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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us June 13, 2005 School board to consider budget at meeting By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Tonight’s meeting of the Ashland School Board will deal with money — a lot of it. The board will be asked to approve a $31.7 million budget for the 2005-06 school year and a $57,000 contract for a facilities study plant at its 7 p.m. meeting today at the Ashland Council Chambers, 1175 E. Main St. The resolution signing off on the budget total will be packaged with three other resolutions establishing the appropriation of those funds, imposing a tax rate of $4.1601 per $1,000 of assessed value and $2,418,000 for bonds, and categorizing those taxes. The budget committee determined the 2005-06 budget through a series of meetings this spring. The committee based their figures on an estimated $5 billion state education budget. Most schools are banking on the state setting aside about $5.25 billion for K-12 education in the next fiscal biennium, about halfway between the current offers on the table from House Republicans and Senate Democrats, said John Marshall, a lobbyist for the Oregon School Boards Association. That figure is based on estimates compiled by the Oregon Department of Education Even if the state Legislature OKs the school funding level for the upcoming year above the initial $5 billion, the Ashland School District won’t see a substantial increase in its portion of the funds because of declining enrollment. Projected enrollment in Ashland schools is expected to fall from 3,010 students in 2004-05 to 2,942 students next year, according to figures from the Ashland School District. State funding to the district drops approximately $5,000 for every student lost, and school officials are bracing for as much as a $500,000 decline in state funding next year. A state budget above $5 billion should offset the revenue lost due to declining enrollment, according Ashland Schools Superintendent Juli Di Chiro. “I think what that kind of budget is going to do is to allow us to stabilize at this low point right now,” Di Chiro said May 27 after the House approved the school funding budget at $5.22 billion. The proposed $57,410 contract with Dull Olson Weeks Architects Inc. of Portland for a comprehensive facilities study may be paid out of a bond the school board is considering placing on the November 2006 ballot. The company will evaluate all existing school district buildings, including determining the structural integrity of the buildings, exploring the feasibility of historic preservation and reviewing maintenance and electrical needs. The company will also create as-built drawings of the floor plans of all facilities and complete a 20-year demographic study of Ashland. The board has yet to approve the bond proposal. If the bond is not issued or does not pass, the contract would be paid by school district funds. The Associated Press contributed to this article. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams