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District presents preliminary 2025–26 budget gap and proposed reductions; staff pay CPI preserved
Summary
District administrators presented a preliminary shortfall for 2025–26 and proposed roughly $620,000 in expenditure reductions while keeping a 2.95% CPI increase for regular contracted staff; administrators also proposed budgeting a 10% health-insurance increase and several staff and program cuts.
District administrators presented a preliminary overview of the 2025–26 budget at the June 16 Saint Croix School District board meeting and described a multi-part plan to reduce expenditures.
The administration said the district had previously reported an approximate $6,600,000 shortfall for next year; administrators then described a package of proposed expenditure reductions that the presentation quantified as about $620,000 in implementable savings. Proposed reductions discussed at the meeting included eliminating one FTE special-education paraprofessional position, reducing one FTE behavioral interventionist, freezing substitute-teacher pay increases tied to CPI, reducing or eliminating the curriculum-advisory stipend, freezing building leadership-team (BLT) stipends (under discussion), and freezing extracurricular pay scales at current levels.
Business staff said they plan to budget for a 10% increase in health insurance premiums despite a maximum insurer increase projection of 12% to preserve flexibility; administrators also reduced the estimated cost of an “administrator superintendent license program” from four participants to one for budgeting purposes. Additional minor cuts under consideration included eliminating the activity bus, discontinuing staff holiday gifts, and reducing subscription expenditures.
The superintendent and business manager emphasized that the plan would preserve a 2.95% CPI increase for regular contracted staff, a stated priority for the board and administration. Board members discussed the items and expressed concern about impacts to curricular leadership stipends, the superintendent’s development and district training funds, and other program supports.
No final adoption of the 2025–26 budget took place at the June 16 meeting; the board's calendar lists a district annual meeting and budget hearing scheduled for July 23, which will allow further public comment and formal adoption steps.
