INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River County School Board approved dipping into its fund balance by nearly $420,000 to fill a gap left by the State when calculating student funding.
“This one is of critical importance,” Assistant Superintendent of Finance Carter Morrison said of the proposed budget amendment during the Tuesday evening School Board meeting.
Morrison explained to the Board that the School District fell $1.55 million short in its projected budget, due to the State’s cap on student FTE (full time equivalency) and the requirement to share the funds with other jurisdictions for virtual and online courses, among other issues.
Of that, approximately $420,000 will have to come from the general fund balance to help fill the gap, Morrison said. The remainder will come from monies the District had set aside when it calculated its own FTE and from increases from other state appropriations.
The District receives state dollars based on the FTE, not actual student enrollment – which is calculated differently.
Morrison used last school year as an example of that difference: enrollment – or “counting noses” as Morrison called it – was 17,614; the FTE, however, was 17,535 – a difference of 79.
“It has impacted us,” he told the Board, referring to the discrepancy between the two measurements.
This year, the difference is even greater. At Sebastian River High, the two numbers are off by 90 – enrollment is 1,858 while FTE is 1,768. The gap between the two at Vero Beach High is greater still – 205.
When the FTE dollars don’t cover the actual enrollment, it causes a budget shortfall, which in this case means pulling dollars from the fund balance to make the District whole.
The School Board unanimously approved making the allocation from the fund balance.
