RCSD staff outline $39M preliminary budget gap; board hears revenue and cost forecasts
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Superintendent Rosser and Chief McDowell presented preliminary 2026–27 budget assumptions to the Rochester Board of Education, projecting roughly $17.7M in additional revenue (including ~$17M in foundation aid) but estimating a structural deficit of about $39M, with staff planning a Feb. 26 balanced-budget presentation and March 1 submission to the state monitor.
Superintendent Malik Rosser and budget director Tom McDowell told the Rochester Board of Education on Dec. 18 that the district expects modest revenue growth next year but also rising costs that together produced a preliminary structural deficit of roughly $39 million.
McDowell said the district projects a $17.7 million increase in revenue driven largely by an anticipated foundation-aid bump (about $17 million in the current forecast), an increase in transportation aid and small Medicaid adjustments. He also flagged rising transportation and health-insurance costs (projected health-insurance increases of 15–18%, roughly $18M) and noted that two new charter schools opening next year will change enrollment-based payments the district must make.
The district reported about $298 million in cash on hand in November, down from roughly $313 million the prior month; McDowell attributed the decline to normal timing differences (payroll and revenue timing) and said significant state aid typically arrives in January and March. He emphasized that the forecast anticipates ending the fiscal year with more cash than at the start, assuming the projection of state aid holds.
Superintendent Rosser said staff are reviewing staffing, operations, contractual spending and central-office costs to find reductions and efficiencies; he described the aim of returning to the board with a balanced budget on Feb. 26 and filing a balanced budget with the state monitor by March 1. Commissioners questioned reliance on fund balance, the district’s charter-school spending (Commissioner Cynthia Elliott said the district spends more than $100M on charters), and whether neighborhood-school models or programmatic changes could reduce transportation costs and enrollment loss.
The board approved the December 2025 unaudited financial report by voice vote during the meeting.
What’s next: staff will return Feb. 26 with a balanced-budget plan and hold deliberations and public hearings that could lead to a board adoption in May and a City Council vote in June.