Superintendent: new state rules and cuts trim some school aid but board adopts preliminary $153M general fund budget

Superintendent Dr. Funk told the Stillwater Area Public Schools Board during its public meeting that recent actions at the Minnesota Legislature will change several revenue and mandate items for the district and that administrators will return in July with refined budget recommendations.

The superintendent said the Legislature set the general education inflation formula at 2.74 percent but that several reductions and formula adjustments in the final package will reduce the district’s inflationary increase. “So instead of a 2.74 increase to our budget, we’re actually looking at about a 1.62% with all these reductions,” Dr. Funk said. He summarized pieces the district expects to affect the 2025–26 budget: a $100 million state allocation to extend summer unemployment benefits for hourly district employees who do not work in the summer; the state will pay an increased Teacher Retirement Association (TRA) portion estimated as an additional $20 million in state aid overall; and several program-specific reimbursements or aids were reduced.

Dr. F…