The Mexico Public Schools Board of Education approved the budget for the upcoming school year with all members present in support.

The only board member not present was Scott Nichols. The budget includes a 3.5 percent raise for current administration and support staff and a $1 across-the-board raise to the support staff schedule for new hires to stay ahead of the rising minimum wage in Missouri. A $4 an hour bump was given to the nurse schedule for RNs and a $3.50 bump for LPNs after looking at nearby districts and what they were paying. The base for pay for new teachers is $41,000.

In formulating the budget, the district built a two percent increase for assessed valuation even though that number wasn’t set when the budget was approved. Stephanie Norris, director of business operations, said that number had not been finalized by the county assessor’s office at the time the budget was written. Norris said she conferred with the Assessor’s office and was told the two percent increase was safe. The district is expecting the assessed valuation to be about $233 million.

The budget calls for just under $37 million in total revenues. The biggest chunk of that money, 30 percent, comes from property taxes followed by federal programs and grants at 23 percent and basic state aid at 23 percent. Prop C makes up nine percent of revenues while local taxes account for eight percent.

Most of the district’s expenditures, a total of 83 percent, are spent on labor and benefits with 63 percent accounting for salaries and 19 percent going to employee benefits. According to Norris, supplies makeup 10 percent of the budget and can be anything from pencils to diesel fuel. The budget rounds out with seven percent going to paid services and subscriptions.

“We are a service industry of some sort, which we do spend the most of our operating budget on our people,” Norris said. “Which is where we should be spending it.”

The district will set aside about $2.1 million for bond and interest payments. The tax levy will virtually remain the same.

The board also set fees for lunch and breakfast for next year with a $0.10 increase to the high school lunch from $2.90 to $3 with the breakfast rates staying the same at $1.30. Elementary and Middle school students are free. The elementary students have had free lunch since the 2014-15 school year and middle schoolers began free lunch in the 2017-18 school year. High school students were free during the COVID-19 years but had to start paying for lunch again this past year. For comparison high school students paid $1.85 at the end of the 2009 year.