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Saint Joseph School Board adopts fiscal 2026 budget with $258,000 surplus
Summary
The St. Joseph School District Board approved the fiscal 2026 budget unanimously, authorizing a conservative spending plan that projects a $258,000 surplus and a 20.3% fund balance, while noting state funding and enrollment uncertainties.
The St. Joseph School District Board of Education voted 7-0 to adopt the district’s fiscal 2026 budget, a plan administrators said contains a modest $258,000 surplus.
Board administrators presented the budget as conservative and contingent on state action. “The budget I’m bringing you tonight . . . actually has a slight surplus to it, $258,000,” the district finance lead told the board while noting the state budget still required the governor’s signature. He said the district used conservative assumptions for assessed valuation and state funding to guard against possible withholdings.
Board members and district staff said the budget reflects several years of declining enrollment — from 10,718 students in 2019–20 to 9,979 this year — and uncertainty about federal allocations. Administrators told the board they used a 2% assessed-valuation increase in estimates (the five-year average is about 2.23%) and reduced some revenue assumptions after a recent Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) adjustment to per-pupil figures. The budget package that passed also incorporates the board’s recently approved 1.17% salary increase.
The district’s projected ending general fund balance is 20.3% of expenditures, which administrators said meets board policy guidelines. The finance presentation highlighted revenue declines tied to average daily attendance losses since before the COVID-19 pandemic while noting property tax and local revenues were up due to assessed-valuation increases and a Prop C waiver.
Board procedure: a motion to approve the budget was made and seconded during the meeting; the roll-call vote recorded seven yes votes and no no or abstentions.
Administrators told the board they would continue to monitor state and federal action and update assumptions if DESE or the governor’s office changes funding guidance. The board approved the budget ahead of the state’s June 30 deadline for the governor’s signature on the state budget.
Funding details, enrollment trends, and the district’s financial plan will be revisited by staff if state or federal allocations change.
Ending: The board’s unanimous vote moves the district into fiscal 2026 with a budget administrators described as conservative and positioned to absorb short-term funding uncertainty; staff said they will return with updates if state or federal figures change.
