Fairfield schools faced with upcoming budget shortfall

FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield Community School District Board of Directors wants the school’s superintendent to find ways to address projected budget shortfalls in the near future.

During a special meeting following a work session on Oct. 23, the board unanimously voted to instruct Superintendent Stephanie Mishler to implement the program-based budgeting process, emphasizing revenue maximization and expense stabilization. Mishler said this was done in response to projections of the school’s finances indicating that its expenses will exceed revenues in the coming years.

“We overspent our revenues last year,” Mishler said. “And though we’re projected to break even this year, the projection model shows that next year would have us overspending again.”

Mishler said the district overspent its revenues by $1.3 million last year, and it’s expected to overspend its revenues by $1.4 in the next fiscal year.

Mishler said this projection comes from a model created by the Iowa School Finance Information System, one of the leaders in the field of Iowa school finances. Mishler said she and Business Manager Evan Marten attended a workshop that Iowa School Finance put on to learn about how their projections are derived.

Mishler said the reason Fairfield schools are projected to overspend has to do with the district’s declining enrollment, which means less money from the state. For each student the district loses, it loses about $7,400 in revenue, and Fairfield’s enrollment has dipped by 200 students in the last 14 years. At the same time, Mishler said that the school’s expenses continue to grow. She said this directive from the school board is about taking a deeper dive into the district’s spending to look for ways to stabilize costs while increasing revenue.

“Right now, we’re brainstorming and doing fact-finding to get a clearer picture,” Mishler said. “As we gather that information, we’ll make it more accessible to the board and the public so everyone is informed about the next steps.”

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com