Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District budget updated: ISD special-ed formula change reduces projected loss; community education shows enrollment recovery
Summary
Director Lent reported the ISD’s recalculation cut the district’s Phase 2 special-education funding shortfall from an estimated $700,000 to about $200,000 for next year; the community-education/child-care program moved from a prior $383,000 loss to a $57,000 positive position for 2025–26. Trustees discussed use-of-fund estimates and the timing for adopting the 2026–27 budget.
District finance staff gave trustees updated budget information that changed several assumptions used in the board’s preliminary outlook for 2026–27.
Director Lent said Phase 2 of the intermediate-school-district (ISD) special-education funding formula had been recalculated after the ISD adjusted a data component related to least-restrictive-environment coding. That change reduced Okemos’ previously projected $700,000 loss to approximately a $200,000 loss for next year. Lent said the recalculation redistributed a fixed pot of money among districts and that Okemos’ position improved while other districts could see negative impacts.
Lent also reported that the district’s community-education/Okemos Kids Club program, which earlier in the year showed a projected $383,000 loss, is now showing a positive $57,000 position for the 2025–26 year due to tuition adjustments and sustained enrollment. She noted some subprograms (younger classrooms) are under-enrolled and staffing constraints remain; she also discussed the expiration of a 31a safety-and-security grant causing roughly a $233,000 impact next year and placed placeholders in the 2026–27 budget for recently negotiated step increases for employee groups pending final agreements.
Other items: temporary transportation costs for students displaced by the Cornell closure are under review; Director Carpinsky is surveying families to determine routing requirements that could affect next year’s transportation budget. Lent recommended continued monitoring and said the board will likely revisit budget assumptions at the next meeting with a target to adopt the 2026–27 budget before the end of June.
Next steps: administration will provide more detailed comparisons and the transportation routing outcome before the budget adoption timeline; trustees indicated they want a work session before final adoption.
