Superintendent warns governor's budget proposals could push Stewartville district to use general fund for unemployment and transportation costs

Superintendent Ms. Silvers told the Stewartville Public School District board that changes proposed in the governor's budget could push the district to cover tens of thousands of dollars in costs from its general fund.

Silvers said the governor recommended $30 million in one-time funding to partly cover unemployment insurance claims for hourly employees who do not work during the summer. She said the initial statewide appropriation the prior biennium was $135 million and that the smaller, proposed $30 million allocation for FY 2026 would not cover all expected claims. "We're expecting and budgeting that we will have to use some of our general fund to pay unemployment," she said; early local projections cited during the meeting put potential district unemployment costs at roughly $80,000–$90,000 per summer if state funding is insufficient.

Silvers also flagged a proposal to reduce state reimbursement for special-education transportation from 100% to 95% in FY 2026 and to 90% in FY 2027. The district's special-education transportation costs are nearly $700,000 a year; Silvers estimated that a 5% reduction would add about $35,000 to the district's general-fund obligations in year one and roughly $70,000 in the second year if the reduction proceeds.

Other items she highlighted included possible changes to literacy-incentive and compensatory-aid formulas (the administration said a proposal would extend a compensatory-aid "hold harmless" provision into FY 2026) and an expansion of allowable uses for student-support personnel aid that would permit districts to redeploy positions when enrollment falls but would not increase total aid.

The board also discussed enrollment trends. Ms. Silvers said the district's enrollment was stable overall — about two students different from the November count — but the district saw program shifts: about 13 additional students at BCI and Bonner and a loss of roughly 14 at the high school, mostly juniors and seniors. Board members asked whether departures represented PSEO or other postsecondary choices; Silvers said statewide PSEO participation is up and that the district's tuition bills for PSEO students were "in excess of a hundred thousand dollars per semester." She said high-school staff are studying competitive trends and considering focus groups to understand why older students leave.

Silvers told the board the administration will begin budget planning early because the legislature's schedule leaves little time in late spring. "We're gonna start to have to plan our budget for next year because we have to be ready, by June," she said, and will track bills as they move through the legislature.

There was no formal board action on the budget items during the meeting; Silvers said she would continue to provide updates and bills to watch.