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Wabash school officials report $800,000 operations cut, may tap rainy‑day funds
Summary
District staff told the Wabash City School Board that the operations budget was cut by roughly $800,000 in the 2025 budget order, that Education and debt‑service funds were fully funded, and that the district plans to use rainy‑day funds and reallocate reserves if needed to avoid midyear disruptions.
Wabash City Schools officials told the school board on Feb. 3 that a roughly $800,000 reduction to the district’s operations budget in the 2025 budget order will require tapping reserves and possibly transferring Education (Ed) Fund dollars to the rainy‑day account.
At the meeting, a staff member presenting the district’s key fund balances reviewed 2023 and 2024 charts showing the Ed Fund (orange), operations (gray) and rainy‑day (black). The presenter said the district received its 2025 budget order in December and that “Ed Fund was fully funded for what we requested, and debt service and rainy day was also fully funded,” but that “our operations budget was cut by about $800,000.”
The presenter said the district has reworked appropriations to manage the loss and expects to dip into rainy‑day funds while considering moving some Ed Fund dollars later in the year to cover any remaining shortfall. “We are going to have to dip into some of our rainy day funds,” the presenter said. Barring surprise expenses, the presenter added, the operations fund could be out of the negative by the end of the calendar year.
Board members asked about timing for state education funding; the presenter said the state legislative session typically finishes in March or April and that final state allocations should be known then. The presenter cautioned that state action “still could impact us this year” and could be more consequential next year depending on the legislature’s outcome.
Why it matters: the operations fund covers day‑to‑day district functions; a sustained deficit can force spending cuts, hiring freezes or transfers from restricted funds. The board did not adopt additional cuts at the Feb. 3 meeting but discussed monitoring the situation as state budget decisions become final.
The board will reconvene Feb. 17; staff said they will continue revising appropriations and assessing how much, if any, of the district’s reserves must be used.
