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Superintendent previews state budget, flags teacher-pay wording and potential calendar change
Summary
The superintendent told the board the early state budget proposal includes a 5.8% increase to education and a $2,000 teacher-pay item tied to state minimum-salary language; staff warned the wording could alter how raises apply and flagged pending bills that may add instructional days and limit screen time.
During the superintendent report, the district’s superintendent briefed the board on an early version of the state budget and pending legislation that could affect local planning. "There is a 5.8% increase to education in the budget, which is a big win," the superintendent said, adding staff estimates that the increase translates to roughly $232 million at the state level.
The superintendent cautioned that a $2,000 teacher-pay line in the proposal is written as an adjustment to the state minimum salary, and that the district must verify language before determining local impact. "We have to get the terminology out and dig in to see what it looks like for Poteau," the superintendent said, noting previous examples where state-directed pay pieces did not automatically produce local pay increases for all staff categories.
The report also covered other budget components that staff expect to be included or restored, such as a school-security fund (identified in the presentation at roughly $92,000) and allocations for reading and math coaches. The superintendent warned that some items labeled as new money may be structured as line-item changes with triggers that affect future years' funding.
Board members were also briefed on several pieces of pending legislation that the superintendent said staff are monitoring. That included SJR39 (an ongoing property-tax/homestead-cap discussion that staff said would reduce long-term revenue growth if enacted) and House Bill 3153, which the superintendent said would add seven minimum instructional days beginning in FY28. The superintendent said the district expects additional bills related to screen-time limitations in classrooms and would monitor how those rules are worded.
The superintendent emphasized that many details remain to be finalized and that district staff will return with formal recommendations once statutory language and final appropriations are published.
No board vote was taken on the state budget items; the report was informational.
