School board finalizes budget proposal

A comprehensive overview of the 2025-26 budget was the topic of discussion Monday for the Creston Community School District school board.

Topics included an analysis of the financial health of the district, different budget factors, capital projects for the next fiscal year and an overview of enrollment and state aid. The budget will require two public hearings before being certified by the county auditor.

CCSD’s Business Manager Billie Jo Greene went over what items affect the district’s financial health, with unspent budget authority being the most important. This is the total amount the district can legally spend. From the 2013-14 school year to the 2023-24 school year, the amount left unspent more than tripled, going from $2.6 million to $9.9 million unspent. The board did not specify what the money could be used for.

While a large amount of unused money in the district’s total budget may seem confusing considering the recent reduction of four positions, not all district money can be spent the same way.

A recent topic of conversation around Iowa surrounds supplemental state aid, or SSA. This provides a specific amount of money for the school district based on the amount of certified students. For the 2024-25 school year, the amount per student was $7,826. SSA money can only be spent on student programs such as teacher salaries, professional development and transportation.

Iowa’s government has not come to a consensus on how much SSA will increase for the following school year. The Senate’s proposal of a 2% increase in SSA funding would result in an extra $157 per student while the House’s proposal of a 2.25% increase would result in an extra $176 per student.

While the increase in state aid helps compensate for increased national prices, it’s not enough to compensate for the drop in enrollment. The school district saw a drop in certified enrollment of 38.89 students for the 2024-25 school year, which resulted in a decrease of more than $300,000 in state aid. With state aid directly impacting the salary of teachers, the district approved a reduction in force of four positions at their last regular board meeting.

The four position reductions are not the only changes the district will be implementing. In order to only reduce four positions, many other positions in the district have been moved around through involuntary transfers. Some of this is due to the ending of the Teacher Leadership program and a reduction of Title and TAG staff staff down by one position each.

“They’ll be involuntary transferred, but still have a job. Based on licensures, we’re placing people where they fit,” CCSD Superintendent Deron Stender said. “I think we’ve got the right people in the right place to do the right thing and be very successful next year, despite looking differently.”

However, the school expected more resignations and retirements this year from the district’s custodial staff. Since there were not as many as originally anticipated, the district will do a reduction in force for these employees as well. A specific amount of reductions was not specified.

Other funding sources, such as levies and tax revenue bonds, cannot be used for teaching salaries. The money the school is spending on the ECC addition is coming from tax revenue bonds.

While the money goes to different funds, the SSA will impact the 2025-26 tax rate. If the SSA increase is 2%, the tax rate will decrease by $1.95, while if the SSA increase is 2.25%, it will decrease by $2. This would bring the 2025-26 tax rate to $11.76 per $1,000 in valuation, or a tax rate of $11.715 per $1,000.

Before being approved, certified and sent to the state, the two public hearings will occur at 5:30 p.m. March 24 and April 21 during the regular school board meetings.