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CFO says FY25 spending complete but warns FY26 risks from rising costs, union negotiations and lost federal funds
Summary
The district closed FY25 with near-complete spending and staff hires but faces rising transportation and facilities costs, five active contract negotiations and the end of ESSER funds previously used for transportation and capital projects, the CFO told the LAE board Oct. 8.
The Lawrence Alliance for Education received a quarterly finance update Oct. 8 in which the districts chief financial officer reported that fiscal year 2025 closed with 99.5% of the budget spent but warned of fiscal pressures in FY26.
The CFO reported an FY25 allocation of $278,354,228 and a roughly $4.4 million carryforward that produced a final FY25 spending authority of about $282.8 million; the district spent 99.5% of those funds. The CFO said staff focused on clearing accounts-payable backlogs and directing remaining funds to identified needs late in the fiscal year.
Looking ahead, the CFO said FY26 faces several risks: rising costs for transportation and facilities, ongoing collective-bargaining negotiations with multiple employee groups (teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians, clerks and administrators), and the exhaustion of federal ESSER funds that had previously funded transportation and $34 million in facilities work. The CFO noted that the district paid roughly $9 million for transportation in one year with ESSER support and that ESSER-funded facilities projects will no longer be replenished.
Board members pressed for details on vacancies and staffing. The CFO said district vacancies have fallen from earlier highs to roughly 83 open teaching positions on weekly vacancy reports and estimated "about 40" true teacher vacancies after removing long-standing or inactive listings. The superintendent and CFO said the district is monitoring contract negotiations and federal funding changes closely and will work to align priorities and budgets to available revenues.
"We spend 99.5% of our budget," the CFO told the board, adding that the finance team has prioritized staffing the department and correcting multi-month unpaid invoice backlogs.
