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McFarland board hears multi-year budget forecast as enrollment slips
Summary
Business manager Jeff Mahoney told the McFarland School District Board that resident enrollment continues to decline, prompting staff to monitor open enrollment, health insurance costs and referendum revenue as the district plans for 2025–27.
McFarland School District business manager Jeff Mahoney told the school board on Monday that the district faces continued declining resident enrollment and is monitoring multiple revenue and expense variables as it prepares the 2025–26 budget.
Mahoney said resident enrollment has fallen, which reduced the district’s revenue cap by about $309,000 and that the district is in the second of three years of a local referendum that can add up to $1,750,000 to the revenue cap. “Our resident enrollment is continuing to decrease and every student is worth a certain number of dollars so our budget really focuses on that,” Mahoney said.
The presentation, which the board heard in the business manager’s report, outlined near-term and multi-year pressures: open-enrollment application counts that remain below capacity for K–5 slots, planned retirements and at least one planned resignation among professional staff, rising health-insurance costs and the scheduled end of the district’s referendum in 2026–27. Mahoney said 96 openings for 4K–5 had been posted and that 25% of those slots had applications at the time of the report; he cautioned that many applicants list multiple districts and that families may not commit until later deadlines.
The board discussed possible state-level relief for special education reimbursement. When a board member asked what the “whispers” about special-education funding meant, Mahoney said advocacy has sought higher state reimbursement and that, for example, if the state doubled the reimbursement rate it could mean roughly $2 million more for districts — a figure he described as illustrative of the scale of potential change but not a finalized budget item.
Mahoney also reviewed projected health-insurance costs, noting benefit experience improved in the first quarter of the 2024–25 fiscal year: the district’s medical-loss ratio had been high in prior years but in the first quarter moved closer to breakeven, which he described as “some positives” in upcoming bids. He said transportation, property/casualty insurance, and wages remain key budget levers to monitor.
On revenue, Mahoney reiterated that the governor’s proposed adjustments to the revenue cap (a cited $325-per-student adjustment in briefings) and the district referendum together were expected to help approach a balanced budget for 2025–26. He said the administration will continue to report open-enrollment application counts and building-level enrollment projections and will present a salary-study update in March.
Board members asked for follow-up reports on open enrollment both before and after the April application window, and one asked for confirmation of comparative salary data and how collective-bargaining limits affect local compensation decisions. Mahoney said the district will continue to monitor the state biennial budget process and will not finalize estimates until joint finance deliberations become clearer.
The item concluded with staff continuing work on revenue/expense scenarios and building-level enrollment projections to inform decisions that will be needed once referendum funding sunsets in 2026–27.
