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Tahlequah board reviews FY26 budget and financial report as enrollment drops by 138 students
Summary
Deputy treasurer reported district finances and enrollment declines; a motion was made to approve the FY2025–26 operational budget but the transcript does not record the final vote result for that motion.
The Tahlequah Public Schools Board of Education heard a detailed financial report and a motion to adopt the 2025–26 operational budget during its Oct. 21 meeting. The deputy treasurer reported account balances, revenue sources and projected carryover while staff and trustees discussed enrollment, state aid and facility funds.
The district's bank balance as of Sept. 30 was $16,400,366.39, the deputy treasurer said. The general fund balance was reported as $7,535,114.19; the building fund $6,925,377.62; bond funds $382,578.00; and an activity account of $1,204,891.04. School officials said local dollars were $12,281,920.72 (about 25% of the budget) and state revenue totaled $27,695,625.42 (about 56%). The presenter said estimated general fund expenses for the year are about $42,580,521.33 and that projected year-end carryover is roughly $6.67 million.
Why it matters: the budget sets the district's priorities for instruction, facilities and safety spending and the board must reconcile state-aid changes, local valuation shifts and declining enrollment when approving spending.
Board members were told enrollment is down 138 students from the prior year. The presenter said special-education weights are higher this year, which should reduce the size of any midyear negative adjustment to state aid.
Officials discussed components of the budget in detail. The presenter said academic achievement — including teacher salary and benefits — will account for about 71% of the budget, and itemized several large categories: roughly $35 million on instructional achievement components; about $1.4 million on school climate and professional development combined; and roughly $530,870 on security, including a $350,000 SRO (school resource officer) contract that the district pays from the building fund.
On the building fund, the meeting packet showed an appropriation of $7,932,817.44 with projected spending of $3,681,420.47 and a projected carryover of about $4.2 million. The presenter also reported roughly $131,000 budgeted for one new bus purchase and described ongoing energy-savings projects as a contributor to declining utility bills.
A board member moved to approve the 2025–26 operational budget (the motion in the transcript: “I move to approve the 20 five-twenty 6 FY operational budget.”). The transcript records the motion being made but does not record the final roll-call or recorded tally for that specific motion, so the formal outcome for the FY26 operational budget is not specified in the public record excerpt provided.
District staff noted some items may be grant-funded: the presenter said the district's professional development allocation this year is $350,000 and that the majority of that was expected to come from grant funding.
The meeting included routine finance business, and multiple consent and personnel motions later in the agenda addressed surplus items, bids, contracts and staffing. Those votes are recorded elsewhere in the meeting record.
