Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Douglas County school leaders warn of 2024–25 shortfall as board approves final budget amendments
Summary
District finance staff told trustees the district will finish 2024–25 with a shortfall driven by enrollment losses, special-education expenses and limits on use of SB 2.31 replacement funds; the board approved two resolutions to amend and augment the 2024–25 budget.
Douglas County School District trustees on Thursday approved final amendments and augmentations to the 2024–25 budget after finance staff warned the district will finish the year “in the hole.”
District staff said three main forces drove the shortfall: a drop in student enrollment that reduced state funding, sharply higher special-education costs and a state requirement that replacement salary money be tracked separately. "I wish I just had this great news that said that the state was just going to allow us to just, you know, just cover all of our expenditures, and so that we would not be in the hole," said a district finance presenter. "But we are going to be in the hole for the first time in my 46 years here at Douglas County."
The presentation identified a decline in enrollment of roughly 250 students in recent years and estimated a revenue loss in the millions; staff said losing about 250 students works out to roughly $2.6 million in reduced PCFP funding. Finance staff also described a substantial and growing special-education expense that exceeded what had been budgeted and noted many special-education case files initially denied by the state could be resubmitted for possible reimbursement.
Staff described a change in how the state treats salary-supplement grants. The prior two-year program commonly called SB 2.31 was replaced by a new allocation the district must account for separately as a grant (staff referred to it as SB 500). "We were told we could build that into our general fund, but we found out today that has to be a separate pot of money," the presenter said. That restriction reduces the district’s flexibility to use the funding for general operations and increases cuts the district said it must make elsewhere.
Trustees asked about the audit and timing. Finance staff said auditors will do a preliminary visit in August, the district’s final run of expenditures occurs in August, and the audited financial statements are expected to be ready for the board in December.
Despite the grim picture, trustees passed two motions to adjust the district’s books for the current year. The board unanimously adopted "Resolution 25-01 to amend the general fund for fiscal year 2024–25" and then unanimously adopted "Resolution 25-02 to augment and amend certain funds for fiscal year 2024–25." The motions were presented and passed during the meeting’s action items.
Trustees and staff said they will continue to seek state-level remedies and legislative fixes on the PCFP hold-harmless threshold and follow up on potential state reimbursements for special-education case files.
The board’s vote on the two resolutions completed the formal budget-amendment process for the fiscal year; trustees and staff said more implementation decisions for 2025–26 will follow after the audit and further negotiations with labor groups.
Votes at the meeting were unanimous for both resolutions.
