Fremont Public Schools Adopts the 2023-2024 Budget

Hearings & Meeting Held

 

Fremont, Neb. – (Sep. 11, 2023) Fremont Public Schools passed their 2023-2024 Budget on a 6-0 vote during the Board of Education meeting on Monday night. The General Fund budget will decrease by 3.20% from $69,595,949 to $67,370,915. At the same time on the resource side, the District is experiencing a 12.52% increase in assessed valuation. The proposed budget also includes a property tax levy that is being reduced by 8.5 cents, the levy will drop from $1.223 to $1.138.  

 

The levy in the General Fund will now be set at 91.9 cents and the Special Building Fund will be set at 2.5 cents. The levy associated with the Bond Fund is set at 19.3 cents, where the district projected it to be when the voters approved the $123 million bond issue September 14, 2021. 

 

Three sets of Federal allocations called the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSERS) funds were awarded and budgeted in the 2020-2021 budget year and can be expensed through September of 2023.    

 

Fremont Public Schools General Fund budget covers personnel, instruction, transportation and most operating costs. Personnel costs make up 80% of the General Fund. The District budgets the majority of the General Fund expenditures on classroom instruction – approximately 76%.

 

A majority of the budget, 47%, is funded by property taxes. The second-largest revenue source is state aid, which funds 31.% of the budget.

 

The Board of Education aims to maximize our resources while creating an expenditure budget which meets the district’s needs, all while being sensitive to the needs of the district’s patrons. 

The budget incorporates changes due to the negotiated agreement and increases for all employee groups of 3.75%. 

 

Issues affecting FPS finances include increased costs for labor and staffing, cost of supplies and materials, transportation expenses, utility rates, insurance and transportation costs. “Essentially, everything impacting our own personal finances is also creating a challenge for the school district budget,” stated Dr. Brad Dahl, Associate Superintendent.  Additional state sources of revenue were added to help districts be less reliant on property taxes for this fiscal year and helped the district lower their overall levy by 8.5 cents. 

 

The district continues to be efficient with its spending. Fremont Public Schools is ranked 6th out of 244 school districts in Nebraska in per-pupil spending; only 5 districts in the state spend less per-pupil. The district spends $12,081 per-pupil compared to the state average of $15,113.

 

Board of Education President Sandi Proskovec noted, “The budget approved tonight accurately reflects the district’s revenues and expenditures and meets the educational needs of the district while honoring the needs of the community.  Budgeting for FPS is a year-long process and one that is taken seriously with intentionality.”

 

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The mission statement of the Fremont Public Schools is to produce creative, adaptable, productive citizens committed to lifelong learning.

Fremont Public Schools Students Sign With Armed Forces

 

Fremont, Neb. – (Apr. 27, 2022) Fremont Public Schools is pleased to announce the signing of two Fremont High School seniors with the United States Armed Forces. These students are committing to several years with their respective military branches. “We are incredibly proud of these individuals for serving their country and representing Fremont High School as they travel the world and learn new skills,” said Myron Sikora, Fremont High School principal.

 

Peyton Harman

Peyton Harman signed with the United States Army. He will be moving to Colorado to serve as a military police officer. Harman participated in the FHS School-to-Career program job shadowing Kevin Kavan, FPS Safety & Security Coordinator and the Dodge County Sherriff’s Office. His recruiter is SGT Guinto.

 

Madison Petersen

Madison Petersen signed with the Army National Guard. She will be attending St. Louis University. Petersen’s recruiter is SGT Megan Liekhus. 

 

Mark Shepard, superintendent of schools, stated, “This is a great example of a school district honoring and celebrating with their students and families the great commitment to our Country and their future. This is a very meaningful, very special celebration.” 

 

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The mission statement of the Fremont Public Schools is to produce creative, adaptable, productive citizens committed to lifelong learning.

