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Board hears budget risks: modest state subsidy gains but federal and cyber charter funding create uncertainty
Summary
Business and finance staff outlined the governor’s preliminary budget impacts, federal funding uncertainties and the district’s exposure to cyber‑charter tuition and special‑education expense shifts.
District business and finance staff told the school board that the governor’s 2025‑26 preliminary budget proposal would raise district revenue modestly but leave a substantial funding gap, while federal Title and IDEA funds and changes to cyber‑charter subsidies add uncertainty.
Mr. Marks, speaking as the district’s business and finance lead, summarized the governor’s proposal as producing a roughly $268,000 net increase in district subsidy categories (basic education, special education and a Ready‑to‑Learn block). He said that increase is small relative to a multi‑year funding gap the district continues to carry tied to prior litigation and adequacy calculations.
Marks highlighted three budget pressures: projected salary increases (the district’s preliminary figures show about $950,000 in added salary costs for the coming year), uncertainty about federal Title and IDEA funding (the district reported roughly $625,000 in Title funding and about $570,000 in IDEA funds that together support teachers and special‑education costs), and changes affecting cyber‑charter revenue. The board discussed a previously budgeted $2.32 million in cyber‑charter revenue tied to a change in how the state treats cyber students; if the subsidy is not continued or if per‑student tuition changes, the district could lose revenue or see special‑education costs rise when nonpublic cyber providers place students on IEPs.
Marks said the district’s modeling shows scenarios in which a lower tuition rate for cyber charter students could save the district hundreds of thousands of dollars, but warned that if districts lose the subsidy and students generate higher special‑education costs (for example, if non‑district cyber providers apply higher IEP‑based rates), the district’s expense exposure could widen.
On federal funds, Marks told the board the district receives Title revenue to fund program teachers and IDEA funding that offsets part of special‑education tuition, and that some federal guidance and executive orders had created uncertainty about the availability and level of those monies next year. He said district staff will present a district budget on March 18 in operations committee meetings and will work to balance revenues and projected salary growth.
No formal vote was taken at the meeting on budget actions; staff indicated they will bring a proposed budget to the operations meeting and then to the full board for approval.
