FY 2015 Budget

Des Moines Public School administrators, the School Board, and members of citizen and employee advisory committees are at work on developing the FY 2014-15 budget, which begins on July 1. The budget must be completed and submitted no later than April 15. Public forums on the FY 2014-15 budget will be held on Wednesday, March 26 (6:30 PM at Hoover High School) and Saturday, March 29 (9:00 AM at Central Campus).

On this page you may read a copy of the proposed budget, view presentations made at previous budget-related  meetings, see key dates in the budget process, and access other budget information.

FY 2014-15 Preliminary Budget

The FY 2014-15 preliminary budget is now available online. The preliminary budget proposes maximum expenditures of $506,442,188.

As Superintendent Ahart notes in his cover letter to the FY 2014-15 preliminary budget, “This year, we have much greater stability and knowledge as we move forward with the 2014-15 budget process. First, the District is in the middle of two-year collective bargaining agreements with employee groups. Two-year agreements have allowed for better planning of staffing costs, which account for more than 80% of our budget. Second, the Iowa General Assembly last year approved legislation which set allowable growth for two years, so we know what is expected in State funding. These two factors have enabled DMPS to forecast with a greater degree of certainty our major revenues and expenditures, and enable us to do an even better job of focusing resources on our key mission: the education of more than 32,000 students.”

You may download a PDF of the document by clicking here or on the image above, or scroll to the bottom to see it embedded on this page.

Budget Parameters

On December 10, 2013 the School Board adopted the following as the parameters in establishing the school district’s budget for FY 2014-15:

  • Meet and stay within Board Management Limitations.
  • Maintain financial health; provide a balanced budget.
  • Keep District Student Expectations and Board Beliefs at the forefront.
  • Review status of all levies; make strategic adjustments as needed.
  • Seek input from the Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC) on budget priorities.
  • Seek input from the Employees’ Budget Advisory Committee (EBAC) on budget priorities.
  • Continue to seek operational efficiencies and improve operational effectiveness.
  • Continue to focus on drop-out prevention and graduation rate improvement strategies.
  • Focus on strategies to close the achievement gap.
  • Improve ELL programming.
  • Continue to assess needs and evaluate programming to:
    1. Create innovative programs to meet unmet needs;
    2. Maintain or grow programs that are demonstrating success;
    3. Strategically abandon programs that do not demonstrate value.

Presentations

The following are presentations made by the school district’s Chief Financial Officer to the School Board at various points during the budget process:

Budget Advisory Committees

The Citizens’ Budget Advisory Committee and the Employees’ Budget Advisory Committee prepare recommendations for the School Board to consider in the FY2014-15 budget process. Their recommendations to the Board are as follows:

Key Dates

The following are budget-related meetings, both past and upcoming. Please note that dates are subject to change.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Statutory deadline to submit FY 2014-15 budget

Tuesday, April 8, 2014 – 6:00 PM
Special Board Meeting
Adoption of Budget
Central Campus – Community Room

Saturday, March 29, 2014 – 9:00 AM
Public Forum
Central Campus – Community Room

Wednesday, March 26, 2014 – 6:30 PM
Public Forum
Hoover High School Library

Tuesday, March 11, 2014 – 6:00 PM
School Board Meeting
CBAC/EBAC Recommendations
Central Campus – Community Room

Friday, March 7, 2014
Preliminary Budget Released

Tuesday, February 25, 2014
CBAC/EBAC meetings

Tuesday, February 18, 2014 – 6:00 PM
School Board Meeting
Budget Update
Central Campus – Community Room

Tuesday, January 21, 2014
School Board Meeting
Budget Work Session

Wednesday, January 15, 2014
CBAC Meeting

Thursday, December 19, 2013
EBAC Meeting

Wednesday, December 18, 2013
CBAC Meeting

Tuesday, December 10, 2013
School Board Meeting
Budget Parameters Adopted

Thursday, November 21, 2013
CBAC Meeting

Tuesday, November 19, 2013
School Board Meeting
School Finance Presentation

Tuesday, November 5, 2013
School Board Meeting
Budget Parameters Discussion

Thursday, October 24, 2013
CBAC meeting