St. Paul Public Schools adopts FY2026 budget, will draw reserves and seek voter revenue

The St. Paul Public School District Board of Education unanimously adopted the district's fiscal year 2026 budget on June 10, 2025, approving a plan that uses $35.5 million from the district's fund balance to cover a $51.1 million shortfall while keeping most school-level resources intact.

The vote followed a months-long budget process that administrators said prioritized school programs and shifted the majority of reductions to central-office budgets. Superintendent Dr. Stanley told the board the work had been “a marathon, not a sprint to get to this point in the year,” and thanked staff, principals and board members for participating in a collaborative process over the previous eight months.

Administrators said the adopted budget closes most of the projection gap with a combination of the fund-balance draw, $5.4 million in identified additional revenues, expense reductions and other adjustments. The budget as presented includes a $35.5 million planned draw from reserves and two late additions totaling $603,000: $543,000 to restore some early-childhood family education (ECFE) positions and programming, and $60,000 for student…