Manatee County school board mulls over budget draft

The Manatee County school board has a tentative plan for its finances moving into the 2015-2016 school year.

At its meeting July 28, the group approved a draft of the budget for the upcoming school year.

Highlights from the proposed budget include:

— $271 million for instructional services and equipment

— $4.7 million for media services

— $22 million for school administration

The board plans to discuss more line item specifics of the $600 million budget at workshops Aug. 11 and Aug. 26. It must adopt a budget by the Sept. 8 school board meeting.

In other news:

The Manatee County school board is also increasing its property tax levy to help pump additional dollars into the budget. The levy reflects a 4.37% increase and represents seven-tenths of the total proposed taxes for the upcoming school year.

The tax levy is slated to increase to $221.8 million from $206 million from last school year.

The board also approved a decreased millage rate of 7.267, a decrease from the 7.367 in the 2014-2015 school year. The 1.5% portion of the millage rate, slated for capital projects, will generate $44 million to be used for a range of projects countywide, such as classroom renovations, roof and floor replacements, 39 new school buses new classroom technology and a range of other needs.

Former Executive Director of Secondary Schools Cynthia Saunders is now the Deputy Superintendent for Instructional Services. The school board also approved John Kenney as the new investigator for the Office of Professional Standards.

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].