Cave Creek USD presents September revision to FY26 budget; state and federal funding shifts lower some program funding

The Cave Creek Unified School District governing board received a September revision to the fiscal year 2026 budget on Wednesday as finance staff reviewed enrollment‑based funding updates and federal grant reductions.

Dr. Pletnick, who presented the revision, said the September update was required because final state budget forms were not available when the district adopted its budget this summer. "A revision in September is actually a good thing for us," he said, explaining the district now has the state forms and ten‑day enrollment counts.

Key numbers and changes presented: - Maintenance and operations (M&O) capacity was revised slightly up from the adopted $26,500,000 to $26,800,000 based on current counts. - The district kept $1,000,000 in capital this year as promised, and moved other amounts to increase projected carry forward; FY25 to FY26 carry forward projections were cited as just above $3,800,000 after end‑of‑year cost savings. - Projected M&O capacity plus other funding gives a budget capacity of just over $32,000,000, while current budgeted expenditures are about $29,300,000. - The presentation projected roughly $2,600,000 in carry forward into FY27 under current assumptions.

Pletnick also flagged significant reductions in federal grant funding. "You can see our title funding... we went from, almost $550,000 down to under $300,000 between all of our titles," he said, and reported that IDA (special education) funding had declined from over $1,000,000 to under $700,000. He attributed part of the Title decline to the state's use of U.S. census (area wealth) data rather than local free‑and‑reduced counts for certain allocations.

Administrators reviewed the calendar of next steps: the annual financial report will be presented in October; the state will confirm official carry‑forward in November; the district audit follows and a December budget revision is scheduled if required.

Board Q&A focused on the effect of federal formula changes, options for sustaining staff stipends, and where ongoing recurring compensation increases could be funded. Trustees asked whether the district could maintain one‑time stipends and where those payments had been charged in the budget; staff said the one‑time stipend referenced in prior years was funded from state ESSER-related allocations and had been paid out over multiple years as negotiated through employee groups.

Ending: Trustees did not take formal action on the revision at the meeting; staff will return with the annual financial report and updated carry‑forward numbers when state confirmations become available.