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Brookings School District previews $61 million budget; special-education shortfall may require general-fund transfer
Summary
The district’s business director presented a preliminary 2025–26 budget with an all-funds total near $61 million, noting a likely $50,000 shortfall in extraordinary special-education funding that would need to be covered from the general fund.
Stacy Van Beek, the district’s business/financial director, told the board the 2025–26 preliminary budget remains "fluid" as the state continues to finalize some title-grant amounts and the district assumes steady enrollment. "As numbers stand today, our budget total for all funds would be almost $61,000,000," she said during the presentation.
Van Beek said the general fund is projected just under $29.7 million and that employer and employee benefit selections are a key driver of year-to-year fluctuations. "If they take single health and dental, it's about $6,900 a year; if they take family, it's almost $20,000 a year," she told the board, noting small changes in benefits elections can shift the budget significantly.
Special-education costs were highlighted as the most likely area to change before final adoption. Van Beek said the district applied for $1,030,000 in extraordinary-cost funding and received about $980,000, leaving a roughly $50,000 gap that would otherwise require a transfer from the general fund. "We have to be careful not to deficit spend in our fund balance," she said, adding the district’s special-education fund balance is about $100,000.
Capital outlay plans include roughly $7.3 million in requests but Van Beek said the district intends to conserve this year—"we're not gonna buy a bus this year"—to grow the fund balance and address targeted facility needs. She also described potential energy-rebate revenues from a vendor that could offset transfers, but said timing and amounts remain uncertain.
Van Beek recommended presenting a final budget for adoption in July or August depending on updated state aid and enrollment figures. Board members asked for more detailed breakdowns to share with legislators to illustrate local funding pressures, particularly as a state task force reviews property-tax-based school funding.
The board took no final budget vote at the meeting; Van Beek will return with updated numbers as state aid and final child-count figures are confirmed.
