A Picture of the District’s Expenses, by Category By Meghan Rohde, Treasurer
NON-PROFIT ORG ECRWSS U.S. POSTAGE
Bay Village City School District 377 Dover Center Road Bay Village, OH 44140
B A Y
PAID
V I L L A G E
C I T Y
S C H O O L
D I S T R I C T
BY THE NUMBERS
COLUMBIA STA., OH PERMIT #4
Actual 2022-23 District Operating Expenses
Board of Education Dr. Andrey Stojic, President Amy Huntley, Vice President Debbie Callihan James Goodman Dr. Scott Schulz
ECRWSS 44140
A Report to the Community on the Business of Our City Schools
MAY 2 024
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District Office Scot T. Prebles, Superintendent Meghan Rohde, Treasurer
A School Year of Connecting with the Community
BAY VILLAGE, OH 44140
Q&A with Superintendent Scot Prebles and Treasurer Meghan Rohde
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440-617-7300 www.bayk12.org
82% Personnel The largest of the district’s expenses, 82% of the budget is invested in its personnel via salaries and benefits. The district invests largely in its personnel, which is typical across all school districts, since we are a “people business” and people are a learning community’s main resource for its students. 9% Purchased Services The next largest expense category is for the district’s purchased services. These are expenses for services that the district canít provide in-house. The largest purchased service expense is for district students attending outside or offsite programs, including West Shore Career-Technical programs, offsite special education facilities and the College Credit Plus program. Purchased services also include substitute teachers, attorneys, maintenance specialists and special education service providers (physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc.). Utilities, communications, professional meetings and travel are also part of this category. 4% Supplies and Materials This portion of the district’s budget is spent on classroom supplies, office supplies, software, Chromebooks, maintenance supplies and other building supplies. 5% Other Other expenses include building improvements, equipment, county auditor fees, bank fees, certain debt payments, professional dues and other miscellaneous district expenses. This category also includes transfers out of the general fund to the capital projects fund. The district has made a plan to
invest in the upkeep of its buildings into the future. The funding for these projects is set aside in the capital projects fund. In Summary Overall across all spending categories, the majority of the districtís expenses go directly to the classroom and our students. A little over 72% of our total expenses are invested directly in students. This is a leading percentage compared to other similar school districts, which emphasizes the district’s commitment to and focus on student education, experience and resources. Cash Balance One of the things that school districts monitor is the amount of cash they have in the bank. Districts have to make sure they have enough money on hand to carry the district through periods of deficit spending as the end of a levy cycle approaches. On the flip side, districts need to make sure they have a plan for how the funds they have collected are used, to ensure schools are taxing residents appropriately and responsibly. Bay Village Schools currently has a healthy amount of cash on hand (in its savings account). As Treasurer, I like to see at least three months’ worth of operating expenses in the bank. At the end of fiscal year 2023, the district had four and 3/4 months’ worth of cash in the bank. The district is at the beginning of its current levy cycle, so it is building up an appropriate amount of cash to carry it through the length of the cycle. The Board and administration are continuously looking for operating efficiencies to save money on expenses to extend the length of the levy cycle, while also fulfilling the strategic plan.
n a school year that saw the roll out of the district’s new Strategic Plan, it was hard to miss one of the five Priorities included in that plan: Community. Connecting with the community – from students and staff, to parents and residents – was part of every action plan tied to the goals within the Strategic Plan. Providing interactive, multisource communication to enhance student, staff, family and community engagement was at the core of everything the district did this school year. We sat down with Supt. Scot Prebles and Treasurer Meghan Rohde to find out more about this school year of “Connecting with the Community.”
Q&A with Supt. & Treasurer continued from page 1 MR: Knowing that this part of our community is interested in cost savings and efficiency allows me to prepare onesheeters about how the district saved more than $163,000 in utility purchasing by participating in a consortium – not including the district’s conversion to LED lights, or taking advantage of the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCCC) free facilities audit, which saved $80,000, or other consortium purchases that saved the district nearly $60,000. We will continue to gather interest and questions to help prepare documents that are user friendly and informative. Q. The school year is almost over... do you plan on continuing to connect with the community? SP: Absolutely! Coffee Chats are a new tradition that Treasurer Rohde and I will continue, and I really enjoy visits to the Knickerbocker and Bay Senior Center. The State of the District event in November is also here to stay. The Superintendent Student Committees will start up again next school year, as will our two new community initiatives, the Parent Ambassadors Team and the Community Communications Committee. MR: We look forward to increasing the number of opportunities for us to interact with all members of the community, and encourage you to attend an event or to suggest an idea. This is an important part of our jobs, and we really enjoy it!
