TORRINGTON – The Goshen County School Board (GCSB) met at 11 a.m. Wednesday morning for a special meeting in regard to the budget for the Fiscal School Year of 2023-2024.

According to GCSB Business Manager, Marcy Cates, the proposed budget came in at $33,287,291, which represents a $347,411 increase over the previous school year.

GCSC Trustee member, Chris Alexander, expressed concern over whether the board is spending excessively within the school year, and spoke to other board members.

“We seem to be spending more every year,” Alexander said. “It would make more sense to cut back on our spending, and have more funds with our cash reserve in the case of an emergency.”

Superintendent Ryan Kramer noted the concern of Alexander, adding it is always better to be prepared for an emergency, and spending is a factor that falls into that regard.

“In agreement with Trustee Alexander, worst case scenarios always need to be anticipated,” Kramer said. “One thing to remember when we are talking about making ideas or statements, is also looking at rebuilding or increasing our carry over, or reducing our budget. When we do that, that means cutting programs and services. It’s very simplistic to say we need to increase this, but we need to be specific.”

Kramer added further about the connection between managing the budget, and if done improperly or carelessly, can lead to important programs being cut from the school district in the future.

“I think sometimes, we need to be looking closer, and the Board will have decisions to make as far as cutting services, programs and positions. Those are things we need to talk about, and be thinking about whether you want further investigation as you see or feel, and also asking those questions throughout the year. There are avenues to proceed. I appreciate Mrs. Cates looking at this and providing a balanced budget. A significant amount was increased for our staff members. I appreciate that work. One thing I’ve greatly appreciated living in Wyoming is the 15% set aside by the state. It’s not a bank, and the idea is not to hold onto the those dollars, it is to use them to benefit our students and community. That is also the job of many of our state programs, not to have funds just sitting there. It behooves us to extend those dollars that benefit our students and community.”

Trustee Michael Sussex also added on with Alexander.

“I agree with trustee Alexander. On the horizon we are going to have to look at cuts in the budget,” Sussex said. “Those are tough decisions. It will equate to programs and it’s going to equate to a lot of things that are available that will no longer be available. When that time comes, it will be a very tough decision for the board, but I will agree at some point we are likely going to have to look into that stuff.”

Cates noted that by not utilizing the approved budget to the best of its potential, this can have results in the long run that may have not been originally planned.

“I encourage you to be cautious with that cash reserve,” Cates added. “Right now we are allowed to carry 30%. That is not an indefinite allocation. We, as the district, were allowed that for a five-year time frame. It’s going to be back as far as the legislature has in place, and it will go back to 15% in two years unless they make a change. When I look at our percentage cash received at 12.5%, if we were hovering around a 20% carry over, it would have to be in a position where it would drop back to 15%. Now, unless we spend it, it would go back to the state, and the legislature really puts us in a difficult position based on how much money we can carry over from one year to the next. I would caution you to see it from that aspect.”

All items on the agenda were motioned and approved forward, including the budget for the Fiscal School Year of 2023-2024.

For further information or questions, feel free to contact the Goshen County School District at 307-532-2171, or visit www.goshen1.org.