Murray County Schools seeking electric buses

Jun. 6—CHATSWORTH — Murray County Schools plans a fiscal year 2023 budget with expenditures exceeding revenues by nearly $2 million, but "we hope we have another good year and don't go that high," Finance Director Kathy Smith said Thursday.

The tentative budget for fiscal year 2023, which starts July 1, estimates revenues of approximately $65 million against nearly $67 million in expenses, leaving a general fund balance of $14-$15 million at the end of fiscal year 2023, Smith said during a Murray County Board of Education work session. However, "a budget is a living, breathing document" that can change.

Smith already made adjustments to the budget she presented in May to account for more state funding for transportation, as well as $54,000 to increase school resource officers in schools for security, she said. Smith anticipated state funding for transportation for 10 school buses, but instead state funding should allow for 13 buses, with state funds for transportation increasing roughly $300,000 — to approximately $1.1 million — from her earlier estimate.

Consequently, her budget for fiscal year 2023 includes purchasing 13 buses, although "we have three years of budgets to spend the money," she said. "We get the money upfront, and we'll do what we can in fiscal year 2023, but we may have a scenario where we order buses and don't get them until fiscal year 2024."

"We're going to try to order the buses, because it could take a year or two," said Superintendent Steve Loughridge. "Everybody else" in the state will be ordering buses, too.

The current estimate for bus deliveries is six-eight months, said Mike Pritchett, director of facilities and transportation.

With fuel costs high and likely to go even higher, Smith recently added more than $100,000 to the transportation department budget for fuel in fiscal year 2023, she said: "I upgraded fuel costs significantly."

But "even that might not be enough," Loughridge said.

Pritchett has written a grant for 25 electric buses, he said.

"If we get that, we'd cut a quarter of our fuel consumption."

Murray County Schools is "closing out" its $6 million allotment from the second federal CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act, Smith said.

"We have zero balance on that. From this point forward, we're operating on" the $13 million from the federal American Rescue Plan.

Recently, the school system used $126,184 from the American Rescue Plan for another year of i Ready — online assessment and instruction that aids teachers in providing students paths to proficiency and growth in reading and math — and $269,608 for new social studies curriculum for students in grades kindergarten-five, Smith said. That curriculum, from Gallopade, starts in 2022-23 and will last for six years.

Gallopade, based in Peachtree City, is a social studies vendor for 600,000 Georgia students, and "some really large systems use Gallopade," said Kelly Rogers, Murray County Schools' director of elementary and early learning. "It is written right to Georgia standards. We're excited."

The first year of i Ready was also "an overwhelming success," Rogers said. For example, based on year-end results, 90% of kindergartners will head to first grade in 2022-23 at or above grade-level in academic understanding, "probably" the highest number in memory.