Trustees are scheduled to discuss Superintendent Michael Downes' future with the district during the meeting, as well as consuct their annual budget workshop in preparation for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

The main action item on the agenda will be consultation with Tattorneys concerning an employment and/or separation agreement with Downes.

Downes was unavailable for comment and other BSISD officials contacted today declined to discuss the matter.

Downes, who has been superintendent at BSISD since 2002, was the subject of a complaint filed with the state educator certification board in 2007. Although details of the complaint have never been made public, it allegedly contains accusations of misconduct with students during a previous stop in his career.

This will mark the third time in the past year trustees will formally discuss Downes' standing with the district. They have gone on record in past meetings with statements of support for the district boss.

Aside from discussing Downes' future with the district, trustees will also take their first long look at the district's new budget.

When state legislators reformed school financing in 2006, the resulting increase in state aid to districts allowed BSISD officials to finance several big-ticket items — such as upgrading an aging school bus fleet and modernizing computer technology — they had been forced to put aside for several years.

While dire financial times have not hit BSISD, it is fair to say that such comparatively free-spending days are over, officials condede.

Chief Financial Officer Sandra Waggoner said the district's new budget will feature more than $28 million in expenditures, a decrease of about $200,000 from the previous year.

The major reason for the expenditure decrease is that the state has capped its aid to local districts at $4,554 per student —the same rate paid in 2005-2006. Therefore, the only way BSISD will receive increased state aid in the future is if the district attracts more students — and officials are not budgeting for that possibility, Waggoner said.

Also, the amount of state aid a district receives is inversely proportional to the amount of money it collects locally. With the district's estimated appraisals surpassing $1 billion this year, that means fewer state dollars reaching BSISD, she noted.

“In the past two years, appraisals have gone way up,” she said. “People are paying more on the property taxes, but the more local revenue increases, the less state revenue we receive, almost on a dollar-for-dollar basis. So while people are paying more in taxes, all they're doing is easing the burden on the state.”

Another dark cloud gathering over the budget process is the rising cost of fuel. Local officials are budgeting $160,000 for fuel costs in the new budget, a 30 percent increase from last year.

Increased costs without a corresponding increase in state aid means local officials will have to forego several projects tentatively planned for the coming year. Renovations of the high school parking lot and Blankenship Field track, for example, will likely be put off for the near future, Waggoner said.

Another minus, she said, is that plans for additional staff — mostly teacher's aides and technology department personnel — will probably be postponed.

All is not doom and gloom financially, however. The new budget does allow for pay increases for teachers, clerks, aides and auxiliary personnel, as well as two new buses, Waggoner said.

“And the budget will be balanced,” she said. “Planned revenues are $335,000 more than expenditures right now, but the board has extra items to look at (Thursday), so I don't expect to see that high a surplus when we're finished.”

Contact Staff Writer Steve Reagan at 263-7331 ext. 234 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it