Summary: West Fargo School Budget

West Fargo School District is a rapidly growing district. With the fast pace of student population, budget is a big concern. Having students come in last minute after the district gave their student numbers to the state, makes funding for the schools hard. West Fargo is trying hard to use their money wisely when funding for the schools. I met with Beth Slette, the superintendent of West Fargo Schools and Mark Lemer, business manager of West Fargo Schools. They both gave me wonderful insight on West Fargo School District’s budget. When asking Mrs. Slette about the budget, I asked her about what her biggest financial hardship was and what the hardest thing about planning a budget is. I was not shocked when Mrs. Slette said the significant financial hardship was the immense growth and Mrs. Slette not seeing that change anytime soon. She said we were a …show more content…
I asked Mrs. Slette how she convinces stakeholders to ‘get on board’ with a particular idea. Mrs. Slette felt the ELA curriculum has been a success, yet it was a lot of hard work to get where we are now and to get people on board with the idea. The ELA committee created a pacing guide so all of the teachers across the district are all on the same page and they all have the same resources at every school to drive the ELA curriculum. Mrs. Slette says it is always hard to sway everyone and it is hard to ‘cut’ programs or initiatives if needed. Mrs. Slette felt the program that needs the most financial support is special ed. Special Ed. kiddos cost the most money to fund for. This is part of the reason why West Fargo and Fargo want to co-op with each other with the school that will provide for those students that have greater needs. These students would have the support and programing they need that we can’t provide in the schools. It will cost a lot of money per child to go to this school, but in the end it will benefit those