The Hutchinson School Board Monday evening heard the report from the district’s Community Budget Committee on the 2013-14 budget.

The committee met four times from February through April, looking at the district’s current finances, legislative proposals on funding and future needs for the district. Since no legislative proposals have increased overall school funding for 2013-14, the committee looked at a budget that was largely unchanged from 2012-13.

Subcommittees of the group, however, did list the highest priorities. Those priorities included raises for staff, funding early childhood education, specific teaching positions at the high school to meet needs and a behavior interventionist at the middle school.

The committee also looked at increasing the district’s local option budget. The district will need additional funding for the Affordable Care Act in 2014-15 to pay insurance needs of staff members who will be covered by health insurance. The committee looked at raising the LOB incrementally over two years to avoid a sudden mill levy increase for district taxpayers.

Also during Monday’s meeting, the board saw a presentation from the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center at Greenbush about the center’s online learning program. Known as Greenbush Online Learning, the program provides a virtual school for participating districts.

USD 308 has been investigating online education for the past several months as a way to serve district students who may prefer a virtual classroom experience.