A dim financial forecast and a new round of cuts from the state of Missouri led the Boonville School Board Wednesday to approve a trimmed down budget for fiscal year 2009-10.
As district officials finalized the budget in late June, Gov. Jay Nixon announced a $70 million cut to state’s busing programs , reducing the Boonville R-1 School District transportation funding by $60,000.
Ficken said the district also found out recently it had lost a $35,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior services that helped pay school nurses.
“It’s very disappointing to have this word come down from the state, after we had spent so much time working to get this budget adopted June 16,” Superintendent Mark Ficken said in an interview last week.
The board approved a Caterpillar tax settlement agreement, a motion that could help clarify the district’s budget picture, pending the approval of the Boonville City Council and Cooper County Commissioners.
Ficken said the district would receive $117,000 in tax revenue if the agreement is approved, a $59,000 reduction from what the district would have received before Caterpillar’s personal property valuation was reduced.
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