The Crookston School Board held a special meeting on Tuesday and voted unanimously to approve the preliminary budget for the 2026-27 school year. The preliminary budget was updated from previous discussions with the Finance Committee in May, following the state’s spring legislative session. Crookston Finance Director Blake Stoltman ran through the numbers.
2026-27 total revenues are projected to be $19,383,384. Total expenditures are $19,918,995 for a deficit spend of $535,611.
Food Service revenues are projected at $1,154,350 and total expenditures at $1,166,421, resulting in a deficit of $12,071.
For the Community Ed program, total revenues are expected to be $451,893. Total expenditures were $563,229, resulting in a deficit of $111,336.
The debt service fund has an expected total revenue of $1,660,052 and total expenditures of $1,693,550, resulting in a deficit of $33,498.
Some of the numbers, including revenues, expenses, and general fund deficit spending, were slightly lower than those provided by Stoltman in May, due in part to more efficient project bidding and more time for him to crunch the numbers. “We did get some cleaner bidding for a lot of the projects that we were doing, which also helped,” said Stoltman. “We also had essentially another month of data for me to review and to make sure that I’m not budgeting too high in some areas to clean up some things. And on the staffing side, some cleanup as well. I just did my best to make it as accurate as possible before we move forward.”
Preliminary Expenditures –
Includes bus purchase of $175,000
Includes salary increases for the eligible negotiating groups
Technology – Overall budget increased by $30,000 due to 3-year renewals coming due
Technology – New Devices for Students
Actuals for health insurance
All eligible staff members receive the 403b benefit
All activity/coaching positions are filled
Budgeted $233,000 for Curriculum
Projects that are planned
Door Security – Garden Valley – $50,000
High School and Highland School doors – $124,309
High School Fire Alarm System (required by the State Fire Marshall) – $268,902
High School gymnasium speakers replacement – $58,756.46
Multi-use facility storage – $75,000
Other items that are accounted for in the budget
Staff reductions approved in the April School Board meeting
Washington School utilities and purchased services were removed
Special Education additions –
Half-time teacher for ECSE
One full-time teacher at Highland
Three additional overloads
Enrollment in the Crookston School District continues to decline slightly, according to official Minnesota funding numbers. Stoltman estimated around 1,083 students for the 2026-27 budget, down from 1,124 in 2021-22. Despite the drop, there is optimism about the school district’s financial future. “I’m super comfortable with some of the things that we’ve done to put us in a better position going forward in the future,” said Stoltman. “And in regard to the revenue side, we’re going to do our best with what we have. I mean, whatever the state… Decides going into 2028 or even this year, we’re working with what we got. And we just hope that we see some additional enrollment. That’ll change a lot of things going forward financially.”
The board also held a closed session with realtors regarding the possible sale of the Washington School property. No action was taken on that agenda item.
