New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy has released its proposed $3.7 million budget for the 2013-14 school year, its third year of operation.

The school expects 350 students will attend, up from the 230 that were anticipated in the current year’s budget.

It will hold a public hearing on the spending plan tonight at 7 p.m., immediately following the board’s 6 p.m. regular meeting at its Federal City Campus, 2000 Opelousas Ave., Building H-100, in Algiers.

Total expenditures for the year will be just over $3.5 million dollars and another $245,000 will be set in reserve, under the plan.

Salaries make up just over $2 million of that total, nearly $1.5 million of which will go to teachers. Teacher salaries make up 42.5% of the total budget.

This is way from $700,000 for teacher salaries that were allocated in 2012-13, only 28% of the budget. Much of that is due to the fact that the school is re-classifying the school’s ROTC instructors as teachers rather than as “other employees.” The school is also adding staff positions, and taking others from part-time to full-time, to handle the school’s additional grade level.

Health benefits for employees will more than double in 2013-14. At nearly $205,000, they make up 5 percent of the school’s total expenditures in the proposed budget.

The school has budgeted $235,000 for transportation expenses, up from $135,000 last year. NOMMA admits students from all over the state, almost as many of whom reside in Jefferson Parish as Orleans. The school uses a combination of yellow buses and RTA passes in its transportation plan.

The budget expects to spend $100,000 on insurance, nearly $290,000 for materials and supplies, and another just under $200,000 for professional and technical services.

NOMMA has budgeted to receive $3.76 million in total revenue, leaving it with a net gain of over $245,000 for the year. Over 89.2% of budgeted revenue will come from state and local sources, most of which is given to students based on the school’s student count, which can fluctuate over the course of the year.

Col. Bill Davis, NOMMA’s Commandant, said that the organization had tried to be increasingly conservative in their estimate of student counts this year.

Other than the $328,000 to pay for the school’s six Marine Corps ROTC instructors’ salaries, the school expects just $47,308 in federal revenues for the 2013-14 year. The school has two ROTC instructors per grade level, which will follow their class until graduation to help mentor students.