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Board previews and adopts proposed 2026 legislative priorities emphasizing funding and property tax outcomes
Summary
District staff presented the proposed 2026 legislative priorities, and the board approved sending four priority areas to the IASB delegate process, emphasizing timely, equitable and adequate school funding and a role for districts in property tax reform.
District administrators presented proposed legislative priorities for the 2026 session and the board approved forwarding four priority areas for consideration by the Iowa Association of School Boards’ delegate assembly and legislative resolutions committee.
Yvette Ostrovsky (presenter) reviewed the district’s 2025 priorities and what moved during the recent legislative session. The presentation recommended keeping timely, equitable and adequate school funding as a top priority, continuing to advocate for full‑day preschool funding, and ensuring federal funds that flow through states are distributed equitably and in a way that allows districts to use them to support students’ needs. The staff also urged that districts have a voice during any state property tax reform so school funding and levies (PPEL, SAVE and debt levies) are not harmed.
Board discussion touched on concerns about declining enrollment’s effect on per‑pupil funding and the need to update budget guarantee/statutory formulas so more districts receive intended increases. Several board members emphasized protecting federal special education funding and ensuring any state redistribution of federal funds remains equitable and reaches districts that serve high numbers of students with IEPs. One board member noted that the district serves nearly 20% of students with IEPs and that many of those students are nonresident and bring an obligation for funds and services.
Staff said priorities would be submitted in advance of the IASB’s August deadlines for the legislative resolutions committee and the November delegate assembly. The board approved the motion to forward the proposed priorities by roll call.
