Superintendent warns of growing unfunded mandates; board authorizes staff to propose cuts if needed

The Stewartville Public School District superintendent told the board on March 4 that a set of state-level changes and proposed mandates are likely to create significant costs the district must absorb unless the legislature provides additional funding. The superintendent outlined individual cost estimates for several items and said the district's two-year projection through FY27 lacks the bandwidth to absorb the combined impact.

Among the items the superintendent identified were reductions in state support for summer unemployment (initially funded at $135 million statewide, later proposed at about $30 million), an increase in the employer contribution rate to the Teacher Retirement Account (TRA) from 8.75% to 9.5% (projected local cost about $86,000), expansion of earned safe and sick time (ESST) and paid family medical leave (the latter estimated as a 0.7% wage tax with an employer share of 0.35%, roughly $40,000 to the district), and higher special education costs including a projected $60,000 growth in the district's cost subsidy and a reduction in special-education transportation reimbursement that the superintendent estimated could shift about $70,000 onto the district.

The superintendent also outlined required new curriculum adoptions and timelines the state has proposed: personal finance and civics (for classes graduating in 2029), mental health for grades 4—2, ethnic studies in FY27'FY28, Holocaust and genocide instruction in FY27 for middle and high school, and cannabis/substance-abuse instruction in FY27 for middle and high school. The superintendent estimated associated curriculum and training costs at about $230,000. When combined with the other items discussed, the superintendent said an aggregated estimate was provided in meeting materials and remarked "our estimated total when you put all of that together is $5.69," a figure not further specified in the record.

The superintendent emphasized uncertainty: some numbers are the district's projections and the combined total in the presentation did not clarify units or whether it was thousands or millions. The superintendent encouraged board members and families to contact state legislators; the district plans visits to the Capitol on March 10 and March 11, with students attending to provide a student voice.

As part of the fiscal response, the board discussed internal timeline steps: preparing seniority lists for staff, revised budget presentation at the March 24 meeting, a finance committee review on April 14, building-level staffing reviews March 18, and staff meetings and notices in late April to implement any approved alignments. The board then considered and adopted a resolution directing administration to make recommendations regarding reduction and/or discontinuance of programs and positions so the district can meet its alignment targets if legislative funding does not materialize.

The resolution was moved by Mister Laumann, seconded by Mister Geist, and passed on a roll call vote 6-0 (Miss Cook, Mister Geist, Miss Kiefer, Mister Laumann, Mister Welch, plus the presiding member recorded as aye; Miss Rainmaker absent). The resolution authorizes staff to proceed with seniority and staffing reviews and to return to the board with specific recommendations; any nonrenewals or program discontinuations would be presented to the board for approval.

The superintendent said the district will continue to update the board as state budget forecasts change (the next forecast was scheduled for March 6) and warned that decisions often must be made in April to be effective for FY26 planning.

No formal program cut decisions were made at the March 4 meeting; the resolution only authorized administration to analyze options and prepare recommendations for future board action.