Farmington board approves budget realignment, cuts cell-phone stipends and pauses counselor, health-aide layoffs

Farmington — The Farmington Public School District school board on March 3 approved a set of budget realignment measures intended to reduce a multi‑million dollar operating shortfall, voted to eliminate district employee cell‑phone stipends and accepted calendar and policy changes — while agreeing to delay proposed cuts to a Bachman counselor and a health aide for further review.

Board action came after more than an hour of public comment and committee reports outlining reductions, revenue increases and targeted investments. Superintendent Jason Berg and finance committee members presented details of the recommended changes, and board members debated which reductions to adopt and which to pause.

The central finance presentation showed that the district received an unexpected increase in state special‑education revenue of about $1,200,000 and that the district anticipates deficit spending of roughly $1,400,000 in the current year. Presenters said the district holds about $3.9 million in assigned classroom fund balance; after the proposed adjustments they reported an expected remaining assigned balance of about $2,400,000. The finance committee recommended using about $2.3 million of the assigned fund balance to offset the remaining deficit in 2025–26.

Public commenters urged the board to preserve student supports. Chris Gadoff, a district teacher and current counselor, said cutting counseling and nursing support would harm students. "As a teacher, it's really hard to teach students who are not physically or mentally well," Gadoff said. Paul Putt, a parent of two, said he welcomed discussion of restoring a multi‑age program and urged broader community engagement ahead of future levies: "We need people out knocking. We need people who care more than just typing and we need people to support our schools." Student board member Lexi also thanked the board for discussing student mental health publicly: "Being able to be here and see all the support that people have for, like, especially students' mental health ... it's really awesome."

On staffing, the finance committee summary listed proposed reductions totaling about $684,000 (including aligning elementary specialists to enrollment, eliminating certain specialist positions and eliminating a high‑school activities coordinator) and enhancements of roughly $710,000 (including a 1.0 FTE to support Riverview multi‑age staffing and one‑time costs for a high school CNA equipment and instructor). The committee said prior phase reductions and revenue increases together reduced the district's initial target realignment from about $4.4 million to roughly $2.0 million, with the remainder to be covered by fund balance.

Board members pressed for clarity about how enrollment declines drive staffing changes and whether the district could later restore positions if enrollment or needs changed. Several members repeatedly urged that, if the board kept any position, it should be the counselor when mental‑health supports are at issue. After discussion, the board moved to remove the proposed cut of the Bachman counselor and the Bachman health aide from the set of recommended reductions, directing the finance committee to revisit those two positions before final decisions.

The board also approved a motion to eliminate the district's employee cell‑phone reimbursement program. Finance committee members reported the current annual cost at roughly $54,000; after accounting for some reimbursements paid from community‑education budgets, they said expected direct savings are about $47,300. Board members noted many stipend recipients retain district‑issued devices and that removing the stipend would not create a contractual obligation problem.

In other business the board approved a facilities‑use fee table and practices and procedures document that raise rental rates for FY 2026 and FY 2027 (with a stated practice of periodic increases to keep pace with costs), accepted the 2025–26 budget assumptions and parameters (including an ADM projection of about 6,142), and approved a revision to the 2025–26 school calendar converting two elementary flex‑learning days to professional development days and aligning early‑release days across grade levels. The board also adopted Policy 612.1 (Parental Involvement for Title I) and Policy 807 (Health and Safety), both of which presenters said were updated to reflect statutory changes.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of published agenda — motion by Gorman, second by DeWille; voice vote, passed (board voice vote: all ayes). - Consent agenda approval — motion by Gorman, second by Johnson; voice vote, passed (all ayes). - Approval of 2024–25 budget amendment (revenue adjustments, special education increase) — motion by Gorman, second by DeWille; voice vote, passed. - Approval of resolution discontinuing and reducing programs and positions (formal charge to administration to review staffing; resolution to appear in minutes) — motion by Johnson, second by Gorman; voice vote, passed. - Approval of additional 2025–26 budget realignment recommendations as amended (removed Bachman counselor and health aide; approved listed reductions, alignments and investments) and elimination of cell‑phone stipend districtwide — motion by Storley, second by Gorman; voice vote, passed. - Approval of facilities use fee tables for FY 2026 and FY 2027 and related practices/procedures — motion by Storley, second by Gorman; voice vote, passed. - Approval of 2025–26 budget assumptions and parameters (including ADM projection ~6,142 and use of assigned fund balance ~ $2.3M) — motion by Gorman, second by Johnson; voice vote, passed. - Approval of 2025–26 school calendar revision (elementary PD days and aligned early releases) — motion by DeWille, second by Gorman; voice vote, passed. - Adoption of Policy 612.1 and Policy 807 (statutory updates) — motion by Johnson, second by DeWille; voice vote, passed. - Motion to move to closed session under Minnesota Statute 13D.05 for attorney‑client privileged discussion — motion by Johnson, second by Gorman; voice vote, passed.

Why it matters

Board members said the measures are aimed at keeping core classroom programming intact while addressing a projected multiyear shortfall. Trustees repeatedly framed the choices as difficult tradeoffs between preserving student supports and using limited reserves to smooth the gap pending longer‑term revenue actions. Several trustees signaled plans to begin public conversations about future levy options before the statutory deadlines for levy decisions.

What’s next

The board directed the finance committee to revisit the two paused staffing reductions (the Bachman counselor and health aide) and said it will continue work this spring on district revenue options, including the timing and scope of any levy measures the board may place before voters. No final decisions on those two positions were made at the March 3 meeting.