Board adopts final budget for 2025–26; discussion and amendment add funds for Work Based Learning amid tightening revenues

The Churchill County School District Board of Trustees approved the district’s final budget for the year ending June 30, 2026, after staff presented a multi-school staffing and spending plan intended to respond to projected revenue declines.

Superintendent Daryl Parsons and business staff told trustees the district faces a reduction in expected state funding and rising costs, including a 9.9% health-insurance increase and a 3.25% increase in PERS contributions, and that those pressures required staff to identify staffing and line-item adjustments. “There is no getting around that we we have less money,” Parsons said, summarizing the financial outlook the budget responds to.

Terry Laca presented staffing changes and school-level adjustments designed to hold the district’s contingency and ending fund balance near policy targets while reducing projected spend. Among the changes were a reorganization at the middle school to move Blended Learning Community students back into the regular schedule (with target class sizes near 25), curriculum and counseling changes at the high school, and targeted reductions where the district judged it could maintain core services while reducing staff counts. Laca said principals and district administrators reviewed multiple data sources and sought to minimize impacts on current employees; vacancies and open positions provide options for redeployment.

During debate, trustees discussed the Work Based Learning grant-funded program at the high school. Trustees and staff noted the program has broad community partnerships and that state competitive grants supporting the program phase down over time. Assistant Superintendent Stacy Cooper explained the grant requires the district to reduce the grant share of personnel costs over two years (from 60% toward 30%) and that the district must plan to sustain key elements as grant funding declines.

Trustee McFadden moved to approve the final budget with an addition of funds for the Work Based Learning program; the motion was amended on the floor before the vote. The transcript records an amendment that referenced adding $2,020,000 to Work Based Learning, but earlier budget discussion and staff commentary had referenced a smaller supplemental amount (e.g., $15,000–$20,000) as the expected need. Because the meeting record contains inconsistent figures for the amendment, staff told the board they will confirm the final dollar amounts and post corrected minutes. The board approved the final budget as amended and presented.

Board members directed staff to continue seeking grant opportunities and to report back on any required adjustments. Parsons and Laca emphasized the budget will be revised if the legislature’s final funding differs from current estimates.

Questions and comments during the session also asked staff to consider whether district general funds could partially backfill any short-term grant reductions for high-priority programs; administrators said they would return with specific recommendations and figures if the board wanted an ongoing subsidy.

The board’s vote to adopt the final budget was unanimous among trustees in attendance.