Plymouth‑Canton officials outline multi‑year budget gap and proposed staff reductions

At the May 26 Plymouth‑Canton Community Schools Board of Education meeting, Chief Finance and Operations Officer Jill Minnick presented the district's FY2026–27 budget assumptions and warned of a multi‑year structural shortfall requiring significant reductions.

Minnick said the district is working with an assumption of a $10,300 per‑pupil foundation allowance and a projected enrollment decline of about 75 full‑time‑equivalent students; together those assumptions produce a net projected increase in state aid that is substantially offset by staffing and cost pressures. "It has led to 15 classroom teaching positions to align staffing with K‑12 enrollment," Minnick told the board, enumerating proposed reductions that also include 20.5 non‑instructional paraprofessional FTE, several central‑office non‑affiliated positions and a net of five nurse FTEs recommended for elimination in the proposed plan.

Minnick reviewed other drivers: utility cost increases, employer retirement rate changes and ongoing contract obligations. She also summarized the district's fund‑balance history, noting audited balances of roughly $42 million in FY22‑23 and $34.8 million at the end of FY25‑26, and said maintaining best‑practice fund balance levels will require a mix of reductions and investments.

Superintendent Monica Merritt and board members took multiple questions from colleagues and the public about how reductions would be implemented and how critical services would be maintained. Merritt described formulas used to determine teacher staffing by grade band (for example, she cited a kindergarten–second‑grade class target of 26, a third‑grade target of 29 and high‑school classes at about 31) and said the district will use attrition and reassignment to minimize layoffs where possible. "When we look at a 1 media specialist per building, that is a specials class…we've had a priority to keep that media center," Merritt said, describing steps to preserve full‑time media specialists while changing paraprofessional configurations.

Parents and community members who spoke during citizens comments urged the board to reconsider cuts that would reduce library paraprofessionals, nurses and other student supports. "My current kindergartner has 27 students in her class. It's just too many," said parent Jessica Hoyt, describing safety and instructional concerns at Workman Elementary.

Minnick told the board the timeline for budget action includes a public hearing and first reading on June 9 and budget adoption on June 23; by law the district must adopt a budget by June 30. Board members asked administration for follow‑up analyses, including historical comparisons of administrative versus classroom staffing reductions over the past three years and more detailed impact models for proposed changes.

The board did not adopt a final budget at the meeting; administration framed the proposals as recommended reductions and next steps in a process that will be refined before the required June adoption vote.