Congratulations to the cast, crew and orchestra for the spring musical Something Rotten. With more than 100 students involved, three months of rehearsals and four nearly sold-out shows, this was an incredible production directed by Luke Scattergood and his team. Something Rotten at Bay High was definitely something special.
Normandy Kindergarten Registration is open for the Class of 2037 For more information, please scan the QR code or call the school at 440-617-7350.
Bay Village Schools Wins Ohio Auditor of State Award Auditor of State Keith Faber announced that Bay Village City School District received the Auditor of State Award for its clean audit reports for the fiscal year ended 2023. Less than 10% of government entities in the state receive this award. Bay Village Schools has received the Ohio Auditor of State Award nine of the last ten years. “We are dedicated to providing accurate, consistent and transparent financial information. Our finance
team, along with assistance from the Board and the Superintendent, worked hard to earn this award. We always strive to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” said Treasurer Meghan Rohde. The Bay Village Schools Financial Team (pictured) consists of: Meghan Rohde, Treasurer; Beth Gergye, Accounts Receivable; Judi Hansen, Accounts Payable & Health Benefits; and Anne-Marie Zeuch, Payroll.
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Q. Why is the “Community” Priority so important? What about the other four Priorities in the Strategic Plan... Learning, Culture, Instruction and Accountability? SP: All five of the Priorities in the Strategic Plan are important, but without Community, the other four Priorities are just words. If our critical audiences (students, staff, families and residents) don’t have input in or understand our plan, nothing else matters. No matter how good we think our documented Strategic Plan is, if it doesn’t reflect our stakeholders, or they don’t understand it, Bay Village Schools will not be successful. This is why we involved community members in our Strategic Plan pre-planning, throughout the process, and now why Treasurer Rohde and I continue to meet with community members to answer questions about the Strategic Plan and other district happenings; everything from new curriculum to facilities to finances. As you know, we have placed the Strategic Plan booklets in various locations around Bay – including city hall, Bay Library, coffee shops, Bay Senior Center and district buildings – and we encourage you to pick up a copy if you haven’t already. MR: Knowing the questions and concerns community members have about finances, for example, helps me prepare reports that communicate the district’s stewardship and financial decision-making processes. Our goal is to be accountable, transparent and efficient, while also increasing opportunities for us to personally and interactively engage with all community stakeholders. Q. What are some of the ways you are connecting with the community? MR: We scheduled five Coffee Chats this school year that were open to all Bay residents, and our next one is Friday, May 10 from 10-11 a.m. at Bay Provisions. Supt. Prebles and I also visited the Knickerbocker Apartments, and Supt. Prebles often stops by the Bay Senior Center to answer questions. SP: The Coffee Chats and senior center visits are a great way to engage
with our residents, and the newer Superintendent’s Student Advisory Councils at Bay Middle and Bay High schools provide me with perceptual data from students. The audiences are different, but equally important, and I’m pleased to say that all have great things to say about the direction we’re headed in. We also learned a lot from those who attended our State of the District event in November. We plan on making those an annual event. Our district Wellness Team has been hosting events for our faculty and staff, which allow our administrators to learn more about this important segment of our school community. The district also has two new committees, the Parent Ambassadors Team, composed of parents representing all five of our buildings, and the Community Communications Committee, which includes empty nesters and longtime residents who no longer have students in the district. It’s been fun getting to know each of these audiences better and to see the concentric circles. Q. What was one of the most surprising things you learned during your year of connecting with the community? SP: Through our engagement activities, we were reminded that 63% of our community does not have students in the district... 63%! That’s a lot of folks we need to stay connected with. It’s challenging since they aren’t inside our buildings as much as our parents, but through initiatives like our Bay Buddies reading program, Bay High Tech Club assisting our senior residents and Veterans Day celebrations, we get our grandparents and other active seniors in our buildings to interact with staff and students as much as possible. We will continue our multigenerational opportunities and our visits with the Knickerbocker and Bay Senior Center, and we will rely on that newly launched Community Communications Committee to share what this large part of our community – the empty nesters and longtime residents who raised their own children here – want to know and how they want to receive that information. Q. Interesting... 63% is a high number. What are those senior residents telling you? SP: I’m proud to say for the most part they think we’re doing a good job. Many raised their children here and they want the same opportunities for their grandchildren and the children who live next door to them. They love the lakefront and they feel our community is safe. They want to stay here. But they want to make sure the district is spending wisely and being good stewards of their tax dollars. Treasurer Rohde and I are both residents, so we couldn’t agree more. Continued on back page