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Community education presents balanced‑recovery budget, highlights expanded early‑learning and adult programs
Summary
Director Jake Winchell told the board the community education program is largely fee‑supported, returned toward net positive for 2025–26 in a proposed budget, and reported participation and service counts across early learning, kids club, adult education and senior services.
Jake Winchell, director of community education, presented the 2025–26 proposed budget to the South Washington County Schools Board on June 12 and reviewed program highlights from the 2024–25 year.
Winchell said community education is primarily fee‑based—about 70% of revenue comes from participant fees—and that salaries and benefits compose roughly 80% of expenditures. He told the board the department tightened expenses and increased revenues where possible and that some program balances will intentionally run at a deficit because they are community services, not profit centers (for example, the senior center and early learning).
Program highlights provided in the presentation included:
• Early learning/ECFE: Winchell said ECFE served 4,532 individuals and conducted more than 1,400 early childhood screenings; the district reported 757 preschool students at 12 sites (figures presented by Winchell during the meeting).
• Adult programs: Winchell reported more than 1,000 adults served, roughly 36,000 program hours across Adult Basic Education and related services and 30 adults earned a high school equivalency credential this year.
• Kids Club (school‑age child care): Winchell said Kids Club served about 905 children last summer and about 1,600 during the school year; he reported roughly 352,000 summer contact hours. The program is DHS‑certified and accepts childcare assistance for families who qualify.
• Community Bridge (adults with disabilities): Winchell reported about 224 unique participants across 18 classes with an average of five enrollments per participant.
Winchell outlined revenue and expenditure breakdowns by department and category: most revenue is fees, with the largest revenue and expense shares in Kids Club and operations (facility rentals), early learning at roughly 22% of revenue, and adult programs about 5.5%. He said the department keeps a portion of vendor fees (roughly 25%) to cover supplies, repairs and program support; vendors receive the balance for instruction in many seasonal offerings.
On the proposed 2025–26 budget, Winchell said the department crafted a plan intended to be net positive overall even though some service lines operate at a deficit. He said a multi‑year process will rebuild the fund balance for community education and recommended a community needs assessment to inform program priorities.
Board questions focused on accreditation versus certification for child care sites and on whether Kids Club enrollment and revenue have recovered from COVID. Winchell said revenue is close to pre‑COVID levels but enrollment is not fully restored; he added staffing was fully restored for the current year and that the program is no longer limited by hiring this summer.
No formal board action was taken; the presentation will inform the district's budget process.
