Preliminary 2026 budget presented as enrollment drops; staff project multi-year declines

The district's business administrator, introduced as Mr. Tim Loffel, and finance staff presented the preliminary 2026 budget and warned the board about multi-year enrollment pressures. Staff said general fund revenue is projected at roughly $808 million (state $565 million; local $205.6 million; federal $37.7 million) against planned expenses of about $801 million, allowing the district to preserve its economic stabilization fund and raise the unassigned fund balance to about $6.9 million.

Teacher pay and services: Staff said that with board-approved steps and cost-of-living adjustments the district will raise the beginning teacher salary to $64,686 next year and that roughly 90% of general fund spending goes directly to student services.

Capital and operations: The capital program includes completion of Stillwater Elementary and increased large-project and computer-refresh budgets; the district said it has about $644 million in outstanding bonds (about 20% of the legal debt capacity) and that capital funding increased after the most recent truth-in-taxation action.

Enrollment outlook: Finance staff highlighted a demographic concern: birth-cohort comparisons show a steep fall for kindergarten entrants (example shown in the presentation: 4,767 births vs. 3,581 kindergarten enrollments this year), staff said the district lost about 2,100 students last year and projects a loss of roughly 1,600–1,800 students next year with impacts continuing for several years.

Next steps: Staff will post the full budget on the district website, publish public notices on June 1 and hold a public budget hearing at 6:00 p.m. on June 16; they said they do not anticipate a truth-in-taxation hearing and expect to remain within the certified tax rate.