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North Marion SD 15 warns of roughly $2.8 million shortfall; board previews possible cuts
Summary
District finance staff told the board that under the governor's proposed budget the district faces about a $2.8 million gap for 2025'026, driven by PERS increases and a 427-student enrollment decline; no decisions were made and staff scheduled follow-up meetings and a work session.
Linda presented the district's general fund summary as of Dec. 31 and told the board the district faces an estimated $2.8 million shortfall for the 2025'026 biennium under the governor's proposed budget.
Linda said tax revenue is running slightly higher than expected but that declining enrollment and rising retirement (PERS) costs make the budget unsustainable without cuts or added state funding. "We're basically 2,800,000 short for next year's budget," she said, and walked the board through interactive spreadsheets showing scenarios that would still leave gaps even after proposed reductions.
The presentation quantified enrollment decline as 427 students from the district's October counts and explained how per-student funding changes affect the district: "If we get a 100,000,000 more [statewide], it means a $138,000 increase to North Marion," Linda said, illustrating the scale gap between state-level budget moves and local impact.
Board members discussed contingency levels, with one member noting the district reduced contingency from about 4.5% to 3.5% in planning and another asking how contingency funds are derived. Linda said contingency is a general-fund amount to cover unknowns and that districts commonly hold between 5% and 10% depending on philosophy.
The presenters emphasized that no formal decisions had been made: the budget scenarios were for information and planning. The board set a schedule of next steps including meetings with bargaining units, school visits to share the information with staff, and a work session in two weeks to collect and answer board questions. Staff promised to supply the presentation materials to board members and to continue refining figures as state budget and legislative details emerge.
What happens next: staff will meet with association representatives, hold scheduled school visits and discuss reduction scenarios at a work session; the board did not take formal action on cuts at this meeting.
