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Overview of 2025-26 Budget Plan

After reviewing the state’s latest revenue forecast, Adams 12 Five Star Schools is moving forward with a proposed budget for next year.

Although we don’t have finalized figures from the Joint Budget Committee, we know the district must cut more than $27.5 million in current expenditures and is eliminating approximately 150 jobs across the district for next year.
 

What guiding interests informed the development of this budget plan?

  • Provide compensation that keeps up with inflation
  • Apply reductions across all departments districtwide
  • Minimize reductions at the classroom level
  • Reduce ongoing costs paid for with one-time funds
  • Maintain a reasonable amount of reserves to account for ongoing uncertainty at both the state and federal level

2025-2026 Budget Reduction Plan

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Why does the district need to make these cuts?

The district is facing decreased revenue and increased costs due to the following:

  • Enrollment changes: Colorado schools are funded based on how many students are enrolled. Roughly 80 percent of Colorado school districts, including Adams 12 Five Star Schools, are seeing a decline in enrollment. 
  • Reduced state funding: The state is proposing that a district’s enrollment funding be calculated on a four-year average, rather than the previously used five-year average. This makes the funding cut even steeper. 
  • Increasing costs: Costs for substitute teaching, utilities, computer software and hardware maintenance agreements, custodial supplies and maintenance materials, and more continue to increase.
  • Inflation: Projected increase for compensation and health care premiums to keep pace with inflation.
  • Preserving reserve funds: Last year, the district used one-time funds to retain some staff positions, hoping state and local (mill levy override) funding would improve. Since the funding did not improve, the district can no longer sustain these positions with one-time funds.

What does this mean for staffing reductions?

More than 88 percent of the district’s general fund goes toward compensation (salaries and benefits). Reductions by school and district levels are as follows:

  • Educational Support Center (ESC): 22 full-time equivalent (FTE) totaling $3 million and another $1.2 million reduction in operating costs. Learning Services, which represents the largest budget in the ESC, reduction is approximately 9 percent. Overall, ESC reduction is approximately 6 percent
  • Elementary: Reduction of $8.5 million, approximately 10 percent
  • K-8: Reduction of $1.5 million, approximately 7 percent
  • Middle: reduction of $2.9 million, approximately 7 percent
  • High: Reduction of $4.1 million, approximately 7 percent
  • Alternative: Reduction of $1.3 million, approximately 7 percent
  • Enrollment reserve reduction: $0.6 million or 6 FTE

What impacts will these reductions have on programming?

  • Some elementary schools that have traditionally had class sizes below the district thresholds will see an increase in class size. (Note: Normal year-to-year enrollment fluctuations at each school can also impact class size.)
  • Core content areas in grades 6-12 could see larger class sizes.
  • At the middle and high school levels, some electives will see larger class sizes. Electives with fewer students may be combined or potentially not offered for the 2025-26 school year.
  • We will have fewer staff to provide targeted instruction and support in areas such as gifted and talented education, library and digital literacy, academic intervention, and social emotional learning.  
  • Schools and teachers will receive less support and expertise from the ESC. This includes staff members who support instruction and planning, lead professional learning, and more.