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Finance staff says budget cuts and transfers restore district's 12% unassigned fund balance
Summary
District finance staff reported a series of reductions and reclassifications — including removing a $250,000 contingency, limiting contracted transportation, moving a parking-lot expense and trimming vacant special-education placeholders — that together produce an estimated 12.15% unassigned fund balance in the 2026-27 working budget.
Don, a district finance staff member, presented a working-budget update the board requested. He said the district is prioritizing a 12% unassigned fund balance as a buffer against state revenue volatility and described line-item adjustments made since the adopted budget.
"The contingency that was proposed with the budget assumptions in January of 250,000 was eliminated," Don said, and he added that $350,000 was reduced by electing not to contract transportation services this year. Don explained that parking-lot and operating-capital line items were reclassified and that some high-school equipment spending ($75,000) was moved to operating capital.
Don also said placeholders for special-education positions that have not been filled were reduced and other overhead and salary-line savings were realized; combining these adjustments produced an estimated 12.15% fund balance. He cautioned that auditors are conducting preliminary work in the district and that audit results remain a wild card in final calculations.
Board members raised concerns about not contracting transportation, citing long-term institutional knowledge and possible cost trade-offs if the in-house model fails to keep up with route overages. Don and the chair said contracting remains an option for later in the year if routing changes do not meet targets.
The board took no formal action on the working budget during this special meeting; the presentation was informational and staff will continue to monitor routing, audit outcomes and staffing fill rates.
