Mentor School Board has approved a general fund budget of $88.7 million for the 2006-07 school year, which represents a 9.9 percent increase over last year's expenditures of $80.7 million.

While the budget is increasing, the ending cash balance in June 2007 is expected to be $22.7 million, Chief Financial Officer Daniel L. Wilson said at Monday's special board meeting.

This figure is about $5 million more than the $17.6 million that was projected when the district's five-year forecast was updated in May, Wilson said.

While the district has been able to keep pushing the deficit further into the future, the task will become a significantly bigger challenge as expenses begin to overtake income in 2008, Wilson said.

For the 2008-09 school year, the district expects to take in $94 million and spend $100.2 million, according to the five-year forecast approved in May. In 2009-10, the district's income will be $92.8 million, while expenses will jump to $106.1 million, according to the forecast.

This year's budget includes a 23 percent increase in health care costs, Wilson said. It also takes into account the purchase of new textbooks, he said.

The textbooks, costing about $1 million, were ordered last year, but were not received until late July, Wilson said. The funds to buy the textbooks were carried over from last year and used to make the purchase this summer.

The new budget includes $135,000 for the purchase of new Smart Boards for classrooms, $175,000 for copiers and printers and $75,000 for career technical education equipment.

In other business, the board approved a three-year contract with the Mentor Classified Employees union. The agreement includes a 3 percent raise each year, but will result in the elimination of several positions by the end of the current school year, Superintendent Jacqueline Hoynes said.

The new contract also marks the end of the district's policy to pay full-time benefits for its part-time employees, Hoynes said. Employees who work 20 hours a week or less will now have to pay the difference if they want to maintain full coverage.

"We feel we have to have insurance rates that are more comparable to the real world," Hoynes said. "We appreciate MCE's help in reducing our projected deficit. There is a feeling of teamwork and commitment to the community."

The moves will save the district $2.4 million from the expected cost from the new MCE contract that was factored into the district's five-year forecast in May, Hoynes said.

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