The Mehlville Board of Education heard a report last week on Proposition R spending during fiscal year 2022. 

Mehlville’s Prop R was an $8 million, 49-cent tax-rate increase approved in November 2015 and went into effect during the 2016-2017 school year. The money funded learning interventionists, HVAC improvements, technology upgrades, training and recruiting staff and other operating expenses. 

Prop R spending in fiscal year 2022 was $6.3 million on targeted items, with the remaining $1.7 million going to general operating expenses to address salary and benefit increases due to inflation. The original Prop R spending summary was to spend at least $7.2 million on targeted items with the remaining $800,000 going toward general operating expenses.

In fiscal year 2021, the district spent $5.9 million on Prop R target areas. 

“On the targets, when you’re looking at the numbers, you’ll see that we’re under Prop R target areas for buses, textbooks and professional development but we’re really meeting our needs in all those areas,” Chief Financial Officer Marshall Crutcher said. “Prop R had a target of 10 buses but really the target every year for buses is only five. Really we’ve met our need so  there’s no use to spend more money. Same thing with textbooks.” 

According to Prop R documents presented to the board, “there are many other expense requirements that have changed since Prop R was passed” and changing needs of the district “may continue to show more money dedicated to other operating needs.”