Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
White Bear Lake board approves $159M preliminary budget after contentious amendment fails
Summary
After a lengthy debate and a failed proposal to cut $2 million, the White Bear Lake Area School Board approved its FY 2026-27 preliminary budget, citing a target 8% unassigned fund balance and projected revenue increases driven largely by special education and English learner funding.
The White Bear Lake Area School Board voted 6-1 to approve the district's preliminary Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget, after Member Daniel Skaar failed to win support for a $2 million spending reduction he said would erase a prior-year shortfall.
Finance staff presented a budget that totals about $159 million for general fund operations and projects an ending unassigned fund balance of $12,185,000 (roughly 8% of expenditures). Assistant finance director Andi Johnson told the board the preliminary budget reflects about $10 million in additional revenue compared with the prior year, driven in part by increased special education funding and a new English learner allocation estimated at about $700,000.
Skaar, who voted against final approval, argued the district should cut another $2 million to offset what he described as a lingering $4.6 million deficit from the prior year and to protect reserves. "That's not a big ask," Skaar said, framing the proposed change as a 1.3% reduction to total expenditures and a way to restore fund balance parity. His motion to amend the budget failed for lack of a second.
Other board members and staff pushed back that late, across-the-board reductions risk student-facing services and that the administration had already proposed $1,094,000 in reductions (noting transportation adjustments and staffing changes such as a 3.0 FTE administrative reduction and 2.0 FTE reductions at the Area Learning Center tied to enrollment). Jessica Ellison and other board members commended staff for detailed work on categorical revenue and cautioned that budget drivers are not tied only to enrollment.
Superintendent Dr. Kazmierczak and finance staff emphasized the budget's assumptions: state aid remains the largest revenue source, salaries and benefits account for about 80% of spending, and the district is projecting flat fund balances beyond the upcoming year. After debate, the board approved the budget 6-1; Skaar was the lone dissenting vote.
What happens next: The preliminary budget now proceeds through the district's usual adoption process and will be refined as final figures and levy calculations are confirmed.
