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Berea Independent board approves tentative 2026'27 budget, keeps step freeze in place
Summary
The Berea Independent School District board approved a tentative $12.48 million budget for 2026'27, maintained a step freeze on the salary schedule and authorized submitting a capital funds request to KDE to transfer roughly $158,000 from capital outlay to the general fund for qualifying expenses.
The Berea Independent School District board on [date not specified] approved a tentative 2026'27 budget that balances next year's revenues and expenditures and kept the district's salary schedule on a step freeze until contingency and deficit targets are met.
Nathan, the district's finance presenter, told the board that April closed with about $1,926,189.51 in the general fund and that year-to-date figures show improvement compared with the prior year. He said the board is tentatively looking at total revenues and expenses of $12,482,137.74 for the coming year and budgeted a 3% contingency, above the state's minimum 2% requirement. "This is basically just what I was saying...the tentative has to balance," Nathan said.
Board members pressed for projections. Nathan estimated the year-end deficit could be roughly negative $650,000 if current trends hold; he noted the district ended a prior June with a deficit above $1.3 million and said continuing expense controls are narrowing the gap. "I'm still very hopeful that we'll have cut our deficit in half by the end of the year," Nathan said.
The board voted to keep the salary schedule frozen, following guidance from KDE that step increases must remain paused until the district not only balances the budget but also rebuilds contingency. The superintendent summarized KDE's position: the step freeze stays in place until both conditions are met.
The board also approved a separate motion to ask KDE permission to transfer approximately $158,000 in qualifying capital outlay expenditures into the general fund to cover items such as property insurance, roof repairs and a modest used bus purchase. Nathan cautioned that KDE will vet the request and that some items may not be approved.
The tentative budget approval is procedural: the district will continue refining line items and will set tax rates later in the summer before adopting a working budget. The superintendent said the administration plans to publish post'reconciliation materials after the June close-out so the community can see the path to exiting crisis status.
Next steps: the board will finalize the working budget in September after enrollment and tax-rate decisions are finalized.
