teacher-driven personalized learning, an additional ten days per school year for bookkeepers.

Those priorities total about $980,000 in additional expenses, but with a savings of $37,000 from department budget changes, equals about 1.7 percent of the General Fund presented in the draft budget January that was projected to be about $57.56 million.

Also at the meeting, the board will:

Recognize West Middle School student Treyden Stansfield for his acceptance into American Mensa. To qualify for Mensa, Stansfield finished in the top two percent of the general population on an accepted standardized intelligence test.

Recognize Duke TIP state qualifiers.

Hear a strategic leadership plan update on Healthy & Responsible Students from Mike Clark, director of student services.

Consider the approval of the school activity fund budgets for 2015-16.

Consider approval of the monthly financial report for April 2015.

Consider the approval of employing Insulated Roofing Contractors for the Central Office roof project and revising the BG-1.

Consider the approval of employing Roofing Services and Solutions for Heritage Elementary School’s roof project and revising the BG-1.