GREEN RIVER — The Sweetwater County School District (SCSD) No. 2 Board of Trustees approved a budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024 totaling $59,308,714 in appropriations, at their July 18 meeting.

A public hearing regarding the new fiscal year budget was held prior to the unanimous vote to approve the budget; however, no individuals or groups showed up at the meeting to comment regarding the proposed budget.

The constituent parts of the Total Appropriations broke down as follows:

• General Fund: $42,001,603 
• Special Revenue Fund:$5,628,32
• Food Service Fund: $1,572,798
• Pupil Activity Fund:$1,038,472
• Major Maintenance Fund: $4,984,778
• Capital Projects Fund: $1,302,821
• SC#2 Recreation Board: $1,142,931
• Special Reserve Fund: $1,636,989

Prior to the school board meeting, the trustees held a Recreation Board meeting to approve the appropriation for the SCSD No. 2 Recreation Board.

District Business Manager Chris Dean presented the proposed budget to the Board and explained the different parts of the budget in detail. A breakdown of the constituent parts of the different funds is available on the SCSD No. 2 website.

BOCES Mill approvals

The Board also gave unanimous approval to requests from the Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Sweetwater BOCES received approval for .5 of a mill, while the Region V BOCES received approval for .2 of a mill.

In addition to SCSD No. 2 and Sweetwater County School District No. 1, Region V BOCES includes the following school Districts: Teton County School District No, 1, Sublette County School District No. 1 and No. 9, Fremont County School District  No. 14 and 21, Lincoln County School District  No. 1 and No. 2, Uinta County School District  No. 1, No. 4 and No. 6, and Carbon County School District  No. 2.

Region V BOCES serves students who have Individualized Educational Plans or a 504 Plan, and who have needs which go beyond what a school district would typically be able to provide.

Other Actions

Board members voted to simplify and shorten the language pertaining to Support Staff. The new wording states, “Support Staff are ‘at-will’ employees and will have evaluations completed yearly by the employee’s immediate supervisor.” The new language replaces the former wording specifying dates for evaluations to be done.

“We’re ready to roll with the shortened policy,” Assistant Superintendent Jason Fuss said. In addition to her budget description, Dean also reported that within the past year the district saw an increase of 25 students overall (1 percent), and a two-year increase of 33 students (1.4 percent). Dean said that the increases didn’t amount to much, “but it’s better than going down.” 

Maintenance & Facilities Supervisor Doug Hamel reported on a number of projects that are either completed or ongoing. The $3,671,512 central kitchen project is currently 50 percent complete. The $508,795.65 stadium turf project has been completed.

Board members gave approval for bid requests to replace district vehicles including a 2018 Chevy Malibu, with replacement cost not to exceed $45,000; a 2007 Ford Explorer, with replacement cost not to exceed $56,000; and 2001 4×4 heavy duty pickup, with replacement cost not to exceed $80,000. Dean presented the permission to seek bids on behalf of District Transportation Supervisor Rachel Todd.