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Superintendent presents FY 2526 budget request, highlights continuation needs and expansion items
Summary
Superintendent Scott presented a FY 2526 recommended budget that emphasizes a 3% salary estimate, rising benefit costs and a projected 93‑student decline in ADM; the presentation included an expansion request for classified supplement increases, a curriculum sustainability fund, and reinstating a master's‑level pay differential.
Superintendent Scott presented the district's recommended local operating budget for fiscal year 2526 during the March 6 meeting, calling the budget "a moral document" and outlining continuation needs and an aspirational expansion request.
Scott said continuation needs center on a 3% estimated salary increase, rising retirement and benefits costs, and inflationary adjustments for non‑personnel lines. "We have a 3% estimated salary increase; that includes a little under $1,200,000 for base salaries and an additional $400,000 for local supplements," he told the board, and added that benefit increases would add roughly $1.7 million for matching Social Security and higher retirement and health costs.
The superintendent reported a corrected enrollment projection showing a decline of 93 students for the coming year, affecting average daily membership forecasts.
On the expansion side, the superintendent recommended three priorities: increasing classified supplements by 2% across the board (estimated $725,000), establishing an instructional resource sustainability fund to manage recurring curriculum costs (initial estimate $1.3 million), and reinstating a master's‑level pay differential (administration estimated $2.35 million for early implementation). Scott said the district's total continuation need is roughly $3.25 million and the expansion request would add roughly $4.4 million, for a combined aspiration of about $7.6 million beyond baseline.
Board members asked clarifying questions about how state mandates and retirement rate changes interact with local funding and discussed tradeoffs among priorities (e.g., reinstating beginning‑teacher supplements, restoring instructional support positions, or funding master's pay). Scott said staff would return with detailed cost scenarios for priorities the board wants to pursue.
Next steps: the administration will hold a financial/facilities committee meeting and a work session to refine the request before presenting a recommended budget for ratification and carrying it to the county commission in late April.
