CHEYENNE — The Laramie County School District 1 Board of Trustees unanimously approved the district’s budget for fiscal year 2025 during a meeting Monday night.
The board has been going over the budget in great detail for a few months, and on Monday, LCSD1 Finance Director Jed Cicarelli presented the final budget to the board.
Board vice chairwoman Christy Klaassen thanked Cicarelli for the efforts that have gone into improving the presentation of the budget.
“He’s trying to make each account more transparent and have different titles and things (so) that you can follow the money,” Klaassen said. “So really, a lot of work has gone into this process over the years, and this, I think, is the best one I’ve seen.”
Of the $394.1 million budget, 62.2% will go to the general fund, 17.2% will go to capital projects, 7.8% will go to special revenue, 5% will go to special building funds, 3.8% will be for major maintenance, 0.7% will go to trust funds, and 2.5% will go to enterprise funds.
The remaining budget is listed as a custodial fund for Cheyenne Classical Academy, a new charter school.
Charter school fund
A custodial fund of $3.1 million will be allotted to the Cheyenne Classical Academy charter school. This money will serve as funding for the school, and is only labeled as custodial.
“It’ll be a separate fund with our financials that will be presented even in our end-of-the-year audit as a custodial fund, as a strictly pass-through (item),” Cicarelli told the board Monday.
Though one community member commented on the school itself, calling it a “factory to produce extremists,” due to its use of the Hillsdale curriculum, Board Chairman Tim Bolin clarified that the school’s existence was not within the board’s control.
“The state board approved (the school),” Bolin said. “... Their funding is passed through our budget, so they are in our budget in a very cursory way.”
The $3.1 million amount was based on maximum enrollment of a similarly sized school in the area. Cicarelli noted that if this portion was incorrect, he may need to return to the board for an amendment to the budget.
ESSER funds
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds were allotted during the COVID-19 pandemic to support elementary and secondary schools. LCSD1 used some of its funds to hire temporary teachers. According to Cicarelli, LCSD1 is near the end of its ESSER funds.
The district has approximately $2 million left to expense in ESSER, Cicarelli told the board Monday. The funds will go toward summer and fall programs, which will prepare students academically.
Construction funds
The capital construction fund, which will likely be used for two elementary schools, consists of approximately $67 million; however, the district is not yet in possession of those funds. Cicarelli clarified for the board that those funds are a placeholders in the budget and are dependent on the outcome of a district-wide Most Cost-Effective Remedy (MCER) assessment being done by a state consultant.
“We hope that those funds are released; that allows us to go out and contract for those new schools,” Cicarelli told the board. “... What that $67 million would do, if we received the director’s authorization to start those projects, (is it) would allow us to start getting those contracts and working through the bidding process.”
The district has to wait for the MCER study to be completed to receive a director’s letter of authorization and start the project, according to LCSD1 Director of Support Operations Andy Knapp.
“We’re in the process with the (Wyoming) State Construction Department forming their MCER study,” Knapp told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. “... (We’re) in the middle of what they call phase two; they’re basically asking all schools that they flagged for their report.”
The State Construction Department is analyzing reports from schools regarding their condition and current capacities, Knapp said. The district will likely receive the report in the fall, but the exact timeline is unclear.
Investments
In fiscal year 2024, the general fund gained approximately $4.5 million in interest earnings, Cicarelli told the board. This number is heavily correlated with the federal interest rate, so while it is impressive, it is not going to be a consistent number that board members should expect to see every year, he said.
“You can see that volatility,” Cicarelli told the board. “There was a time, as we were coming through the pandemic, where we were making barely $50,000 a year in interest earnings.”
Though this number is volatile, Cicarelli added that it is also a reflection of the investment portfolio that the school district has.
“I will tell you that we are not day-trading with state money,” Cicarelli told the board. “These are very safe investments comprised of certificates of deposit, U.S. treasuries, things like repurchase agreements ... very safe investments.”
District investments for the general fund are ranked with safety as the first priority, liquidity as the second and returns last, Cicarelli shared.
This $4.5 million is the highest return on a dollar-to-dollar basis that the district has ever received, as far back as Cicarelli could tell, he told the board. This should be celebrated, as the money goes right back into operational funds, but it also comes with two main cautions, he added.
“There’s some indication that the feds might be looking at a decrease in the interest rate this upcoming fall, so we’ve tempered our revenue projections for this upcoming year just a little bit,” Cicarelli said. “(I) would again just caution that these funds are not something that we can base recurring costs on … kind of make hay while the sun is shining.”
After the budget was passed unanimously, the board immediately went into executive session to discuss possible long-term suspensions and expulsions, as well as personnel, legal advice and litigation. The next LCSD1 Board of Trustees meeting is set for Aug. 5.
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