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Board authorizes 2023–24 year-end adjustments and adopts 2024–25 budget amid state funding concerns
Summary
The board authorized final 2023–24 budget adjustments — projecting roughly a 20% fund balance and a 2% transfer to capital projects — and approved the opening adoption of the 2024–25 fiscal year budget. Superintendent Dr. Schultz said the state budget leaves a $0 per-pupil foundation increase and reallocates prepayments that reduce net K–12 funding.
The Bedford Public Schools Board of Education authorized final 2023–24 year-end budget adjustments and approved the opening adoption of the 2024–25 fiscal year budget during the meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Schultz told trustees the district expects to finish the year with about a 20% fund balance and proposed transferring 2% of fund balance into capital projects for future large projects. Trustees voted to authorize the recommended year-end adjustments.
Dr. Schultz then presented the 2024–25 budget adoption. He described district leadership and associations’ efforts to work with the legislature and said he was “very disappointed in the final outcome of the budget,” noting the state passed a budget that, he said, results in a $0 increase to the per-pupil foundation. He also said the state prepaid the district’s retiree-health-care obligation, which removed roughly $680,000,000 from anticipated K–12 funding and reduced categorical allocations. “Anything that comes out of K–12 … is just history,” he said, arguing that once funds are pulled they are not typically restored.
Dr. Schultz said categorical reductions — including funds for safety and mental health programs — substantially reduce the net per-pupil gain that the state headline numbers suggest. Trustees discussed the district’s conservative budgeting approach and noted they would continue to advocate for additional state support.
The board moved to authorize the 2024–25 budget adoption as recommended and approved it by roll call. The superintendent and trustees framed the approval as a cautious plan meant to preserve programs and staffing under uncertain state funding.
Next steps: administration will implement the adopted budget, continue legislative advocacy, and provide the board regular updates on state-level developments and any necessary supplemental budgets.
