District reports program and budget review; identifies staffing reductions and cost savings ahead of 2025–26 budget

Lede: The Stevens Point Area Public School District presented an update May 6 on an ongoing program and budget evaluation that identified staffing realignments and estimated cost savings to support the 2025–26 fiscal plan.

Nut graf: Staff reviewed 15 district programs and reported net full-time-equivalent reductions achieved largely through attrition and resignations. The district estimated a net reduction of about 9.04 FTE from the prior year and projected approximately $1.09 million in annualized savings tied to positions eliminated or frozen; staff said most reductions occurred because of lower enrollments or position vacancies.

Details - Position review: Staff said they reviewed 434 positions; 403 were retained as "fill as is," five positions remained frozen and roughly 12.54 positions were reduced/eliminated through retirements or resignations. After reallocation of 3.5 FTE to other needs (IT technician, communications specialist, early childhood special ed teacher), the net FTE reduction was about 9.04. - Cost savings: Using individual-level costing (salary, health and dental), staff estimated annualized cost savings to the district of approximately $549,642 from elementary reductions, $331,087 from secondary reductions, and $211,337 from district positions, for the sum referenced during the presentation. Those figures were presented as actualized savings based on staff retirements/resignations. - Reallocations and new needs: The district added positions moved from grant funding to the general fund (IT technician), a full-time communications specialist, and a teacher for early childhood special education and multilingual learners to reflect enrollment needs; these reallocated positions increased costs by amounts cited in the presentation but were offset by larger reductions elsewhere. - Class-size context: Staff said projected 2025–26 elementary class sizes remain at or under district recommendations with one classroom projected to be one student over guideline (first grade at Kennedy). Board members raised constituent concerns about class-size expectations after the district's referendum; staff said referendum dollars helped avoid larger increases and that reductions this year came through attrition and enrollment declines.

Next steps and transparency - The district will continue stakeholder engagement on the 15 identified programs and share monthly updates. Staff said prior estimates were refined this year to provide more specific per-position savings, and they will continue work with administrators, teachers and finance staff to identify further efficiencies as appropriate.

Attribution: Presentation by program and budget evaluation staff (Chris) and financial detail provided by district finance staff and HR.