Gas is causing budget bloating at RCS.

During Monday's Board of Education budget workshop, Interim Business Administrator Dennis Geisler recommended the board increase to $589,750 the fuel budget for the 2008-09 school year. If that proposal is approved by the board, the increase would represent a 110 percent spike in fuel the budget from the current year.

The workshop also included a number of recommendations from the citizen's Budget Advisory Committee to restore areas of the budget previously targeted for removal and the cutting of other line items.

As presently proposed, the draft $41.82 million 2008-09 budget would increase spending by 1.99 percent and the tax levy by 2.85 percent.

Interim Business Administrator Dennis Geisler said the fuel increase is necessitated by the skyrocketing fuel costs which are projected to leave the fuel line more than $90,000 in the red this year.

Since 2004, the fuel budget has ballooned from $110,000 to $280,000 this school year to the proposed $589,750 for next school year .The district uses 125,000 gallons of diesel and 18,000 of unleaded fuel each year and since the start of the school year, the cost of both has jumped dramatically. Diesel fuel has increased from 2.37 a gallon to $3.62  and unleaded has increased from $2.24 to $2.75 a gallon.

Based on fuel prices in January, the board had originally budgeted $400,000 for fuel next year.

"In all good consciousness, I think we had to bring this forward tonight. I don't think the $400,000 originally included in the draft budget is adequate given today's prices," Geisler said.

However, as a result of the state's delay in acting upon the district's EXCEL capital project, the ballooning costs of fuel will not translate into a bulging budget in the 2008-09 school year.

Geisler said that the states delay in approving the EXCEL capital project plans - which RCS voters approved on Oct. 9 - means the district will not have to budget for payments on the project next year. As a result, $213,333 was removed from the proposed draft budget.

The board also heard from the citizen's Budget Advisory Committee at Monday's meeting, with representatives Sandra Marston and Shawn Benton.

The B.A.C. recommended to the board several budgetary actions, including:

• Including $50,000 in the 2008-09 budget for the development of a strategic plan for the district. The plan, Marston said, would keep the district moving towards the same goals even during periods of change in the administration.

• Restoration of an elementary teaching position - and the $55,000 necessary for the position - proposed for removal from the budget as a result of diminishing enrollment in the elementary schools.
  "We know that this is a never-ending debate ... but we want to make it very clear from our group that we strongly feel that smaller class sizes are imperative at this time in the lower grades," Marston said.

• Inclusion of $25,000 in the budget for studies on what to do with the dilapidated tennis courts at the high school and for further action on the family and career sciences (FACS) classrooms.
  Board Vice President Cindi Elliott noted that funds in this year's budget are being used to address space and equipment issues in the high school FACS classroom. Other board members noted the poor conditions of the tennis courts and their potential to injure players.

• Continuation of the examination of operations and maintenance overtime and whether it may be beneficial to hire an additional person to reduce overtime costs.

• Reducing the budget lines for national gas and electricity by a combined $101,000 as result of the success of the ongoing energy conservation initiative in the district.

The board also recommended increasing the budget by $8,000 to cover  the fees for students who want to take advanced placement exams. The district had historically paid those fees, but three years ago passed the cost onto students as a result of tough budgetary times.

The board will meet again on Monday, 6 p.m. in the High School library media center.  

It is expected to finalize the budget later this month; RCS voters will head to the polls on May 20.