Dearborn previews 2025–26 budget assumptions, flags $6 million operational gap pending state decisions

Dearborn City School District officials on April 14 presented assumptions that underlie a draft 2025–26 budget and identified an estimated operational deficit of about $6,000,000 under the district's most likely scenario.

Thomas Wall, chief budget presenter, told the board the district must adopt a budget by state law before July 1 and that the timeline leaves the board to act on assumptions because final state revenue figures are not yet settled. "We're required by law to have a budget hearing prior to the budget adoption by July 1," Wall said. He also said, "There is money available to give to schools for our school funding," describing uncertainty about how much the Legislature will allocate to schools this year.

The presentation emphasized several drivers likely to affect the final district budget: the governor's proposal for roughly a $400 per-pupil increase (which staff said would raise the foundation allowance to about…