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Finance staff preview operating-budget pressures: teacher FTE reductions, reading training costs and open‑enrollment outflows
Summary
Staff presented a draft operating picture that includes a projected reduction of roughly 22.4 classroom-teacher FTEs (about $2 million in savings), required Act 20 reading training costs for teachers, and large open‑enrollment and voucher outflows that materially affect the district budget.
District finance staff presented an operating-budget update that outlines staff reductions, required training costs and the budgetary impact of students leaving the district.
Ken told the committee the preliminary budget includes a projected reduction of about 22.4 classroom-teacher FTEs yielding roughly $2 million in savings in the draft model; he cautioned these numbers could change as the budget is refined. He also said one speech‑language position would be reduced while adding one social‑work FTE to shift support resources.
Staff outlined other position reductions across special education, business services and operations that together were estimated in the packet at about $125,000 of savings from specific position changes; some positions are being reorganized or shared rather than eliminated.
Ken described new training requirements under state Act 20: teachers must complete approved “science of reading” training. The district anticipates course fees of about $525 per teacher plus benefits and associated costs; staff estimated the total program cost could run to about $125,000 (including employer taxes) depending on rollout timing.
The operating picture is also affected by large open‑enrollment outflows and school choice vouchers. Staff reported the district budgeted roughly $3.7 million for open‑enrollment payments to other districts but experienced an approximately $2.7 million shortfall versus budgeted expectations. Separately, the district projected about $4.6 million in Wisconsin Parental Choice payments and roughly $451,000 for special‑needs scholarship payments, a combined outflow in the packet of about $5.1 million tied to non‑district enrollments.
Ken said special‑education reimbursement from the state remains below desired levels (the district currently receives about 29% in the prior-year calculation) and that state proposals could raise that percentage; he described 33% as an illustrative improvement but said final rates will depend on state budget decisions.
Staff plans to return a preliminary budget estimate to the board at the next meeting and to refine it for public action after June.
