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Board reviews budget outlook and asks for decision on elementary 'faces' cluster staffing
Summary
Administration presented a budget outlook showing an estimated $6 million in new general fund aid and several anticipated new expenses; board asked for a decision on a proposed cluster model for 'faces' positions (estimated at about $700,000) and scheduled follow-ups for department and school budgets.
District finance staff and the superintendent briefed the board Thursday on a fiscal outlook for 2025–26 and asked the board for direction on several staffing and one‑time initiatives ahead of formal budget adoption.
Finance presenter Brad Isnard told the board the district has not yet received a preliminary valuation from the county appraiser and is working from estimates, including a Wichita State University real estate study used for current projections. On the revenue side, he said the district is operating on an estimate of roughly $6 million in additional general fund funding for 2025–26, assuming a flat student count and the current base state aid per pupil.
Isnard and Superintendent Dr. Stubblefield reviewed items the administration considers likely to require funding next year. Those included recurring costs such as health insurance and workers’ compensation, a contingency for cybersecurity, district match requirements for potential grants (described as a SPARK grant match), and a one‑time digitization project for student records that administration said can be paid from this year's funds. Isnard noted the district has already committed reductions tied to the recently passed bond: a 1.5‑mill reduction to the library fund and a 1‑mill reduction to the capital outlay fund.
Dr. Stubblefield raised a board decision point about a proposed model for “faces” positions in elementary schools. She described a recommended “cluster” model that would not place a faces staffer at every building and said the district’s recommendation would be roughly $700,000 to implement the elementary cluster approach; secondary faces staffing is already budgeted. “Our recommendation is around 700,000,” Stubblefield said. She asked the board for direction so administrators could finalize elementary budgets.
Board members discussed the tradeoffs of further general fund reductions and where cuts would fall if revenue proves insufficient. Finance staff noted that any additional mill levy reduction beyond the planned bond‑related adjustments would likely fall on the supplemental general fund (LOB), which tends to receive the highest percentage of state aid and can have outsized programmatic impacts.
Members asked for additional budget materials and easier navigation of the packet; the board requested a one‑page cover or summary that lists department reductions and additions and an updated three‑year March 15 history including 2024–25. The board also directed staff to schedule school‑level and department budget review sessions in coming weeks and to provide spreadsheets and departmental detail for those meetings. Finance staff said the building‑level budget meetings were complete and department reviews were scheduled through the first week of May.
On personnel and bargaining matters the board recessed into multiple executive sessions during the meeting (the board cited COMA as the authority). The public meeting record shows the board moved into and returned from executive session several times; those unanimous procedural votes are listed in the meeting record and are summarized in “Votes at a glance” below.
No final, binding vote on the faces recommendation was recorded in open session Thursday. Administrators said they need a board decision on the faces cluster approach to finish elementary budgets and will present an updated packet at the next budget meeting; several board members expressed that they expect department and school‑level presentations before final budget adoption.
The board directed staff to deliver the requested summary pages, the updated March 15 history, and the one‑page departmental cover sheet before the next budget meeting. Administration also agreed to provide the budget impact figures for any salary schedule or step movement proposals ahead of negotiations.
Votes at a glance - Approve special agenda for April 17, 2025 — motion moved and seconded; roll call recorded as unanimous (see vote record). Outcome: approved. - Recess to executive session (multiple motions to recess, extend, and return) — motions moved and seconded; roll calls recorded and entered into the public record as unanimous procedural votes. Outcomes: approved (timed executive sessions for personnel/COMA matters).
