Mineola school trustees took a detailed look at preliminary figures for the 2024-25 school district budget Thursday, June 6, and a list of challenges that budget presents.

Topping the list is the opening of a new school, which will mean additional insurance, utility costs and added personnel.

The Primary School on NE Loop 564 will welcome its first students in August.

Assistant Superintendent for Finance Keith Sparkman estimated an additional $13,000 for water and sewer, $65,000 for electricity, $8,000 for natural gas and $3,000 for phones and internet.

The campus will have its own officer from the Mineola ISD police department, although that new position will be funded with a state safety grant for two years.

The campus will also need additional custodial and food service help.

Sparkman noted that the former elementary school campus will be offline for a year, as it transitions to a high school Career and Technical Education center, but will eventually be back in the budget.

The new campus will also require some additional maintenance supplies.

Other budget challenges listed by Sparkman include the expiration of federal COVID relief dollars, continued phase-in of new buses for the fleet (the district needs five but may have to stretch those out over 2-3 years), and continued expenses to repair and upgrade air conditioning systems and plumbing.

The HVAC repairs are unpredictable, he explained, and the budget is being increased from $45,000 to $100,000, although those expenses have reached $130,000 this year.

The district was able to use part of those federal funds to replace some HVAC units.

The district is in the midst of a three-year plan to make expensive plumbing upgrades at the high school, which is more than 50 years old.

The preliminary budget shows a 1.87% increase to $21,165,000 without any adjustment to salaries.

The school board will continue to study budget matters until the Wood County Appraisal District certifies property values by July 25, which will give the district solid property tax revenue numbers.

Among the topics discussed was the reimbursement cost for student meals, which has been at $5 for many years. Sparkman suggested raising that to $7.50 or $8.

Another extracurricular cost that is increasing is the cost of game officials.

The budget has a decrease in the cost of live-streaming sporting events by reducing the number of games to be broadcast.

The cost of the annual financial audit will be dependent upon finding an auditor. The firm that has been doing the work for several years is reducing its area of coverage, and school officials are still searching for a new auditor.

The board also reviewed the budget for the new school and estimates for how much of the bond funds might remain to tackle the CTE center project.

In personnel matters, trustees accepted the resignation of Jason Goodson, who has accepted a principal’s position in Quitman, and middle school math teacher Laurie Casper.

New hires include Elijah Burwell as coach, Rebecca Morrow as elementary teacher and Selina Anosike as middle school teacher.