Robbinsdale Schools Projecting $10M Budget Deficit for FY2025
With federal pandemic assistance running out and student enrollment declining, in its preliminary budget analysis, the Robbinsdale Area School District is projecting a $10 million budget shortfall in fiscal year 2025.
District officials discussed the potential budget deficit during a Dec. 18 school board work session.
“We know what this picture is,” said Robbinsdale Area Schools Interim Superintendent Marti Voight. “I know it’s bleak. I’m not going to say it’s not.”
“Fiscal Cliff” As Robbinsdale’s Pandemic Funds Run Out
According to district officials, federal financial aid will decrease by about $6.9 million in fiscal year 2025.
Robbinsdale Area Schools received about $41.1 million in one-time grants from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act economic stimulus bill.
These one-time federal grants are referred to as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. Robbinsdale Schools has already spent the bulk of its ESSER funding allocation on technology and instruction.
The district plans to spend the last $6.4 million of its ESSER funding in fiscal year 2024. Those dollars will fund about 70 district positions.
“With no permanent local, state or federal funding to backfill ESSER dollars, the district is facing a fiscal cliff that puts many positions at risk,” Robbinsdale Schools officials wrote in a slide show for the school board. “Also, funding gaps remain due to new, underfunded state mandates and chronic shortfalls to existing programing.”
District expenditures are also projected to bump up due to inflation and increases to employee salary and benefits.
Robbinsdale Area School District Interim Superintendent Marti Voight speaks with the school board on Dec. 18.
Shortfall Comes with Drop in Robbinsdale Area School District Enrollment
The district expects to see student enrollment drop by about 147 students in fiscal year 2025. This brings the total student enrollment to approximately 10,174 students.
“We’re not a district of 12,000 students any more,” Voight said.
Moreover, district officials are projecting a further drop in enrollment over the next decade, with approximately 8,000 students enrolled by 2034.
District officials said their future enrollment projections are conservative.
Voight said the school board will meet again early in 2024 to work on budgetary issues.
“I’m going to say this — it is about rediscovering who this district is and beginning to think about forecasting out while we’re also planning for next year,” Voight said.
Meanwhile, the school board has partnered with the Minnesota School Boards Association to search to for a new superintendent.
Former Superintendent David Engstrom and the school board mutually parted ways in September 2023.
Voight noted the budget numbers remain preliminary because the district will have eight employee contracts to settle for fiscal year 2025.
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