Menlo Park school district budget grows to $23 million Menlo Park school district budget grows to $23 million (July 13, 2005)

** It's up 3.5 percent from last year.

By Marjorie Mader

Almanac Staff Writer

Spending in the Menlo Park City School District is expected to grow 3.5 percent to a total of $23 million, under a budget recently approved by the school board for the fiscal year that started July 1. The budget carries forward most of the programs and expenditures from last year, but there are some changes.

Enrollment is expected to grow by about 100 students to a total of 2,169, and four teachers will be added.

The enrollment growth will add about $220,000 to costs for the year, and the upward trend is expected to continue for at least the next two years, according to Superintendent Ken Ranella.

Another change: The size of kindergarten classes at Laurel and Oak Knoll schools will be reduced from an average of 24 children to about 20. The district will receive some state funding for the smaller classes.

There will be 15 kindergarten classes this year. Two more kindergarten teachers have been hired, and two portable classrooms have been moved to the Laurel campus.
Revenue sources

Most of the district's $23 million in revenue -- 88 percent -- will come from three local sources: property taxes (58 percent), parcel taxes (18 percent) and the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation and other local sources of private gifts (12 percent).

The remaining 12 percent comes from the state (10 percent) and the federal government (2 percent). State money includes funding from the lottery, and for class-size reduction in grades K-3, special education, and instructional materials.

Property tax revenues are expected to grow 10.5 percent, but the budget projects a more conservative increase of 8.5 percent -- approximately $900,000 -- based on advice from the San Mateo County Office of Education.
Spending

The biggest budgeted expenditure is $18.3 million for salaries and benefits for 135 teachers, administrators and classified employees. Increases built into the salary schedules amount to 3 percent for teachers and 2 percent for classified employees. An additional 1 percent increase is budgeted for teachers, based on an agreement with the Menlo Park Education Association.

Other budgeted expenditures are $3.2 million for services and operating expenses; $1.04 million for books and supplies; $470, 642 for payments to the county office; and $100,000 for deferred maintenance.
INFORMATION

Copies of the budget will be available after Wednesday, July 13, in the district's remodeled and expanded district office on the Encinal School site at 181 Encinal Ave. in Atherton. Moving the office back to the Encinal site began July 7 after it was housed in temporary headquarters at 125 Constitution Drive, provided rent-free by the Bohannon Organization for the past year. The budget document won praise from school board members who credited the district's chief business official, Diane White, for making the financial information "readily accessible" to the public.

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