Caldwell trustees adopt 2025–26 budget, plan to use fund balance to cover salary increases

The Caldwell School District Board of Trustees adopted the district’s 2025–26 budget on June 16, 2025, approving a spending plan that draws on the district’s fund balance to cover increased personnel costs driven by new state career-ladder pay minimums.

Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Sanderson told trustees the district’s projected enrollment for 2025–26 is 5,049 — down by about 90 students — and that average daily attendance used for state revenue calculations stands at roughly 89.9 percent. “Our projected enrollment is 5,049,” Sanderson said during the hearing, and she warned that a state-driven career-ladder adjustment will raise certified staff costs by approximately $2,000,000 for the coming year.

With state funding largely flat, Sanderson said the district would rely in part on fund balance to cover the shortfall while pursuing strategies to stabilize attendance and enrollment. She said the district intends to maintain a multi-month operating reserve and will use reserves this year with a plan to evaluate enrollment and staffing through the 2025–26 school year. “We will request that we use some of our fund balance for this year,” she said, adding the district prefers to address staffing changes through attrition rather than immediate layoffs.

Sanderson also outlined benefit changes included in the budget: an anticipated 7.1 percent increase in medical premiums and a recommended increase in the employee contribution from $25 to about $79 per month pretax, while keeping the district’s deductible level and offering vision insurance as an optional, employee-paid benefit. The budget includes a modest planned increase for classified and administrative staff (about 2 percent) and step movement where eligible.

Trustees opened and closed the statutorily required public hearing before moving to adopt the budget by voice vote. The motion to adopt followed the hearing and passed without a recorded roll-call tally; administration will finalize the documents and submit the budget to the state by the statutory deadline.

Why it matters: The budget reconciles a large, one-time increase in personnel costs tied to state policy with flat state revenue and declining enrollment. Using reserves can keep services intact short-term but may require structural adjustments if enrollment and support units do not rebound.

The board did not specify program cuts at the meeting; trustees and staff said they will monitor fall enrollment and attendance and return to the board with staffing recommendations if changes prove necessary. The adopted budget will be filed with the state department of education as required.