October 1, 2014

Projected budget shortfall of $70,000

by Joash Tiarks
Bethany Reporter

One of the major items on the agenda for school boards this time of year is the annual budget proposal, Okaw Valley being no exception.

There was ample opportunity for public discussion on the proposed 2014-15 budget during the special session scheduled for the 15 minutes previous to the regularly scheduled meeting last Thursday evening. However, no one from the public attended to take advantage so the regular meeting commenced without incident, and the budget ended up passing with a unanimous vote. “Everything is going to be decided on the governor’s race,” said  superintendent Kent Stauder replying to board president Tim Rothrock after he asked about the direction state funding might take over the course of this next year. “We know where the Democratic governor is going, as far as funding, but the Republican candidate really does not have a plan yet.” The amount of General State Aid(GSA) is, in fact, lower than last year but that is in response to a rise in local Equalized Assessed Valuation of property, or EAV.

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