Central SD 13J budget committee warns of tight 2026–27 budget as enrollment falls and special-education costs climb

The Central School District 13J budget committee heard a detailed budget message from Superintendent Jennifer Kavista and the district’s finance director on fiscal pressures heading into the 2026–27 school year. Kavista said enrollment stood at 2,881 as of April 24, a decline steeper than statewide trends, and that the district’s portion of the state school fund is shrinking as enrollment falls.

Kavista read the district’s budget message and framed enrollment as the primary driver of funding, noting that the state school fund provides roughly $11,000 per student as a base amount and that losing 100 students can reduce the general fund by approximately $1.1 million. She said the most recent state estimate for Central’s 2026–27 school-year allocation showed a 1.37% increase — a figure the district interprets as effectively flat when set against rising costs.

Finance director (identified in the meeting as Cease) reviewed the district’s fund structure, explaining that most operating expenses are managed in the general fund while federal and state grants are restricted into special-revenue funds. Staff highlighted one persistent pressure: students with very high support costs. The district pays the first $30,000 of an individual student’s high-cost disability expense out of the general fund; reimbursement above that threshold has declined and in recent years has been as low as about 25¢ on the dollar, forcing the district to cover a growing share of special-education costs.

Committee members asked how reimbursements are calculated; staff said the high-cost disability adjustment is based on projected costs and later reconciled by the state, producing both positive and negative adjustments in different years. Staff pointed to a recent net adjustment that reduced the district’s May state payment by $156,100.

To limit near-term exposure the district has enacted a hiring freeze (excluding legally required positions), is monitoring enrollment biweekly and is tracking cash-on-hand closely. Finance staff said the district currently holds contingency/reserve funds roughly equal to 7% of operating budget under board policy but would prefer to return to a 10–12% target to provide a larger cushion for timing shocks and revenue changes.

The finance director previewed debt-service and levy timing: refunding bonds from earlier years will be paid off in the 2026–27 cycle, and deferred portions of later projects begin to increase obligations around 2030. Staff also noted the mechanics of cash flow — most property tax revenue arrives in November and state school fund payments fall July through May — which creates large month-to-month swings and heightens the importance of contingency balances.

Kavista and staff emphasized the district’s priorities despite tightening resources — sustaining mental-health supports and nursing, continuing curriculum updates and maintaining programs for emergent bilinguals and career–technical pathways — and said they will work with bargaining teams on contract negotiations that could affect cost pressure. The district plans to present a full proposed budget at the committee’s next meeting and review alternatives depending on final state revenue forecasts.

The committee set follow-ups and dates: the next budget-committee meetings are scheduled for May 18 and June 1, with a public hearing and board adoption process to follow in June. The chair recessed the meeting until May 18.

This article is based solely on remarks presented and questions asked at the Central School District 13J budget committee meeting; it does not assume outcomes of bargaining or state-level decisions not stated at the meeting.