District outlines staffing additions and a projected $3.7–4.0M starting deficit for 2026–27
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Summary
Administrators presented staffing proposals—including additional special‑education staff, deans of students, nurses, paraprofessionals and an athletic coordinator—while Mrs. Robbins said preliminary revenue assumptions leave a multi‑million dollar gap before one‑time fund balance uses.
Administrators presented a set of proposed staff additions for the 2026–27 budget and warned the district is starting from a significant deficit under current assumptions.
Mrs. Robbins described preliminary revenue assumptions that incorporate the Governor's proposed increases for basic education and special education and show roughly $3.6 million in added revenues under a 0% tax scenario, while projected expenditures could rise by about $7.8 million. "So our expenses are outpacing revenues by about $4,200,000," Mrs. Robbins said. She also modeled that if the district used approximately $1,000,000 in non‑recurring fund balance and factored assessment growth, the starting deficit would be closer to $3.7 million.
Administrators outlined proposed positions that total about $1 million in recurring new staff costs: additions include increased occupational therapy and speech‑language staff, a learning support teacher for Nittrower, three academic/behavior intervention specialists (Dean of Students roles), an additional certified high‑school nurse, a special‑education teacher for autism/multiple disabilities, an athletic coordinator, expansion of family consumer science to full time, and several paraprofessional and testing administration roles.
Dr. Schafer said the special education hires aim to reduce caseloads that had reached or approached mandated maximums. She provided caseload figures and said speech‑language pathologists would increase from 7.5 to 8 full‑time positions and occupational‑therapy staffing would rise to three full‑time therapists in order to make time for other responsibilities such as Medicaid billing.
Board members asked detailed questions about how these positions are prioritized, how teacher association input is collected and how the district plans to recruit and promote from within. Mrs. Robbins said the district has held 17 budget meetings to date and that some positions are being paid from saved fund balance for one‑time needs (technology, safety and curriculum) while other increases are recurring.
Board members and administrators emphasized that no tax rate decisions were being made that night and that final staffing and tax actions would come later in the budget cycle.
Next steps include posting positions (targeting hiring work to start around March 3), continued budget work, and returning to the board with refined numbers for formal approval.
