Participating in a regular meeting of the Gladstone Area Schools Board of Education on Monday evening are (from left to right) Trustee Phil DeMay, Secretary Jesse Seger, President Steven Tackman, Superintendent Jay Kulbertis and Treasurer Henry Knoch. Trustee Andrew Sturdy, Vice President Nathan Neumeier and Trustee Joe Huber were absent. It was the last meeting for DeMay, who resigned from the board and is being hired as a junior varsity football coach. (R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press)

GLADSTONE — Discussions of a budget amendment dominated the Gladstone Area Schools Board of Education meeting that also included some staff hires on Monday.

Each year, school districts outline a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. However, without knowing exactly how much revenue will be coming from the State and federal governments, the figures are based on projections.

Business Manager Lisa Boudreau presented an amended budget to the school board, superintendent and administrators at the regular meeting this week, explaining that it had been created conservatively.

She recently had to work with the Michigan Department of Education to ensure that funds were being utilized in accordance with new legislation.

“The biggest message is that we are continuing to purposefully and strategically take care of our district,” Superintendent Jay Kulbertis said after the meeting. “We see this in the contracts we have negotiated with our labor groups, that are designed to help us recruit and retain good people. And we see it in our investment in infrastructure improvements that our staff and our students deserve to have quality facilities. We have always been innovative, and that has not changed as we look to add preschool and support teaming at the elementary, and we are working hard to expand our hands-on career tech opportunities at the secondary.”

In addition to specific categories — like the maintenance fund, technology fund and activities fund — Gladstone Area Schools also has a general fund, which is almost like a savings account. The amount could climb or be tapped into. It is projected to be over $4.5 million dollars by the end of the month.

“A fund balance … is certainly an indication of a healthy school district. It allows us to be able to absorb any kind of adverse fiscal impact,” said Board President Steve Tackman on Tuesday. “Then if we do have a prolonged period of, say, financial stress or fiscal stress, at least that buys us time to be able to rationalize some of our operations … make cuts, or maybe tighten the budget elsewhere.”

Between Boudreau’s conservative estimates and the multi-million-dollar balance, board members are not worried about Gladstone Schools’ financial state — even though the state’s budget is yet to emerge with details on fund distribution.

“We’ve been prudent,” Tackman said, and added that Gladstone Area Schools also aims to be transparent about their spending.

On the school district’s website, past budgets are available for the public to see. On gladstoneschools.com, online visitors may click the “District” button; from there, “Administrative Services,” and then Budget & Transparency Reporting. The document approved Monday should be online before the end of the week.

The board approved Budget Amendment Two as presented. People can expect finances to continue to feature at subsequent meetings of the Gladstone Area Schools Board of Education, which meets third Mondays at 6 p.m. in the Gladstone Public Library, though amendments are unlikely before the State of Michigan releases their budget for the upcoming year.

“Our 2027 budget is historically conservative. With the lack of budget numbers from the state, we basically have to assume worst case scenario in our budget assessment,” Boudreau wrote in an email Tuesday. “The district has been taking care of our people and our buildings, and now we hope the state will pull through and take care of public education.”

Technically, the state is supposed to produce a final budget by July 1 for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, but it can drag on. Last year, a stalemate between the House and Senate caused no budget to be decided until Oct. 3.

In other business at the Gladstone Area Schools Board of Education’s regular meeting of June 15:

– The board thanked the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians for over $11,000 in 2% grants.

– Maysie Lancour, a graduate of Escanaba High School and Central Michigan University, was hired to be middle school English teacher.

– Ryan Neumann was hired as a Teamster employee.

– The board hired several football coaches. Dan Faust will be varsity assistant and freshman coach; Phil DeMay will coach junior varsity; Aaron Young will assist JV; Jon Potes will be the middle school coach.

– Trustee Phil DeMay, who has been on the school board with a term expiring in 2028, resigned in order to take the coaching position.