Westwood Heights board adopts amended 2025–26 budget after finance director’s update

Westwood Heights Board of Education members voted Feb. 4 to adopt an amended 2025–26 general fund budget after a presentation by Finance Director Erica Martin.

Martin told the board the June 2025 preliminary budget had relied on estimates because the state budget and accurate student counts were not final. “So as you guys know, the last time that we had a budget presentation was June 2025,” Martin said, and she described updates tied to the state’s blended student count and one‑time declining‑enrollment stabilization funding.

Martin said the district’s blended foundation allowance is $10,052 per pupil and that the board’s amended revenue estimate reflects both a higher per‑pupil foundation allowance and a larger‑than‑expected enrollment decrease. She described the state’s prorating of foundation aid for lost students and the district’s receipt of one‑time stabilization funds, which this year covered roughly 62% of the foundation amount for lost students.

On expenditures, Martin said amended outlays fell from about $21.5 million in the June estimate to roughly $20.2 million, largely because instructional costs were reduced through attrition and by not immediately filling some vacancies. She told the board the projected use of fund balance dropped from about $3.0 million to about $1.5 million, leaving “our fund balance that would drop it for to about $44,000,000 which was about 19.87%.”

Board members asked for clarification on the per‑student recovery and blended count. Martin said the state formula’s proration results in approximately $6,200 per lost student under the current blend and stressed that stabilization funding is one‑time. Board members also discussed operational strategies to manage declining enrollment, including not immediately replacing some positions and shifting staff where possible.

A motion to approve the presented amended 2025–26 budget resolution was made by Miss Johnson and supported by Miss Roberts. After discussion about cautious spending and recruitment strategies to boost enrollment, the board approved the budget in the recorded vote described during the meeting (motion passed as recorded by the chair). The formal resolution language—certifying estimated revenues, unappropriated fund balance and proposed ad valorem millages—was read into the record and the board secretary attested that public‑meeting notice complied with the Open Meetings Act.

The district finance office will post the adopted budget materials as part of board minutes and follow customary reporting steps.