Milan Area Schools presents first reading of 2025–26 general fund amendment showing higher revenues and proposed draw on fund balance

At a public meeting, Milan Area Schools' executive director for finance, Mrs. Hendricks, presented a first reading of a proposed 2025–26 general fund amendment and answered board questions. Hendricks said the amendment shows revenues increasing by $4,900,000 and expenditures increasing by $3,700,000; the net effect is roughly $1.2 million in additional revenues, but she also proposed using $1,400,000 of fund balance in the amendment.

Hendricks told the board that approximately $2,200,000 of both revenue and expenditure increases are grant- or program-specific (about 30 separate grants) and identified additional items that change the budget picture, including increases to the GSRP budget and a reflected $1,100,000 for "MPSR's UAL rate stabilization" (as stated in the transcript). She also said mold-remediation expenditures are shown net of an insurance claim and that diesel tank repairs and pool-platform work are among new one-time expenditures.

Board members pressed for clarity on whether the increases represented real new district revenue or pass-throughs. A board member clarified the $3.7 million increase largely reflects pass-through grant dollars and emphasized that the original adopted budget did not include those pass-throughs. A separate line-item discussion explained that the PECC early-childhood program holds a program-restricted balance (Hendricks said it is about $700,000) and that the district's unrestricted/unassigned fund balance percentage is lower—about 3.83% unassigned compared with a total ending fund balance projection of 5.8%—which keeps the district above a 5% threshold but below the board's 10% goal.

No vote was taken on the budget amendment; Hendricks described this presentation as a first reading. Board members noted that continuing to use fund balance (the presentation proposed $1.4 million) is effectively deficit spending and that auditors typically recommend carrying a higher percentage (one board member cited an auditor recommendation of 15–20%). The board will revisit the amendment at a future meeting when it is scheduled for action.