Sioux City school board hears FY27 spending-authority projections as enrollment drop cuts ~$2.4M

Sioux City Community School District board members on a November meeting received a multi-year spending-authority projection showing an enrollment-driven revenue shortfall and two scenarios for FY27 through FY31.

Patty Blankenship, the district finance presenter, told the board that "the FY 26 cost per student is $7,988" and explained spending authority is enrollment multiplied by that figure and funded by a mix of state aid and property taxes. She said certified enrollment as of Oct. 1, 2025, decreased by 301.7 students, which at the current per-pupil rate represents about a $2.4 million reduction in funding.

Blankenship laid out two scenarios: one in which both supplemental state aid (SSA) and district expenditures grow 1.5% annually, and an alternative in which expenditures exceed SSA by 1 percentage point for a single year (2.5% expenditures vs. 1.5% SSA). Under the conservative scenario she projected an unspent authorized budget carryover of about $101.2 million; in the higher-expenditure scenario the board would use substantially more spending authority over five years.

Board members pressed staff on the calendar and review process, and Patty advised directors to raise fund-specific questions early in the January–February presentation window rather than waiting until the formal budget hearing and certification in April. She also noted that about $6.8 million of the district's spending authority is SBRC modified supplemental amounts that grant authority but do not provide cash.

Director Abbate thanked staff for the projections and urged community members to contact state legislators, saying that "1% SSA is just hurting us all" and would severely limit the district's ability to provide planned services. Other board members repeated concerns that spending authority (the authority to spend) is not the same as cash on hand and highlighted special education and English-learner reimbursement shortfalls from the state.

The presentation concluded with the board acknowledging the information and the proposed budget presentation calendar; no binding budget adoption occurred at this meeting. The district will revisit spending-authority projections and general-fund assumptions in January and continue public hearings and presentations through the statutory certification process in spring.