Photo by Loyd McIntosh
Lynn Buch, the chief financial officer of Homewood City Schools, presented the 2024-25 fiscal year budget proposal to Board of Education members at a meeting on Aug. 27.
The Homewood Board of Education heard the first reading of the proposed fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25) Homewood City Schools (HCS) budget during its regular monthly meeting on Aug. 27.
HCS Chief Financial Officer Lynn Buch presented an overview of the proposed $84 million budget which is expected to come up for a vote during the Board of Education's next meeting on Sept. 24.
Pending any unexpected changes in revenue, the budget will authorize HCS to spend $83.8 million in FY 25, including slightly under $57 million for personnel, 74% of the total budget excluding debt and capital projects.
Other predicted expenditures include $24.3 million in non-personnel spending, including $4.4 million in capital improvements, $2.2 million for debt service payments, and $17.6 million for other operating expenses based on 2023-24 fiscal year spending and growth projections.
The HCS budget is based on expected revenues totaling $84.6 million with local revenues of $49.4 million accounting for 58.39% of all school board revenues. Other revenue sources include $29 million from the State of Alabama, and $2.9 million from the Federal Government, with the remainder coming from various miscellaneous sources.
Buch provided documents with additional general information as of Aug. 26, 2024, showing an HCS total enrollment of 4,484 students - 1,329 at Homewood High School, 1,000 at Homewood Middle School, 935 at Edgewood Elementary, 715 at Hall Kent Elementary, and 505 at Shades Cahaba Elementary - and 641 full-time and part-time employees.
HCS Superintendent Justin Hefner and the attending board members (board member Sheetal Cordry was absent due to a prior commitment) all thanked Buch and her staff for their hard work and dedication in preparing the FY 25 budget. Board member Justin Russell also took the opportunity to thank the city of Homewood and the residents for generously supporting the city’s schools.
“We’re only able to do this because people choose to shop in Homewood when they have so many other options,” Russell said, “and the city graciously chooses to share sales tax revenue with us when they’re not required to do so because they see the value of our public schools.”
In other items, the Homewood Board of Education:
• Voted unanimously to approve an agreement with the Homewood Police Department for 6 Student Resource Officers at a cost of just over $400,000 for the 2024-25 school year.
• Approve a contract in conjunction with the Mountain Brook Board of Education for the Turning Points special education program.
• Green lit the renewal of a $60,000 contract for the Renaissance Learning software package.
• Adopted new textbooks for Homewood High School’s AP Environmental Science classes.
• Approved the disposal of the Myers' Psychology for AP textbooks previously used at Homewood High School as they are no longer in use.
• Voted to surplus a John Deere tractor currently located at Waldrop Stadium, and a Buffalo Chopper food processor located at Homewood High School.
