What effect will the federal stimulus money have on our school district’s current budget shortfall?
The district received $3,567,740 in Federal Stimulus Fiscal Stabilization (SFSF) funding of which $2,329,677 will be spent in 2009-2010 and $1,238,603 will remain in the fund balance for use in 2010-2011. The funds expended for 2009-2010 were used to reduce the number of layoffs that the district had to make for this year. How the remaining funds will be spent will be determined through the budget development process. It is important to understand that the SFSF funding is one-time funding, and while this one-time money will provide a partial financial bridge to help get the district through this school year, it will NOT cover the entire projected shortfall. Furthermore, this stimulus money will not be of significant help in the 2010-2011 school year, when the anticipated budget cuts should be just as serious if not more so than this year.
