The District Ambassadors recently learned the dollars and cents of how Carroll County Schools operates.
Chief Financial Officer Jon Conrad, who has directed Carroll County Schools’ finances for 19 years, reviewed the processes and procedures the district is required to follow as well as some details about budgeting, taxes and salaries.
District Ambassadors is a group of community members who were selected to learn about each facet of the school system so they could share that information with their friends and family throughout our community. The group has had five meetings now and will hold its final gathering next month when they will learn about technology.
“This is one of the more important pieces,” Carroll County Schools Superintendent Casey Jaynes said. “I appreciate you coming out as ambassadors and telling our story.”
The Kentucky Department of Education outlines the bulk of the rules that each school district must follow when preparing and presenting budgets. School districts operate on a fiscal calendar from July 1 through June 30.
“We have a lot of money going through our district and we have a lot of people who help manage those funds,” Conrad explained as he outlined the nine staff with whom he works. Each school has a bookkeeper and there are other finance department employees in the central office.
One primary objective of Conrad’s is preparation of the district budget. The 2023-2024 budget is $34,220,189 overall. He is responsible for preparing a working budget in September, a draft budget in January and, in May, he starts preparing a tentative budget for the following school year.
Salaries for the district’s 350 employees, which includes 165 certified staff and 185 classified staff, is always a key component of his job. The board of education has approved a 10% increase in salaries, a 5% raise for the current school year and a 5% raise for the upcoming school year. Some positions will also see a targeted pay increase, all with the intention of being competitive with other school districts in the Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative.
“The board has been so instrumental in keeping our salaries competitive,” Conrad said. “We want the best staff here for our kids.”
Jaynes added that the board actually wanted his staff to give an even bigger raise than was originally calculated for the 2024-2025 school year. “They pushed us to provide more for our staff, which I find very encouraging,” he said. “We’re blessed we could do this. Jon and his team have set us up for success.” The board directive was to be in the top three of the OVEC region salaries.
A large chunk of the district’s funding is determined by a mathematical formula based on student attendance and the significant amount of taxes paid by local industries.
“If we didn’t have our industry partners here, we wouldn’t be what we are,” Conrad said.
SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) Funding is a mathematical calculation based upon student attendance. Carroll County receives $4,200 per student as its base SEEK funding.
Every district is allowed to drop its lowest five attendance days from its calculation. The Kentucky General Assembly is considering some legislation that will alter the SEEK funding.
Conrad said he always budgets conservatively, which has allowed Carroll County Schools to maintain a strong bottom line.