3 days ago
State budget questions have impact on APS budget process
Jun. 10—Editor's Note: This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
The Minnesota State Legislature was able to get its budget wrapped up during a furious one-day special session, but the delay in the lead-up already had uncertain repercussions on the process of Austin Public Schools budget.
Slated to present a plan Monday night during the Austin Public School Board's meeting, Executive Director of Finance and Operations Todd Lechtenberg informed the board that budget finalization would come later because there was so much uncertainty at the state level and its budget.
"We just have too many moving parts," Lechtenberg told the board, after going through some of the things known and unknown.
The Legislature's K-12 education bill would increase funding for Minnesota schools by $4.2 million in the 2026-27 biennium, however, the bill calls for $420 million in general education funding cuts in the following biennium.
While there will be some work to dig through and see what the budget ultimately consists of and its effects on APS, some of the things already in the budget included reductions in three different areas.
Compensatory aid modifications could decrease revenue by around $277,136, though Lechtenberg did say that is down from what it was in the beginning at around a $1.1 million decrease. However, this is a one-time reprieve and a task force is currently being formed to address this point.
Announced late Monday night, the bill would also call for a 10% cut in transportation funding for students with disabilities by fiscal year 2027, resulting in a 5% decrease in special ed transportation aid for districts in 2026. That cut would further reduce 90% coverage in 2027. This cost was 100% covered in the past.
The state's education bill would also cut school library aid by $19.62 million in fiscal years 2026-27, which could reduce the impact to APS by around $31,537.
However, at the same time the summer unemployment coverage was expected to be continued through 2028.
Lechtenberg also pointed to several things that further add to the unknown of APS's budget including what the effects will be of the Minnesota Paid Leave legislation, which will kick into effect on Jan. 1
There will also be the impact of union settlements which are still in the process of being negotiated, the impacts of tariffs enacted by the Trump Administration, a potential district referendum and federal funding.
In particular, the federal funding question revolves around title funding. The district has already received its Title 1 and Title 4 funding, but they don't know the dollar amounts for Title 2 and Title 3 funding yet.
Also factored into the budget discussions will be the impact of a lower than estimated projected district enrollment, though that could be mitigated somewhat by a state aid increase to $7,481 per student representing a 2.74% increase.
The district will pick up the budget discussion again on June 24, and are required to finalize the budget by June 30.
In other news:
Board members adopted a 14% increase to its medical insurance renewal in order to keep up with expected claims for the 2025-2026 school year as well as a 3% increase to do the same. According to Lechtenberg, the district was operating at 112% and 142% lost ratio for the 12-month spans of April 2024 to March 2025 and April 2023 to March 2024 respectively. However, the increase is a step down from last year when the district instituted a 24% increase.
