During a busy end of fiscal year study session Tuesday, the Springfield Public School Board of Education wrapped up yearly business with a final presentation of the 2025-26 budget. Which they’ll vote on at their next regular meeting.
Executive Director of Business Services Cara Stassel presented a summary of the nearly $370 million budget, which has a total increase of about $3.5 million over last year and shows the district returning to pre-COVID stimulus funding levels.
Stassel outlined an estimated increase in $4.5 million in local revenue driven by strong new construction and the fact that this is a reassessment year for property taxes, and an increase in about $2.6 million in state formula aid and $722 thousand in state Prop C sales tax money.
Stassel also outlined increases in costs, including about $1.2 million in special education staffing, $200 thousand in tuition increases for SPS students receiving Ozarks Tech credits, an increase in $400 thousand in professional learning spending and $9.3 million in increases to staff salaries.
She also highlighted reductions in staffing and expenses made this year that will save next year's budget $8.3 million. In November of 2024 the school district announced cuts affecting 142 positions.
Despite that, in projections through to fiscal year 2029, which Stassel acknowledged are very tentative, expenditures outpace revenue by increasing amounts. “The biggest impact to that expenditure line is our salary and benefits,” Stassel explained, “when you’re giving increases that your revenues can’t keep up with and they’re rolling on top of themselves it becomes a snowball that’s hard to sustain.
She did point out one variable: Potential increases in state money. Missouri regularly adjusts the amount it pays districts per student, known as the state adequacy target, or SAT. It is currently set at $6,375. It is set to increase to $7,145 next year, but the increase did not have an easy path through this year’s legislature.
“Whatever happens at the state level with the SAT will definitely impact our revenue,” Stassel said. “I’ve got my fingers crossed that great things happen there but we’re not projecting that quite yet.”
The board will vote on the budget at its next meeting, Tuesday, June 24.