Kingfisher Public Schools had a spending problem in the 2018-19 fiscal year…it couldn’t spend enough.

Despite a vast array of improvements, teacher raises, teacher stipends and classroom improvements in the last calendar year, the school district’s carryover continues to swell.

“In all the years I’ve been doing this, we’ve never been able to make the amount of improvements and invest in classrooms the way we have and still end up in better shape financially,” Supt. Jason Sternberger said.

That was the message he delivered to board of education members last week during their final meeting of the fiscal year.

A printout provided to the board projected a $5,670,725.07 carryover (exact figures wouldn’t be known until after the final day of June, the last of the fiscal year).

That compares to the $2.64 million carryover that was deemed “healthy” a year ago.

The large bump in revenue is due to the same reason: Oil and gas activity inside the district.

Kingfisher will have brought in an estimated $15.3 million in revenue this year. Of that, more than $5.5 million was from gross production tax and nearly $4.1 million in ad valorem tax.

State aid totaled just $1.8 million.

Other revenues were from a variety of sources from both the local, state and federal level.

Of the district’s revenues, the largest bulk (62 percent) were from the state level (which includes gross production taxes), 27 percent from the local level (which includes ad valorem) and the remaining from federal and intermediate.

The district will have spent an estimated $12.282 million for the year, which includes $9.17 in salaries and other benefits.

The remaining $3.1 million was spent largely on improvements to the district.

“We provided every teacher with a new computer and have made Chromebook carts available to every classroom that can utilize them,” Sternberger noted. “We’ve bought buses and made renovations.

“We’ve never been able to spend that much money and invest it back into the school system and it’s because of the oil and gas revenue.”

Sternberger said a lot of the improvements and purchases have kept the district from having to ask taxpayers to foot the bill.

“These are things that a lot of districts have to include in a bond issue, but we’re not,” he said. “We are able to pay for it from the general fund.”

He also noted the board voted earlier this year to pay for the new $2 million cheer and softball facility, for which groundwork began last week, from the general fund as opposed to financing it.

Any equipment in that facility will be paid for from the general fund.

The board is also on the cusp of calling for a bond issue to construct a new seventh and eighth grade center south of the APB.

Should it pass, Sternberg-er said, things like lockers, furniture, smart boards and other items would be paid for from the general fund.

“A lot of people just throw that into the bond issue,” Sternberger said. “But we’re not going to ask for that. Even though, in the scope of the entire project, it seems like a small savings, it’s still a savings to the taxpayer.”

The district’s financial situation will also benefit teacher’s paychecks.

When the Legislature passed the 2020 budget last month, included was an average pay raise of $1,220 for 97 percent of Oklahoma’s teachers.

However, the board voted Tuesday to raise the district’s certified employees’ salaries by $1,750.