USDB committee forwards $59.5 million FY2026 budget to board, asks for LEA‑cost scenarios

The USDB budget committee voted unanimously to forward the Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind FY2026 spending plan to the full State Board of Education, approving a $59.5 million appropriation and asking staff to produce scenarios that would shift either 25% or 50% of USDB costs to local education agencies for board review.

The request for alternate scenarios followed an extended briefing on state budget tracking tools and a detailed discussion of carryforward balances and proposed reductions. Ben Leishman, Legislative Fiscal Analyst, and USDB staff described how a combination of accounting estimates, unspent one‑time funds and added personnel have shaped the agency’s current finances.

Why it matters: committee members warned that the package of proposed reductions — roughly $5.8 million identified in preliminary budget work — could force the agency to reduce personnel and services that carry Individualized Education Program (IEP) obligations for students who are deaf, blind or deafblind. Board members pressed for clearer carryforward figures and for options that would allow the board to evaluate tradeoffs before final approval.

Ben Leishman, legislative fiscal analyst for education, walked committee members through the Legislature’s Compendium of Budget Information, known as COBI, and how it displays sources of finance and program detail. "COBI is set up where I will go through and give you an overview," he said, and he warned committee members that some published balances were estimates rather than final actuals.

Leishman showed committee members that earlier public displays of USDB nonlapsing balances were erratic; an estimate that briefly rose toward $15 million was later revised downward after reconciliations. He also said the Legislature swept $1 million back to the state income tax fund during a recent session when balances appeared to be growing.

USDB Superintendent Joel Coleman and board finance staff described the institution’s mix of revenue: the state appropriation (the largest share), small federal grants and dedicated credits from contracts with school districts. "The appropriation from the state is the bulk of our funding," Coleman said, and he noted that 81% of the USDB budget pays personnel while about 16% covers current expense and transportation.

Coleman and finance staff told the committee they had identified about $5.8 million in potential reductions and "about 30 classified FTEs and 23 contracted staff positions" under consideration to bring spending in line with the appropriation. Coleman said those lists were not yet finalized and would be presented before the full board vote.

Board staff member Deborah Jacobson said the district’s carryforward for FY25 is still being reconciled and that an early, conservative estimate of the nonlapsing balance is about $1.4 million. "We've done some preliminary tests on the budget for FY25. And right now, we're kind of estimating about 1.4," Jacobson said.

Several board members urged caution. Member Booth said shrinking staff while student need grows would be damaging: "We're not experiencing a reduction of force in the children and their needs," Booth said. Booth and others pressed USDB leaders on how cuts would affect compliance with IDEA and state IEP obligations.

USDB and associate superintendents said the agency can meet current IEP obligations with the staff now on payroll, but that cuts at the level proposed would leave some services unmet. Associate superintendents Tanner and Patton warned that reductions would most affect outreach and some campus services and could reduce the agency’s ability to accept new referrals or deliver non‑IEP enrichment activities.

Committee members also discussed enrichment funds. USDB staff said enrichment programs (supported partly by school land trust/enrichment allocations) are already budgeted and some items were listed as contingent on final carryforward figures. The committee approved the FY2026 enrichment activities budget and directed staff to prioritize core, student‑facing activities (for example, summer camps and certain extracurricular programs) if the realized carryforward is smaller than anticipated.

In a single amendment to the budget motion, the committee unanimously directed staff to prepare alternative scenarios that would shift USDB costs to local education agencies at 25% and 50% levels so the full board could evaluate service impacts and tradeoffs. The committee also approved forwarding the base FY2026 budget to the full board for final action at the board’s June meeting.

Other actions: the committee approved the enrichment activities budget to forward to the full board and appointed a three‑member work group (Vice Chair Leanne Wood, Member Jenny Earl and Member Joanne Brinton) to participate with staff on the longer‑term funding review. The committee recorded the approvals as unanimous with Member Cindy Davis absent.

Next steps: staff will finalize reconciled carryforward balances after fiscal‑year closeout, update COBI fields in December, and present the board with (a) the FY2026 budget forwarded by the committee, (b) the 25% and 50% LEA‑charge scenarios requested by the committee, and (c) a finalized list of proposed position reductions and the services those reductions would affect.

Quotes in this story are drawn from the meeting transcript and are attributed to speakers listed below.