Revenue projections prompt complex SPS budget planning

Springfield Public Schools has until the end of June to finalize a budget for fiscal year 2027, and a top district official warned tough decisions are expected.

Cara Stassel, executive director of business services, provided a broad overview of the planning process to the Board of Education at a March 24 meeting.

“We face several hurdles when it comes to revenue projections for next year,” she said.

Stassel said the district is braced for relatively flat local funding and a proposed state budget that with the same, or slightly less, funding next year despite other costs going up.

More detailed reports about specific parts of the budget, from capital spending and bond funding to employee salaries and benefits, will be presented during board meetings in April, May and June. 

A final budget recommendation is expected during the June 23 meeting.

“A lot will probably change between tonight and the budget that we land on in June and we’ll keep the board informed of that at these meetings,” she said.

The current operating budget for fiscal year 2026 is $370 million, and 80% is earmarked for employee salaries and benefits. Supplies are slightly more than 11%, and the rest is for purchased services, which includes instructional programs, legal services, trash removal, and property insurance.

The district engages in collective bargaining with the Springfield National Education Association, which represents multiple employee groups, and Teamsters Local No. 245, which represents bus drivers. The process started earlier this year and is not expected to wrap up until late May or early June.

Stassel outlined variables that may impact revenues for the next fiscal year, starting with local revenue. She noted 2026 is not a reassessment year, meaning a home with a 2025 assessed value of $38,000 will not change in 2026.

“The only increases that the district will see is from new construction and personal property,” she said. “So that means your real estate property from last year, your assessed value, will just roll forward.”

Local funds make up 60% of the district’s operating revenue, followed by state funds at nearly 30%. Federal funding provides roughly 10% of operating funds.

Stassel said state funding levels will not be set until the lawmakers complete a budget in early May, which has to be signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe.

The Missouri Foundation Formula determines how much state aid is provided to districts. One key component is the state adequacy target, a specific dollar amount calculated every other year and currently set at $6,900 as of March. The figure was originally based on average spending per student.

The rate was expected to go to $7,145, but any decision on increasing it will be based on the amount of state funding allocated for public schools.

“There is concern that the state adequacy target will remain at $6,900 for the remainder of this year and then potentially fall below $6,900 going into next year,” Stassel said. “So, achieving that full $7,145 that we’ve discussed seems highly unlikely at this time.”

Myriad factors determine how much state funding flows to each district annually: the state adequacy target along with student enrollment and attendance, adjusted based on local funding levels, cost of living and the demographic makeup of the student body. Kehoe has convened a task force to recommend changes to the formula by the end of 2026 and, depending on what happens during the 2027 legislative session, the impact may be felt as early as the 2027-28 school year.

Board member Susan Provance asked how changes or reductions in state funding for public schools could impact SPS and other districts.

Stassel said many details are up in the air, but districts are watching lawmakers and the task force closely.

“We are not in this alone. We all do the same work, so we are trying to information share and say ‘Hey, what are you doing? How are you looking at this?’” she said, in response. “That is the best information we have right now, and I am not willing to predict the future at the podium on a recorded meeting.”