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Superintendent warns Granite Falls on watch list as board weighs staff reductions
Summary
Superintendent Middleton told the board Granite Falls is being monitored for low fund balance and discussed suspending policy 6022 to avoid 'binding condition'; the board approved time-sensitive administrative staff reductions and asked for policy revisions and follow-up analysis.
Superintendent Doctor Middleton told the Granite Falls School District board that the district remains on a state watch list for fiscal distress and urged caution in spending as enrollment and special-education costs rise. "Granite Falls has been and continues to be on a watch list. And right now, I think we're at number 28," Middleton said during the superintendent’s report.
Middleton outlined an increasing gap between funding and expenditures driven by special-education costs, transportation inflation and higher insurance premiums. She said the district’s beginning fund balance had been planned at 10% but current projections show it ending the fiscal year near 3% and that legal counsel advises targeting a 5% fund balance as a prudent minimum.
To manage the shortfall, Middleton proposed a time-sensitive reduction in administrative staff and asked the board to suspend board policy 6022 for the 2023–24 fiscal year while district leaders develop a revised policy and a longer-term plan. Board members pressed for alternatives to a full suspension: one director recommended modifying policy dates and running changes through a first and second reading rather than an immediate suspension.
Board members repeatedly emphasized minimizing impacts in classrooms and asked administrators for additional data about special-education identification, preschool funding, and the drivers of a recent increase in preschool and special-education counts. The board approved a reduction in force affecting three assistant-principal positions after discussion and a voice vote. The superintendent said cabinet-level reassignments and future staffing plans will be presented at a later date.
Next steps: district staff will prepare the proposed policy revision for first reading and supply supplemental data on special-education counts and projected fund-balance trajectories before the summer retreat.
