School Budget proposes $ ???,000 increase for "Repair" of Fund Balance. Stage set for a good school year!

On the new Lipan ISD website is posted the proposed 2006-2007 tax rate required to fund the school year budget .

After reviewing all this with Superintendent William Stokes regarding expected collections of state and local tax revenue, he is reasonably confident that a meaningful increase to the General Fund Balance will occur. Largely because bus fuel and electricity costs are such wild cards, the superintendent is reluctant to commit to a full $100,000 building of the depleted reserve fund. However, he anticipates the board will target over $50,000 in the final approved budget.

The current anticipated fund balance of $275,000 at the start of the September 1 fiscal year is half of what the state of Texas requires for Lipan ISD to be taken off their financial "watch list." With the Board's ongoing commitment, this deficiency should be removed over the next three school years rather than the next two as previously hoped.

As the school year is beginning, there are 285 students enrolled. This represents a small but encouraging increase over small declines seen in the recent few years. With the new high school facilities, the energy of a new superintendent, the seasoned leadership on the board, the improvement to the faculties' compensation, and the deep commitment of the Lipan Country community - all these factors combined set the stage for a positive new school year.