The Crookston School District Finance Committee met on Tuesday morning for nearly three hours and discussed the budget, finances, possible state funding changes, and more.
The main topic was the 202627 school year budget. Everything is PRELIMINARY at this point as the legislature still hasn’t approved funding for next school year. Crookston Finance Director Blake Stoltman ran through the numbers.
2026-27 total revenues are projected to be $19,410,863. Total expenditures of $20,080,072 for a deficit spend of $669,210.
Food Service revenues are projected to be $1,154,350 and total expenditures of $1,166,560 for a deficit spend of $12,210.
For the Community Ed program, total revenues are expected to be $451,893. Total expenditures were $562,829, resulting in a deficit of $110,937.
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.
Finance Director Stoltman reminded the committee that this is all preliminary and will change before June, when the final budget is due to the state. “Now, this is all preliminary. There are still many changes that will have to happen on the revenue side. The legislature, there may still be additional revenue coming to us, but as of now, we’re kind of at a standstill, using the best data we have to estimate what we have in revenue,’ said Stoltman. “We do have a number of $669,210 projects, a handful of LTFM long-term facilities maintenance projects underway, and a fire alarm system that needs to be replaced. Doing some storage-related stuff at the multi-use facility, and also some other needed things on the LTFM (Long-term facility maintenance) side, which we can’t just wait forever to get some of that stuff done.”
The LTFM projects are funded by state money for school districts to fix things within in the buildings and not for new projects. “They have to be very specific on what we’re doing and they have to be replacing something. We can’t just be adding new things with those funds,” said Stoltman. “We do have a nice reserve there that we have been building over the years, so it allows us to take care of some of these projects that have been kind of waiting.”
Staff reductions approved by the school board have been factored into the budget. “The number also includes any staff reductions that we have approved via the board. So that is built in already,” said Stoltman. “So we saw some savings there, but at this point it’s all still being reviewed, and it’s going to continue to be reviewed until we approve it in June.”
Stoltman said the school district is in decent shape, but there needs to be continued cost savings made over the next several years. “Year over year, we’re looking good. We’re looking good on the reserve front. But we’re still not at the end of the year,” said Stoltman. “Who knows what happens when it comes to additional stuff that is being spent. But we’re being diligent. We’re trying to stay within budget in all of our areas. And we’re constantly reviewing and constantly trying to do what’s best for our kids in the district.”
Preliminary Expenditures –
A bus – $200,000
The numbers include salary increases for the eligible negotiating groups
Technology – $30,000 increase due to renewals.
Actuals for health insurance
All eligible staff members receiving the 403b benefit
All activity/coaching positions are filled
$230,000 for curriculum (IXL, new math, FastBridge)
Projects that are planned
Door Security – Garden Valley
CHS and Highland School doors
CHS Fire Alarm System (required by the State Fire Marshall)
CHS gymnasium speakers replacement
Multi-use facility storage
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
The Crookston School District continues to see a slight decline in enrollment (according to official Minnesota funding numbers). The last six years of enrollment are below-
2021-22 – 1124
2022-23 – 1121
2023-24 – 1136
2024-25 – 1099
2025-26 – 1101
2026-27 – 1083 (projected)
Stoltman said they are anxiously awaiting the state to let school districts know what the funding will be. “It’s all a guessing game. We’re a month and a half out, and we don’t have a legislature that approved what we’re going to get for funding yet,” said Stoltman. “So… We’re just trying to do our best to pre-plan, and that’s kind of where we’re at. I’m okay with things as they are right now in regards to what we have for information, but obviously that’s going to change for sure.”