Fremont Public Schools & Metropolitan Community College Students Sign With Employers

Fremont, Neb. – (Apr. 20, 2023) Fremont Public Schools is pleased to announce the signing of seven Fremont High School seniors with local industry partners and Metropolitan Community College Scholarships. These students will work part-time while taking classes at Metropolitan Community College or Southeast Community College and graduate with a full-time job. “This is a great example of the partnership between Fremont Public Schools, community colleges and local industry to meet our students’ needs,” said Todd Hansen, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at MCC.

 

Joscelyn Dake

Joscelyn Dake will be graduating from Fremont High School with a Board of Governors Scholarship from MCC. She has been part of the Welding Academy at Fremont High School and will continue her education majoring in Welding Technology at MCC. 

 

Ismael Jimenez Juarez

Ismael Jimenez Juarez will be graduating from Fremont High School with a Board of Governors Scholarship from MCC. Juarez will be taking classes to earn a degree in Automotive Technology.

 

Benny Alfaro

Benny Alfaro signed with Sid Dillon as an automotive service technician with a Board of Governors Scholarship from MCC. He will be taking MCC classes toward a degree in Automotive Technology and continue his career with Sid Dillon. Alfaro has taken a variety of industrial technology courses at Fremont High School. 

 

Domingo Perez Ramos

Domingo Perez Ramos signed with Sid Dillon as an automotive service technician. Ramos will be taking classes at MCC toward Automotive Technology and applying that knowledge with his work at Sid Dillon. Ramos has taken a variety of industrial technology courses at Fremont High School. 

 

Sid Dillon teaches students that the car business isn’t just for selling or fixing cars, there is much more to it, such as contract management, marketing and finance.

 

Brayden Reeder

Brayden Reeder signed with Platte Valley Equipment as a diesel technician in the JDTech Program. He will be attending Southeast Community College in Milford. Reeder will learn all aspects of Platte Valley’s business including sales, marketing, accounting and repairs.

 

Denver Fincham

Denver Fincham, Nebraska State SkillsUSA Champion Welder, signed with S2 Rolloffs as a part of their Repair Maintenance Scholarship as a welder. Fincham has been a part of the Welding Academy at Fremont High School and taken a variety of industrial technology courses. In addition to his education at Fremont High School, Fincham has a head start on his education at MCC and will graduate in November with his associates degree in Welding Technology. 

 

Brandon Gallo

Brandon Gallo signed with Lozier and will be learning their precision machinery trade. He has participated in Precision Machining at the State SkillsUSA competition for several years. This year he placed 3rd in the state competition and was the State Champion in 2022. Gallo has taken a variety of industrial technology courses at Fremont High School. He will graduate with an associates degree in Precision Machine Technology. 

 

This partnership is a great example of collaboration between schools and community. “Our community businesses are giving life-changing opportunities to these students and these are not the only companies that offer this type of opportunity. Our community employers see the talent that our young people possess and want to work to build on their skills,” said Mark Williams, director of counseling at Fremont High School. Hansen said, “Business and industry education sponsorships are getting more popular. Employers are making an investment on the front-end to recruit students to develop and expand their business.” We look forward to future partnerships with our community businesses and keeping our talent local.

 

“Today’s scholarship announcements and industry signings are a testimony to the hard work these young people are engaged in every day at FHS, leading to future careers and opportunities for them and their families,” stated Mark Shepard, superintendent of schools. “The partnerships we’ve been able to establish and foster with Metropolitan Community College and local industry are invaluable to the success of our programs and students.  When coupled with committed, high-performing FPS and Metro instructors our students are able to capitalize on these tremendous career opportunities”

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The mission statement of the Fremont Public Schools is to produce creative, adaptable, productive citizens committed to lifelong learning.

 

About Metropolitan Community College

 

Metropolitan Community College, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, is a comprehensive, public community college that offers affordable, quality education to all residents of Dodge, Douglas, Sarpy and Washington counties. Founded in 1974, MCC has the largest enrollment out of six community colleges in Nebraska and is the second largest postsecondary institution in the state. MCC serves more than 40,000 unique credit and noncredit students.