School districts are in a unique situation when it comes to creating their yearly budgets. Economic cycles and uncertain resource allocations at the state and federal levels make it difficult to find consistency in funding year over year. While many districts navigate a significant gap in funding, they are also determining how to maintain their reserve funds. These reserves are essential for districts to balance funding and support operations. Building reserve funds is critical to navigating an uncertain fiscal environment.
Where do we stand?
Plain and simple, the district has utilized most of its reserves. Over the past three school years, the district has used the majority of its reserve funding to support programs and services, sustain faculty and staff, and support projects in order to mitigate costs to taxpayers. Due to budgetary constraints, the district has not been able to contribute any funds to these reserves since 2022. With state aid funding being held flat, coupled with rising costs, this has presented a difficult financial picture for many school districts across the state.
Over the last decade, our district has put before voters budgets with very minimal increases, averaging .4% yearly increase since 2017. As district officials plan for next year’s budget proposal and beyond, we will look to maintain the levels of academic excellence expected by our families while strategically planning to rebuild our reserve funds. This will allow us to keep the focus on student growth while keeping pace with changes in state and federal funding.
What are our reserves?
To put it simply, capital reserves are savings accounts for schools. They are typically funded through any funds that remain after the district has covered all outstanding costs at the conclusion of the fiscal year. We utilize our capital reserves to keep up with inflation, maintain our school’s progress in adjusting to state and federal funding cycles, and react to issues within the financial landscape.
Our goal is to align our budget with student needs while preparing for the continued uncertainty of the economic landscape.
We will continue to provide updated budget-related articles and information as we finalize the budget for the 2025-26 school year. We encourage you to keep up to date with our budget communications through Parent Square, the district website, and Board of Education meetings, along with reviewing our upcoming budget web page and newsletter as you prepare to vote on the 2025-26 budget on Tuesday, May 20.