Faribault board approves 2025–26 budget adjustments, shifts staff to support middle‑school math and special education

The Faribault Public School District Board on March 3 approved budget adjustments for the 2025–26 school year after a discussion about reorganization savings and targeted staffing additions.

The board approved the package by voice vote, 5-1. Board members described the bulk of the $794,200 in reductions as coming from a district reorganization and lower enrollment; enhancements focused on reducing elementary class sizes, expanding special education staffing and adding positions aimed at improving middle‑school math. District staff said the net effect is a $256,800 reduction to the general fund.

Why it matters: The adjustments reallocate existing positions and funding to prioritize students flagged by the district as most in need — younger students, growing special education enrollment and middle‑school math — while keeping an overall net reduction in place.

Discussion and details District staff told the board the reductions total about $794,200 and come mostly from the reorganization, from shifting some positions to grant funds, and from changes tied to enrollment. "The funding shift of an ex instructional coach, we were able to move that into our title funds," a district presenter said. The presentation listed specific reductions that the presenter described as reorganization savings, including elementary specialists and an elementary nurse.

Staff described several enhancements that together total about $537,000. Among them: two elementary teachers intended to reduce class size, two elementary special‑education teachers, one elementary DAPE teacher, seven elementary paraprofessionals and a middle‑school academic specialist paired with a math interventionist. The district said the academic specialist position would cost about $28,000 to the general fund and would be funded about 52% by an "ADCSIS" grant, as described by district staff.

On the interventionist positions, staff said the district is moving an elementary interventionist to Faribault Middle School; that change was described as cost neutral, with the $85,000 position removed from reductions and added back under enhancements as a wash. Julie, an interventionist who spoke to the board, said, "Interventionists do work directly with kids. They work with small groups of kids on very specific instructional things ... to get them at grade level."

Board members pressed for evidence that the targeted additions would improve achievement. Board member Dr. Moore cited peer‑review literature and district results and asked whether internal or external research supported the changes. The superintendent said the district can provide both internal outcome data (from a ninth‑grade program the district previously ran) and external research. The superintendent also said the district planned to use FastBridge assessment data to assign students to targeted instruction groups and to align interventions with evidence‑based practices.

Implementation and next steps District staff said many adjustments are effective in 2025–26 and explained which positions were reallocated, which were funded through grants, and which are additions to lower class sizes or respond to rising special‑education enrollment. The board voted to adopt the adjustments; staff will proceed with the personnel and funding shifts described in the presentation.

Ending Board members said they supported the plan after the review, while some members urged future review by the finance committee and suggested monitoring outcomes. The meeting moved on to other agenda items after the vote.