The Douglas Unified School District governing board on a unanimous vote approved the district's annual financial report (AFR), the school-level reporting form and the food-service annual financial report for fiscal year 2024-25.

Finance staff presented the AFR as a recap of last year's expenditures across major funds. District finance staff said maintenance and operations expenditures were reported as $27,377,016. The presentation also listed classroom-site funds and unrestricted capital expenditures for furniture, vehicles and buses as part of the report.

The AFR matters because it summarizes how the district spent state and local funds in 2024-25 and is the basis for state reporting and local budgeting. Board members asked for a brief overview of revenue and expenditure trends and were told the AFR is retrospective; the district is monitoring several forward-looking risks.

District finance staff said the board may expect a budget revision in December that will reflect updated enrollment figures. Superintendent Samaniego said the hiring freeze and travel ban have been lifted and "you see a lot of hires now," but she and staff stressed continued close monitoring of spending.

Human resources reported total enrollment at 3,497 and average daily membership (ADM) used for funding at 3,322, a small decline from last month. HR told the board September enrollments added 15 students while 39 withdrew for a mix of reasons including relocations, transfers to online or charter schools, and 10-day drops for unexcused absences.

Finance staff flagged two items the board should watch: an announced statewide minimum-wage increase effective January 2026 and next year's health insurance costs. The presenter said the state minimum will rise to $15.15 and the district will need to adjust classified employees by 25 cents, estimating roughly $50,000 in additional cost to the maintenance-and-operations side. On insurance, staff said rising premiums will be a significant issue for next year and the district will explore options early in the budget cycle.

Board members and the superintendent said they remain concerned about long-term funding and chronic student absences, which the presenter said state policy changes could penalize districts by withholding funding for certain absence "blocks" under consideration.

The board approved the AFR and related reports by roll call: Mr. Smith, Miss Salchow, Mr. Lindeman, Mr. Ramos and Mr. Breen voted yes.