To keep the East Marshall Community School District financially healthy for the 2015-16 fiscal year, spending had to be reduced.

In creating a budget, district administrators considered the effects of declining student enrollment and reductions in state aid, said Superintendent Dianne Anderson.

After unanimously approving several reductions in February, the East Marshall School Board approved the 2015-16 budget earlier this week with a levy of $14.80 per $1,000 in taxable valuation.

Cuts will reduce district expenses by about $120,000, Anderson said.

In deciding what to cut, students’ education is a priority, she said. “You look for things that do not take away from students’ academic programs,” she said.

Reductions included cutting the Dean of Students position and the driver’s education position, which includes one physical education class and some health classes.

Students will now use an online course for health education, and driver’s education has been outsourced to a private company.

High school and middle school associate positions were also cut.

An online recruitment and application service for school districts and teacher professional development software are to be discontinued.

Anderson said the state requires the district to use a different recruitment tool called TeachIowa.gov, which serves the district’s needs.

Early morning MCC classes are to be taught during the school day, and no longer at 7 a.m. before school hours.

That saves the district because it was billed more by the college if college classes were taught outside of school hours, she said.

Building budgets are also to be scaled back 10 percent.

A portion of middle and elementary school associates’ salaries are to be paid from the hot lunch fund for lunch duty instead of the general fund for the hours they are helping in the lunchroom.

The amount of pay with Well-Managed Classroom Trainers has also been adjusted to a stipend for training new staff.

In explaining the reasons for the cuts, Anderson points to declining student enrollment.

The district lost state funding for 48 students. That number includes district residents and fewer open enrolled students.

The state provides approximately $6,366 per-pupil dollars for enrolled students statewide.

For East Marshall, the decline in enrollment represents a loss of more than $300,000 in the district budget.

In addition to per-pupil dollars, district administrators also consider the amount of supplemental state aid the Iowa Legislature will allocate to school districts in the coming fiscal year. In recent years, aid has decreased.

Currently, the Legislature has not agreed on an amount it will provide.

If the level of state aid is not agreed upon in the House and Senate, it will default to zero percent.

The district’s future budget cuts depend primarily on how much aid districts receive and student enrollment, Anderson said.

“We’re hoping that they come through with a good percentage for our students,” she said.