Columbia Board of Education gets first look at preliminary district budget for 2024-25

The Columbia Board of Education on Thursday heard details of the school district's 2024-25 preliminary budget, which includes operating revenues of $292.8 million and spending to $292.7 million.

The information was provided by Heather McArthur, chief financial officer for Columbia Public Schools.

A public budget hearing will be conducted at 6 p.m. June 5 at the district administration office. The school board will consider the budget at its June 10 meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m.

Projected enrollment in 2024-25 is 18,900, McArthur said in providing district details. The district spends $13,898 per student. There are 13.54 teachers per student. Students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals comprise 55% of the student population.

There's $4.2 million in new money from property taxes because of a 3% increase in assessed valuation in the district.

State funding will increase by $9.6 million, owing to an increase in the state adequacy target, a component of the funding formula.

State funding totals $82 million, including $66.5 million from the funding formula.

"Our federal funds will go down as we're phasing out those stimulus funds we received during the pandemic," McArthur said.

Local funds make up 63% of operating revenues in the preliminary budget; state funds 30%; federal 6% and grants and other revenue 1%.

On the spending side, salaries make up 59% of district costs, followed by benefits at 18%. The negotiated starting salary for a new teacher is $43,000, while the average teacher salary in 2024-25 will be $61,987.

Revenues over spending in the preliminary operating budget is $177,584.

When compared with projected actual revenues in the current budget, revenues are 5% higher, while spending is almost 9% higher.

Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com. He's on X at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Here's what's in the preliminary Columbia schools budget for 2024-25