The Cape Girardeau School Board approved its nearly $53 million budget Monday, along with approving last year’s amended budget.

Dr. Neil Glass, assistant superintendent for administrative services, said he was pleased with the final 2015-2016 budget, which came in at $54,985,000.

“We’re actually a little bit lower than anticipated,” he said before a special meeting of the board.

Glass later attributed the figure to school administrators keeping expenses in check throughout the district and a mild winter that caused utility expenses to be lower.

“We had a lot of unspent budget,” he told board members. “A big (reason) was our health-insurance fund (that remained flat).”

The school district pays a $500-a-month health-insurance premium for each employee.

The board also approved the district’s $52,626,000 budget for 2016-2017, which begins July 1.

In other business, superintendent Jim Welker said the district’s strategic planning process is getting ready to begin about the first week of July.

Stakeholders will be chosen to participate in focus groups that will begin meeting in August or early September to explore long-term goals and objectives.

A survey will be sent out in September to get more public input before a steering committee is formed around October to begin forming the plan, Welker said.

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