Cape school board approves $171.9 million budget

The Cape Henlopen school board unanimously approved a $171.9 million preliminary budget for the 2023 fiscal year.

At the Jan. 26 school board meeting, Cape Director of Business Operations Oliver Gumbs said the budget reflects a $2.4 million reduction in operations and a $2 million reduction in capital improvement projects from last year’s budget.

Included in the budget are a $0.15 current expense rate increase approved in the 2018 fiscal year referendum, and $552,000 in budget reductions and allocations.

Reductions include $92,000 from the district office budget, $15,000 in instructional support, $50,000 in facilities contingency, $120,000 in instruction/curriculum contingency, $250,000 from the turf field replacement contingency and $25,000 from casual/seasonal substitutes.

Other highlights include local funding provided to maximize the use of all state-earned staffing units, and to increase substitute pay and the employee mileage reimbursement rate.

Reserve funding set-asides include $100,000 for furniture, $100,000 for employee retirement payouts and $15,000 for band uniform and equipment replacement.

The full budget is available at bit.ly/3WPyPZf.