The Dysart Unified School District governing board met  Oct. 5 and approved its annual fiscal report and two grant funding renewal motions for the Schools Funding Division.

The board approved the annual fiscal report for the 2022-23 Fiscal Year. End of fiscal year expenditures for multiple fund totals and budget balances include:

• Maintenance and Operations Fund expenditures totaled $181,019,213, and a budget balance of approximately $7.7 million
• Classroom Site Fund expenditures totaled $14,137,404, and a budget balance of approximately $16.9 million
• Unrestricted Capital Outlay Fund expenditures totaled $14,009,671, and a budget balance of approximately $4.4 million.
• Special Project Funds expenditures totaled $59,475,888, and a budget balance of approximately $24 million.

Marydel Speidell, assistant superintendent for business services,  noted that as of June 30, the bonds outstanding totaled $69,425,000.

Speidel broke down the estimated classroom spending percentage for 2023 to 72.2% per dollar spent, which is over the 2022 state average of 69.6%.  

According to Speidell, the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund monies, which were part of the COVID relief packages, totaled for approximately $19.5 million of the special project expenditure balance. She noted that fiscal year 2023-24 is the last year of the ESSER funding.

“So really any of the residual amounts left of that are required to be spent this year,” Speidell said. “We’d expect that for next year we’re going to see that amount go down substantially.”

Speidell said the ESSER funding has provided “significant support,” but questioned what the district is going to do moving forward without the monies.

Dysart Governing Board Clerk Dawn Densmore inquired into what positions the board will need to make funding decisions on after the ESSER funds expire next year.

Speidell said that permanent substitutes, technology specialists and social workers were examples of those positions funded by ESSER monies.