Stewartville school board approves budget alignments, new open‑enrollment bus fee and staffing reductions

The Stewartville Public School District Board of Education approved a package of budget alignments Wednesday that district leaders said are needed to close a projected fiscal shortfall. The board approved Tier 1 recommendations and a modified Tier 2 package — including a $1‑per‑day open‑enrollment bus fee with a sliding scale for families who qualify for free or reduced‑price meals — by voice vote, 7–0.

District administrators told the board the alignments respond to declining enrollment, rising labor and operating costs and a series of unfunded mandates. "Financially, ignoring this is not an option because of the detriment that it would cause to the school's budget and the position that we would be in next year," a district administrator said during the presentation.

The board received three tiers of reductions. Without alignments, the district projected fiscal‑year 2026 expenditures would exceed revenues by about $857,000 and the unassigned fund balance would fall to about $1.65 million (5.84%). Tier 1 alignments of roughly $820,000 would reduce the gap…