Richland 1 budget work session: district warns state formula, charter growth and contract costs squeeze classroom funding

Richland School District 1 officials on Feb. 17 told the board that shifting state funding rules, falling enrollment and rising contract costs are constraining the district's classroom budget.

"As of fiscal year 25, we had $404,000,000 flow through Richland District 1 in general fund," budget director Sierra Bing said, adding that the state provided about $126,000,000 of that total. Bing told commissioners the state's new funding approach pools all districts and charter schools into a single pot; as charter enrollment grows, traditional districts' shares can decline.

The presentation explained how the statecalculates aid to classrooms using weighted pupil units and an imputed tax-paying index, and reiterated the longstanding split the district described: the state funds roughly 75% of the aid-to-classroom program and local sources cover the remaining 25%.

Bing pointed to several pressures: enrollment that fell from about 21,000 in 2022 to about 20,523 in 2025; required fund-balance reserves (she cited an 8.33% reserve figure); rising contract costs for specialized services (she noted a recent speech-services invoice of roughly $128,000 for one month and sharp increases for lawn care and other vendors); and compensation gaps between state funding assumptions and local salary schedules. "We have 1,920 teachers," Bing said, and using state salary assumptions versus higher local compensation levels creates a multi-million-dollar shortfall the district must ask the county to fill.

To balance the current year, Bing said the district used about $7.2 million of one-time fund balance to support step increases and a small number of personnel additions, including a social worker, a student support attendant specialist, two athletic trainers and two multilingual learner specialists. She emphasized there are "no new programs for fiscal year 26" and that administrators want to scale back one-time fund-balance use next year.

Administrators also flagged pending state proposals from the legislative session that could add costs or change local tax bases: potential increases in the teacher minimum pay scale (examples discussed included a proposed $50,500 minimum), expanded paid parental leave and a raised homestead exemption from $50,000 to $100,000 for homeowners aged 60 and older. Bing said these measures, if enacted as proposed, would alter the district's budget calculus.

The presentation closed by noting next steps in the local process: the district will submit millage and funding requests to Richland County in May, may use a continuing resolution if the state budget is delayed past the session's end, and will continue regular outreach with county partners to explain the district's funding profile.

The meeting did not include votes on individual budget line items; administrators asked the board for feedback and to prioritize core district goals that will inform spending decisions.