Winona Area Public Schools previews 2026 budget; projects about 12.9 FTE net staffing reduction and holds fund balance near target

Superintendent Brzezinski told the Winona Area Public School District board on May 15 that the administration is finalizing the preliminary 2026 budget and shared a staffing snapshot that shows a net reduction of about 12.9 full‑time equivalent positions for 2025–26.

The staffing summary reflects retirements, resignations, position eliminations and funding‑stream shifts already processed through human resources and the consent agenda, Brzezinski said. “The very first one on the list, the director of building and grounds, that’s a position that we’ve held open now since last July. Our intent is to continue to hold that open into the 25‑26 school year,” he said.

Why it matters: the staffing changes and budget moves influence class sizes, program coverage and the district’s ability to preserve an unreserved fund balance within the board‑adopted target. The board has also approved building reconfiguration steps that administrators said were baked into budget modeling.

Key figures and provisions - Net staffing: administration presented a net reduction of about 12.9 FTE for 2025–26. By comparison the same snapshot a year ago showed 20.5 FTE reductions. - Elementary sections: administrators project a reduction from 36 elementary sections to 31, a change tied to both reconfiguration and lower Title I funding. The district is monitoring kindergarten signups that could affect final section counts. - Title I and federal grants: general‑fund federal revenue is projected to fall by about $915,000 (41.55%), driven in part by COVID grant spend‑down and prior carryover spending in Title I and other federal sources; staff said Title I carryover has been spent and the Title I budget for 2026 budgets only known salary/benefit costs. - Major capital and one‑time items: the chiller project ($~900,000) and planned LTFM work are the primary drivers of a roughly $913,000 projected gap between general‑fund expenditures and revenues in the presented draft. A planned Bobcat purchase (~$72,000) appears in operating capital. - OPEB (Fund 45) projection: staff projected $175,000 in interest revenue and $473,000 in expenditures in Fund 45 for fiscal 2026 (roughly $246,000 implicit subsidy, $214,000 direct retiree payments and ~$13,500 in trust fees), producing an approximate $300,000 spend‑down and a projected Fund 45 balance near $1.5 million at the end of FY26; under current assumptions Fund 45 would fund obligations through about FY2031.

What administrators said about hiring and vacancies Superintendent Brzezinski told board members hiring is continuing: some positions will be filled from outside the district and some will be reshuffled among current employees. On the question of how many new hires will ultimately be required, he said the HR consent agenda that evening showed new hires are ongoing and that the district is balancing external hires with internal reassignments.

Board questions and schedule Directors asked for more aggregate information about future hiring needs, and flagged outstanding items that could change final projections, including the transportation contract negotiations and pending labor agreements. Administrators said several budget items and briefings will return to the board for action at upcoming meetings; the general‑fund preliminary budget, the construction fund budget and the OPEB budget were all presented as briefings to be voted on at a later date.

Caveats and next steps Staff emphasized that class‑section and staffing numbers presented on May 15 are a snapshot (document dated May 12) and will change as enrollments, boundary exception requests and final contract outcomes are confirmed; administrators said a more final class‑section report is typically brought back in August and that actual class sizes are not final until students attend in September.

Ending note Administrators said the current draft keeps the district within its board policy fund‑balance target (projected unreserved general‑fund balance ~8.8%) under the assumptions used, while cautioning that the final picture depends on transportation contracting outcomes, negotiations with employee groups and summer enrollment movements.