The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District will be using $1.3 million less of the fund balance than projected for the 2015 fiscal year.

This is good news for the school district, said spokeswoman Pegge Erkeneff.

“The fund balance we don’t use this year will be available for use in subsequent fiscal years,” Erkeneff said.

Assistant Superintendent Dave Jones presented the budget revision to the Board of Education during a work session on Monday, followed by an announcement that the 2016 fiscal year deficit is projected at nearly $6.5 million, but that number has not yet been finalized.

The significant reduction in the need for fund balance money is a result of an increase in nearly $2.1 million in state aid, Jones said. Following the annual 20-day count completed in October the school district was found to have 16 more intensive needs students than estimated during last year’s enrollment count and projections, he said.

An increase in enrollment means an increase in state funding, Jones said. The numbers from the 20-day count are still under review so the expected increase in revenue is likely to change, he said.

The total use of the fund balance budget is currently about $740,000 for the 2015 fiscal year, Erkeneff said.

“The estimated increase in funding from the state listed in the budget revision was based on our submitted enrollment numbers, not the final number from the state,” Erkeneff said. “The final state numbers will be released once the school district’s intensive needs students are evaluated, and the state can calculate the actual enrollment.”

The school district usually receives its final funding amount from the state in early March, Erkeneff said.

School district salary and benefits within the expenditure budget were decreased by just under $740,000, according to the 2015 fiscal year budget revision document. Those numbers are decreased when resignations or staffing numbers are reduced once the school year begins, according to the document.

Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulclarion.com.