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Upper Adams SD previews FY26 budget additions: grants buoy revenues, administrators propose summer program, pay increases and new positions
Summary
District staff reported stronger-than-expected local and state revenues and outlined proposed FY26 additions: continued summer enrichment for K-3 vulnerable students, a translator pay increase, converting a contracted speech-language pathologist to a district employee, additional assistant-coach stipends, security upgrades and crossing-guard funding.
Shelly delivered a fiscal update and a set of proposed FY26 budget items to the Business & Operations committee. She said local interest earnings and pass-through funds were running higher than originally budgeted (interest projected to finish notably above the prior $140k assumption) and that several state funding lines, including an additional Ready to Learn allocation, arrived after the state budget and improved the district's outlook.
Shelly asked whether board members wanted proposed items included in a working FY26 budget for further review; total impact of discussed additions was roughly $135,000 if all items were included. Proposed items included:
- A summer enrichment/remediation program for grades 1' (Title I, learning-support and ESL students) that runs two weeks in July; administrators said transportation (estimated at about $25,000) is the program's largest cost and reported measured retention gains in prior years (roughly 40—5% improvement in the cohorts cited).
- A translator pay increase from $20 to $30 per hour (approximate additional cost $15,000) to better align with regional rates.
- Converting a contracted speech-language pathologist to UASD staff so the role falls under the collective-bargaining agreement; estimated salary/benefit impact roughly $10,000.
- Adding assistant coaches for expanding teams (cross-country, softball, baseball) tied to participation growth (approx. $15,000).
- Security upgrades ($20,000) and funding for two part-time crossing guards to manage high-school campus arrival/exit (worst-case $15,000).
Administrators also flagged rising special-education tuition costs driven by cyber-charter placements (they cited roughly $35,000 per special-education cyber student versus about $14,000 for a typical in-district placement) as a major driver of year-to-date expenditure variation and a line to watch as the FY26 budget is developed.
Board members generally recommended keeping the items in the draft budget for review over the coming months and asked staff to return with additional details as needed.
