Saint Paul, Minnesota — For many districts in Minnesota and across the country, spring means budget discussions – and difficult conversations.
“I mean, it is a daunting problem,” Saint Paul Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Stacie Stanley stated.
The district anticipates a $51.1 million budget shortfall for the 2025-2026 school year, and intends to deplete its reserves by $34.9 million in 2025-2026, and at least that amount the following year.
The district claims that would leave its reserves nearly depleted.
“It’s heart-wrenching, quite honestly, and what I know is we have to do our best to make sure that we are financially stable and that we are really serving our community,” Stanley told the reporter.
On Tuesday night, the board directed the administration to prepare a referendum recommendation, which was approved unanimously.
Stanley says there are more steps to take before it appears on voters’ ballots in November, but if it does not pass, layoffs and difficult decisions may be on the table.
“All of those and other options would have to be looked at and be able to be put on the table,” she informed us.
SPPS isn’t alone in this. According to Scott Croonquist of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts, many districts face similar challenges.
“We surveyed our member school districts earlier this spring, just asking them to give us a projection of what their budget situation looked like, and you know, they came out where they’re looking at a combined deficit of $300 million basically,” according to Croonquist. “So, you know, the only districts that really are escaping that are those that maybe have growing enrollment, and of course, that brings in new revenue, or those that maybe just passed a referendum last fall, you know, which can provide some temporary relief.”
Stanley understands that even the proposal may be difficult for some people to consider, but he added that it would only be brought up if absolutely necessary.
“The district has done their very best in order to keep those impacts out of the classroom, from impacting students, and at this point we are going to have to go much more deeper than that,” she told me.