Sheridan County SD #3 reports January spending, $50,000 transfer to food service

Board members at Sheridan County School District #3 reviewed January financials and discussed budget pressures and transfers during their regular meeting.

Speaker 5 presented the monthly report, saying the district’s January expenditures in the general fund totaled $274,630 and that instructional expenses were $133,981.79 for the month. He reported a $50,000 transfer into the food service program and noted the district had expended about $1.7 million year-to-date in operating funds. "So as of now, for the fiscal year of '26, as of the January, we spent, a little over $1,700,000," Speaker 5 said.

The board reviewed fund-by-fund balances: instructional support had roughly 73.19% of its monthly allocation remaining, transportation had about 34.53% remaining, and the lunch fund showed $14,452.62 in monthly expenditures with 43.78% of that budget remaining. Capital construction saw a large monthly expense—$48,037—related to an air project, leaving about 13.79% of that fund available.

Speaker 5 summarized total expenditures across all district funds as $2,325,368.09 year-to-date and explained that some transfers (for example, food service and rental reserves) are customary at year-end to ensure programs are fully funded or to cover anticipated use.

Speaker 1 asked where library money would come from; Speaker 5 said that library expenditures will ultimately come from the general fund and related allocations and that transfers and depreciation reserves are used if line items were not budgeted. The board discussed using the depreciation reserve and the possibility of revising the budget later in the fiscal year.

The district did not take a formal vote on the items during the presentation; the session moved on to policy and program updates.

Next steps: the board may consider budget revisions later in the year if needs change and will continue monitoring transfers and capital project spending.