Low SSA increase means taxpayers make up difference

After months of work to get the fiscal year 2026 school district budget into a manageable position, the budget has been approved by the Creston.

The FY26 budget includes a levy of $11.76, a decrease in $1.95 from last year. Included in this is the 2% increase in State Supplemental Aid, which has been approved by the Iowa House and Senate, but not yet signed by Governor Kim Reynolds.

Due to decreasing enrollment numbers, the 2% SSA increase doesn’t bring enough money to district to be functional. In order to generate enough revenue for the next year, the board also approved a budget guarantee. This guarantee involves the levying of more property tax. Superintendent Deron Stender said this added amount was already included in the levy amount approved.

“Counting us, 157 school districts in the state of Iowa are going to be on budget guarantee, which means we go back to our taxpayers and tax them for the difference in the gap,” Stender said. “That’s going to be something that I think is a conversation they’re going to have in next year’s legislative session to probably fix some of that.”

With 302 school districts in Iowa in the 2022-23 academic year, more than half of Iowa school districts do not receive enough money from the state to make ends meet.

In other school board news…

RISE Online Academy was approved as the district’s online schooling platform. This will only be available to students in the district and on request. The academy is provided by Edmentum, the same organization approved for virtual alternative school.

CCSD’s 2025-26 school calendar has been approved. Notable dates include the first day of school on Aug. 25, spring break from March 16-20, graduation on May 17 and final day of school on May 29.

The 2024-25 school calendar has been revised due to the small amount of school closures for weather. The board waived 8.5 days from the calendar originally scheduled for make-up days, along with one licensed staff contract day. The last day of the school year is May 30.

The outdoor football stadium sound system will receive improvements from KCAV, an audio-visual equipment company. The total price is expected to be just under $50k, with the cost split 50-50 between the school district and the Creston Booster Club.

The school board approved the following list of April 2025 resignations, contracts and retirements:

Resignations: Chris Tibbals, 9th grade head softball coach; Jon Thomson, HS football assistant coach; Tanner Web, HS football assistant 9/10; Kristen Bradley, teacher (end of 24-25 school year); Madison Gravlin, teacher (end of 24-25 school year); Courtney Kile, teacher (end of 24-25 school year); Gabriella Cannon, para.

Contracts: Palmer Scott, teacher (25-26 school year); Arianna Gomez, teacher (25-26 school year); Braelyn Baker, teacher (25-26 school year); Isabelle Myers, teacher (25-26 school year); Zoe Meyer, teacher (25-26 school year).

Retirements: Wendy Hartsock, teacher (end of 24-25 school year).