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Spencer-Owen Community Schools board meeting, date not confirmed yet

56 min · 0 public speakers

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What happened

What happened at this meeting

Spencer-Owen school board reviews 2027 budget at workshop 2:14

  • A district staff member presented the budget workshop, which the staff member said comes before a public hearing on the 10th of September and a request for the board to adopt the budgets or budget pieces on the 24th of September. 2:19
  • The staff member said the gap between revenue the district could capture under Senate Bill 1 and what it would have captured without the law was about $615,000 for 2026⁠-⁠27. 9:47
  • The staff member said that if the state does not correct course, the district would face critical decisions in 2028⁠-⁠2029. 21:03
  • A district staff member also reviewed the education, debt service and operation funds, a school bus replacement plan and a list of potential capital projects. 21:03
Item by item (7)
  1. Opening and roll call 0:00
    • Rick Smeltzer led a voluntary prayer. ~0:07
    • The meeting was called to order with 7 members present, and the minutes noted that camera equipment was malfunctioning. 0:36
    • A staff member said there were no additions to the agenda. ~2:08
  2. Budget calendar, enrollment and cash balances 2:14
    • A district staff member said the October count last year was 2,058 students and that the district was using 2,055 as its best guess for the Oct. 1 count this year. 3:53
    • The staff member said the education fund ended 2025 with a $4.5 million cash balance after the district expended $2.2 million from that balance. 7:10
    • The staff member said the district may legally transfer up to 15% of education fund money into operations and transferred that maximum last year. 8:25
  3. Budget assumptions and state law impact 9:47
    • The staff member said K-12 membership was at 2,043, group health insurance premiums rose 4% and the total estimated circuit breaker was $615,000. 9:47
    • Asked whether the district had trimmed costs, the staff member said it is not fully filling the communications position, for savings of over $100,000. 18:24
  4. Fund forecasts and tax rates 21:03
    • The staff member said the education fund showed revenue over 18 months at $32 million, and the district would request $4,008,043 for the debt service levy. 25:05
    • The staff member said the district would ask approval to advertise $7,112,000 for the operations fund with a rate of 0.7607, set high on purpose. 26:47
    • The staff member said the district loses the local option income tax in 2028, about $435,000 a year, and would advertise a maximum levy of about $11,120,000. 30:45
  5. School bus replacement and transportation 38:40
    • The staff member said the plan would request 2 school buses at $180,000 apiece in 2027 if funds are available, but the purchase probably would not happen. 39:00
    • The staff member said contractor contracts end this year and the district has a possibility to eliminate at least one route and probably 2. 41:08
    • The staff member said the district has not locked in a fuel contract because prices are too high. 43:42
  6. Potential capital projects 46:20
    • The staff member listed potential capital projects, including HVAC equipment replacement at $150,000 and a middle school elevator replacement estimated at about $125,000. 46:20
    • The staff member said the road sign at the middle school and high school must be replaced at an estimated $120,000. 49:43
  7. Long-term budget outlook discussion 52:40
    • A speaker summarized that revenue will continue to decline and costs will go up, and the staff member called it a good analogy. 53:08
    • The staff member said that concluded the budget workshop. 55:03

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

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Video: posted by the district as “School Board Meeting - Thursday, August 13, 2026”