Timberlane budget committee orders $2.4M reduction, flags staffing gaps and revenue uncertainties

The Timberlane Regional School District budget committee voted to seek a $2.4 million reduction in the proposed 2025–26 budget and separately approved a $14,000 cut to school board stipends after a Jan. joint meeting that combined public comment, legal briefings and administration reports.

Administration presented staffing and revenue details that shaped the committee's decision. The business administrator, Maria, said the district currently has 607 filled positions and 61 open positions, including 52 instructional vacancies (speech-language providers, psychologists and paraprofessionals). To meet student needs in the near term, the administration plans to request a Thursday school board action to transfer $1,600,000 from personnel to contracted services to fund three speech positions ($238,000), two psychologists ($186,000) and 33 support staff plus 1.5 special-education professional positions ($1.2 million).

Committee members repeatedly pressed for specific line-item reductions rather than blanket cuts. The chair proposed a $4,000,000 reduction but the motion failed after divided votes; committee members then proposed and approved a $2,400,000 reduction and the $14,000 stipend cut. "I can't approve a budget if there's no way we can decrease it anymore," the chair said during debate, citing resident hardship. Other members warned that moving positions to contracted services typically costs the district two to three times more than in-house staffing and that some of the proposed $2.4 million would likely have to come from line items that affect direct services.

On revenues, the business administrator said projecting revenue more than a year in advance is uncertain. She said unassigned fund balance is a key component of the calculation and that the district is starting this cycle with a large fund balance; she noted special-education reimbursement (catastrophic aid) recently changed from 80% to 67%, and one public commenter estimated that change would cost Timberlane about $133,000. The administration said it will present multiple paths to reach the $2.4 million target and return with more specific proposals ahead of the committee's next meeting on Jan. 26.

Next steps: administration will present options to achieve the $2.4 million reduction and formal budget transfers at the next scheduled meetings; the committee will continue deliberations prior to the warrant/deliberative deadlines.