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Board hears enrollment dip and budget forecast that could push fund balance below policy target
Summary
Finance staff told the Crosby-Ironton School Board that enrollment and compensatory revenue changes could reduce projected unreserved fund balance to about 6%, just under the board's 7'12% target; the district will keep refining forecasts as the 2026'27 budget proceeds.
The Crosby-Ironton School Board heard updated enrollment and budget projections that show a modest drop in pupil units and a revenue outlook that could leave the district's unreserved general-fund balance slightly below the board's 7'12% target.
At the meeting, the district's finance presenter (identified in discussion as Mr. Tolleson) walked the board through enrollment scenarios and their revenue implications for the 2026'27 preliminary budget. He told the board that the projection model moves the district from 1,007 pupil units in the current budget basis to as low as 1,001 in a near-term estimate and highlighted an enrollment-driven revenue decline of about $59,000 tied to declining pupil units.
Why it matters: the district's unreserved fund balance was projected at $1.726 million (13.3%) for the recently closed year but, under current assumptions about enrollment and compensatory revenue changes, the model shows the unreserved balance declining to roughly $696,081 (about 6%), below the board's 7% minimum.
Tolleson summarized the key revenue and expenditure drivers: an operating-referendum allowance added roughly $1.53 million tied to the 21 pupil units used for referendum calculations, a potential special-education revenue increase of about $75,000 remains contingent on state action, and a change in the state's basic-skills/compensatory calculation is estimated to reduce compensatory revenue by about $201,000 in the projection. "That loss of $201,000 in compensatory revenue changes that projection," Tolleson said.
He also noted initial expenditure adjustments on the staffing side (including planning for possible retirements and replacements) and other normal inflationary updates; combined, the revenue and expenditure changes move the projected unreserved fund balance to approximately 6% in the model. "So 6%," Tolleson told the board when discussing the rounded result.
Board reaction and next steps: members asked clarifying questions about the assumptions used to advance enrollment (midyear decline factors, kindergarten counts and homeschool reporting) and about whether program costs now funded with compensatory revenue might need to move back into the unreserved fund if state reimbursements fall short. The board agreed to continue refining the projection and to treat the 7% fund-balance threshold as a budgeting priority as they prepare the revised and preliminary budgets.
The presenter said the enrollment projection will be updated at least once more and that staffing, program and negotiation assumptions still need refinement before final adoption. The board did not take immediate formal action beyond accepting the presentation and scheduling further budget work and discussion.
