Before the Bismarck School Board gets to sharpening its pencil on mill rate reductions, the board wants more insight into budget enhancements.

The board decided a special meeting will be held, likely June 4, to cover possible additions to the budget. Usually the board has a special meeting by this time of year, but the Legislature's holding off until the last minute on the school funding formula, and then people's busy schedules, made it difficult to do.

They also will go over proposals for mill rate reductions and revenue projections, as Superintendent Paul Johnson had intended to do at the board meeting Monday in the Tom Baker Room. He started to present an almost $2.15 million budget to maintain current programs, as well as a few additions, before board members decided to call for a special meeting.

"There's a lot of questions just in what you have written here," board member Steve Marquardt said.

Johnson presented a list of additions to the budget, such as supporting some grant-funded positions with district money next year because the grant money will no longer be available. Those positions include 1.5 kindergarten positions supported by reallocated Title I funds, the district energy coordinator supported by an energy grant and an assessment and evaluation specialist supported by federal funds.

He also proposed money for playground supervisors, crossing guards, a school resource officer and after- school supervisors at the middle schools. Some of these were ideas from the community forum at Simle in February.

"It is not so much that it is security equipment like security cameras and metal detectors, but personnel" they supported, Johnson said.

There were also requests for additional teaching positions at the elementary and secondary level. Board member Dan Kuntz questioned if the district still paid attention to how many teachers it truly needed, in the case of classes that might have 15 or fewer students. The requests Monday, however, were probably because of additional sections, he said.

These type of questions had the board members feeling they would rather discuss the budget additions more in-depth before considering the outlook.

A time has not been set for the meeting. A consensus was that it would be in the evening June 4.

The board also accepted the resignation of Assistant Superintendent Rick Buresh. The position will be advertised by the end of the week. Buresh will be taking vacation time mid-June. Buresh accepted the job of superintendent in Fargo Public Schools earlier this month.

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)