The Monroe County Community School Corporation’s 2026 budget is $6.2 million less than last year, with conservative projections for revenue and enrollment, the corporation’s chief financial officer said.
Speaking at this week’s school board meeting, Matt Irwin said the education fund is projected to decrease by $1.4 million, the 2022 referendum fund is projected to decrease by $2 million and the operations fund is projected to decrease by $6.3 million.
Declining enrollment and adverse changes in public schools’ share of property tax revenue impact the budget.
“This is a data driven approach,” he said. “So just like if you were building your own budget at home, your best predictor of your future expenses are your past expenditures, right? So going back and looking at our past expenditures, especially for like, the last three years or so, and saying, what have we been spending in this line item, do we expect that to continue? What have we been receiving as far as revenue goes in that line item? Do we expect that to continue?”
Irwin said he also considers outside factors that may affect the budget, such as legislation, student counts and staffing.
“If I'm building my budget at home and I'm looking through my numbers, I don't want to put a number to a line item in my own budget that I know that if one little thing changes for me, then all of a sudden I need to go back and change that number again,” he said. “So, we try to build those guardrails that allows flexibility.”
According to the presentation, the final estimated cash balance for Dec. 31 is about $4.75 million, and the final estimated cash balance for Dec. 31, 2026, is about $3.55 million.
The board will vote on the budget in October and send it to the Department of Local Government Finance for review in December.
During the public comment part of the meeting, Michael Catterlin, an MCCSC parent, wanted to know how the board is prioritizing teacher support and student outcomes amid budget cuts.
“As a parent, I've received emails that the district doesn't have enough resources to replace the failing student technology,” he said. “Given all that and as the budget's being built, I'd like to know what cuts are being planned at the district admin level so that we are keeping resources in the classrooms.”
The question was taken without comment by the board. MCCSC did not immediately respond to an inquiry from WFIU/WTIU News.
The board also discussed new laws on reducing absenteeism. Alexis Harmon, assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and assessment, said a student is “in attendance” when they’re physically in school or participating in a school educational program.
The policy states that if a student has five unexcused absences in a 10-week period, the school must notify the parents in writing and hold a meeting within 10 school days to make a plan to improve attendance. If a student has 10 unexcused absences, the school provides a written notice to the family, and law requires schools to notify the prosecutor’s office.
Board President April Hennessey expressed concern on how the absences are reported to the prosecutor’s office.
“That to me is like the sort of biggest or most egregious thing,” Hennessey said. “And it does seem interesting to me that it coincides with a lot of the other legislation happening, especially around marginalized populations.”
The next board meeting is on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
