2026-2027 Budget Reductions

Sheridan Community,

Click this link to review a document that provides a picture of our budget situation. As you may have heard, the District is facing a drop in student enrollment and state funding not keeping up with the rising cost of district operations.

The proposed 26-27 budget currently has an ending fund balance of $600K. It is critical to district operations that the ending fund balance be at least $1 million, to carry us into the 27-28 school year.

Still to be determined – we have negotiations with licensed staff (their full contract), negotiations with classified staff (insurance only), unknown future insurance rates, and PERS increases. Some of our contracts for next year are still unknown (County mental health counseling, for example), along with some of the 26-27 grant amounts.

The state school fund, which is our general fund, is a complicated system. If you would like to learn more about district fiscal management, please attend the board work session on May 6, 6:00 – 7:00, at the district office. Karen Daniels, Business Manager, and I will provide the Board and attending budget committee members information about the state school fund formulas and why the ending fund balance is so important. As with all board meetings and work sessions, this is open to the public.

I certainly wish we were in a different financial position. Please review the document and contact me with any questions.

Thanks,