Todd County School District 66-1 holds public budget hearing, reviews federal Title funding and moves to executive session

Todd County School District 66-1 held a public hearing on its preliminary budget and reviewed federal Title I–IV funding before voting to move into executive session for legal consultation.

The board discussed the district's federal program allocations and budgeting timeline during a hearing on agenda item 4401. The superintendent said the district approved a preliminary budget at the board's second meeting in May and that final approval will come at the second board meeting in September. "The preliminary was approved by the board in May, and then you have to advertise in the paper, which occurred last week, and then we're having a public hearing today on it," the superintendent said.

The superintendent told the board that some federal allocations were not yet reflected in the published budget because state and federal allocations had not been finalized. "We still haven't seen the the feds haven't given to the state, so they can give to us our allocation for Title 2," the superintendent said, noting that Title II numbers were pending and could prompt later changes to the budget.

Why it matters: The board is setting a budget that will determine staffing, programs and capital priorities for the school year. Federal Title programs provide large, targeted funding streams; the superintendent said Title I is the district's largest federal program and estimated its allocation at approximately $4,400,000.

The superintendent explained the purposes of the main federal titles the district manages. "Title 1 is a program for low income families... It's about $4,400,000. It's probably the largest special federal program that we have," the superintendent said. "Title 2 specifically has to do with teacher recruitment, teacher training, teacher retention. So we do a lot of our PD through that program, and we do our current staff retention bonus, that gets paid out the August to our certified staff. That's specifically through that federal program. Title 4 is money designated to our school district to help specifically with construction, with safety concerns in the district, technology concerns in the district." The superintendent also listed smaller or specialized programs the district uses, including neglected and delinquent funds, the RLIS program, Perkins for CTE at the high school, and the Johnson O'Malley program, which the superintendent said the tribe manages directly.

Board members asked logistical questions about events and timing tied to district programs. One board member asked about the time and location for a district keynote event; the superintendent said breakfast is at 7:30 a.m. with an 8 a.m. staff arrival and an 8:15 a.m. start at the high school. The superintendent also said staff would meet with the district's program director, Jane Shelburne, and others after Title II allocations are received to finalize details tied to those funds.

Formal actions recorded in the transcript include two procedural motions. At 1591 the transcript records a motion being made and seconded during the hearing (motion text in the record: "I'll make the motion." and a subsequent second and verbal "Aye" votes). Later the board announced an executive session "with Sarah under Consultant legal" and cited "SDC L1-25-23"; a motion to move into that category was made, seconded and approved with verbal aye votes. The transcript does not provide named vote tallies.

Ending: The board will return for final budget action at its second September board meeting, after state and federal allocations (including Title II) are finalized and staff meet with program leadership to incorporate those figures into the final budget.