Clarksville Schools to budget for less

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September 13, 2012

Clarksville Schools to budget for less

Enrollment loss may have contributed to lower request

By JEROD CLAPP jerod.clapp@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Thu Sep 13, 2012, 09:30 AM EDT

CLARKSVILLE — Planning for a nearly 5 percent drop in allocated funds, Clarksville Community Schools presented its proposed budget at a public hearing before a board meeting Tuesday night.

The budget asks for a total of $18,763,940 from the state — just shy of $1 million less than last year. The district plans to have a final vote on the budget at its next regular meeting Oct. 9.

As the board meeting started, Superintendent Kim Knott also showed what she expected for the district’s first enrollment count — actual daily membership — showing drops in high school and elementary school.

The total loss is about 34 students. Knott said the district has steadily lost about 30 students a year, which comes in at about $78,000 in loss for the district per year.

“We really have to keep an eye on this,” Knott said. “If this continues, we’re going to have to start making adjustments now, because if we don’t, we’re going to find ourselves in a situation that is all too familiar for all of us sitting here that we were in about four years ago.”

She said part of the issue is that the community surrounding the district isn’t as young as it used to be and isn’t really within the typical childbearing age.

“We clearly have dwindling enrollment,” Knott said. “There is no doubt, and I hate to use this terminology, but our community in our taxing district, our school boundaries, is a dying community.”

The board also unanimously approved an agreement with the Town of Clarksville for the assignment of a school resource officer. The officer has not been selected yet, but Knott said interviews are being conducted.

A measure to approve the statement of benefits for clerical employees died without a motion and a change order for the roofing project at Clarksville Elementary School died without a second. The board will hear an explanation of the extra cost of the project at its next meeting.