FDL School Board Gives Approval to Preliminary District Budget

The Fond du Lac School Board gave approval to the
district’s preliminary budget for 2019-2020 at its meeting Monday night. The preliminary
budget is what sets the stage for the next step in the budget process, which is
the budget hearing that will be held later this month. Fond du Lac Schools
Superintendent Jim Sebert says the budget looks “very positive”, but it also
looks bigger than normal thanks to the referendum dollars that are included. “Already
we have borrowed 25-million-dollars and we’re investing that money,” Sebert
said. “The second allotment of money is going to be recommended at
35-million-dollars, so we would have 60-million-dollars on hand as of October,
ideally.” Sebert tells us the reason for borrowing the money now is because of
low interest rates, to try to “maximize the community’s gift to us.” As for the
budget timeline, the district will obtain property values in early October, and
state aid in mid-October, which will allow for the budget to be finalized by
the end of next month.