R4 budget brings present and future hurdles

The Willow Springs R-IV School District is making efforts towards improvement while still facing financial hurdles. School Board President Roger Shanks presided over the September 14, meeting where the school budget and positivity around the district were themes.

 

Budget

According to Superintendent Dr. Jon Johnson, the district is continuing to watch their expenditures carefully. Although expenditures are being carefully watched, the district is still struggling. Compared to the last fiscal school year (2025-2026), the school is down approximately $52,000 in revenue. Looking to the next fiscal school year (2027-2028), it is projected that the district will receive $400,000 less in revenue. The decrease in revenue is specifically correlated to decreased enrollment rates across the school district. School auditors will be coming through the district on the fifth and sixth of October. A list of improvements has been compiled and will be completed by these dates. “We're trying to get to a spot where we have a clean slate,” said Dr. Jon Johnson regarding upcoming audits. At this time, the district is making strides to save every nickel and dime. 

In other news

 

Various additional items were brought to the table by Dr. Jon Johnson. On the first day of school, a water main broke. This break affected the water at the elementary, new gym, and Hick’s House. These facilities were under a boil order, but as of a few days after the incident, the issue was taken care of in full. The district recently surplused a couple of buses, bringing $15,000 into the district. A future land transfer is in discussion between the YMCA and the school district. Although nothing is set in stone, this is something that is on the school's radar.

 

$40,000 has been overshot in the software budget. The district has enough put back in the tech supplies budget to cover software, but this overshot will be taken into consideration when next school year's budget plan is formed. 

 

Last spring, high school principal Mr. Dustin Forrest brought to the board the topic of updating graduation credit requirements. The topic was revisited again at this month's meeting. It has now been decided that the high school will stairstep into requiring fewer credits to graduate from Willow Springs High School, due to the pivot from block schedules this year.  The first class to fully execute this will be the class of 2030, and they will be graduating with a minimum of 26 credits. Mr. Forrest also announced the upcoming career fair which will take place on October 23 at the high school. There are already several businesses signed up, including local and out-of-state. Mr. Forrest said, “My goal at the high school is that whether they’re college-bound or they’re workforce-bound, we’ve got them as ready as we can get them when they leave.”