SPANISH FORK — The Nebo School District Board of Education Wednesday approved a tentative budget for next school year of $232.9 million.

That's up from the $218.5 million budget for this year, said Tracy Olsen, the school district's business administrator.

The budgets for the past few years have been inflated in part because of money from bond issuances.

In fiscal 2008, the 25,000-student district will spend about $44 million on new construction of three high schools: Salem Hills in Salem, scheduled to open fall 2008; Landmark in Spanish Fork, scheduled to open fall 2008; and Maple Mountain in Spanish Fork, scheduled to open fall 2009.

The school district has tentatively settled on teacher contracts for next school year, although the teachers are not expected to ratify the proposed contract until July, Olsen said.

Details of the proposed contract could not be discussed in specifics because it's not ratified, but the Utah Legislature provided all of the state's teachers a $2,500 pay raise and $1,000 bonus.

This year's beginning teacher salary was $25,966, according to an information packet that accompanied the budget.

The district is providing teachers a 1 percent cost-of-living raise. During negotiations, the district offered to increase the cost-of-living raise if teachers were willing to contribute more out-of-pocket money for health insurance, Olsen said.

The Legislature gave the district a 22 percent increase in transportation funds — about $721,000 — after Superintendent Chris Sorensen and members of the Board of Education successfully lobbied for more money for transportation costs.

The cost of busing students has soared in part due to rising fuel costs from $3.7 million in the 2001-02 school year to $5.6 million in 2006-07.

Utilities — electricity, natural gas, sewer and garbage, and water — are expected to increase next school year only about 7 percent to about $4.5 million, down from double-digit increases of previous years.

In 2006-07, they were estimated to cost $4.2 million; in 2005-06, $3.8 million; in 2004-05, $3.1 million.

The school district is anticipating 422 new students next year, only a 1.64 percent increase. At the beginning of the decade, the district was gaining about 1,000 new students a year.

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E-mail: lhancock@desnews.com