Ringwood Public Schools has absorbed a $700,000 budget hit over the past two years, and district leaders say more painful steps could still be coming even after offering staff voluntary resignations and retirement. The small Oklahoma district announced last week that it was dealing with a revenue shortfall, and school officials now warn that a reduction in force may be necessary if expenses stay over budget.
According to KOKH, the district has pinned its revenue shortfalls on a mix of factors: a reduction of student enrollment, the loss of businesses within the school district, reduced revenue from oil and gas proceeds, and reduced ad valorem tax money. Those are the four pressures Ringwood has cited as affecting its revenue.
The station reports Ringwood first tried to absorb the losses quietly, cutting costs through natural attrition by simply not filling open positions as they came up. When that wasn't enough, the district offered voluntary resignations and voluntary retirement to employees, a step short of layoffs but one that signals how serious the gap had become.
No Programs Cut Yet, District Says
Despite the financial strain, Ringwood Public Schools says it has not closed any programs or fired any staff. The district's stated goal, per the station's report, is to maintain classroom instruction and programs in full and keep student organizations, events, and activities functioning with certified staff, within the bounds of state law.
Still, the warning about a possible reduction in force was explicit. Superintendent Wade Detrick said that unfortunately, this will also have to happen at some point, according to the outlet's account — an acknowledgment that voluntary departures may not be enough to fully close the gap if spending keeps outpacing revenue.
Selling Land Along Highway 58
To help offset the shortfall, the Ringwood school board has approved the sale of empty lots along Highway 58, the district said. It's one of the more concrete moves the board has made public, even as the district has not detailed what the land might sell for or when a sale might close.
What the Budget Numbers Show
The district's own figures help explain the squeeze. Ringwood's 2026-2027 budget hearing documents project operating revenue at $30,435,662 — up $1,122,002, or 3.8%, from the adjusted 2025-26 budget. The same documents show federal-program revenue falling to $258,357, a drop of $110,724, or 30%.
The budget materials also note that the district has experienced a $741,385, or 26.5%, decrease in state aid from its highest level in the 2018-19 school year. Ringwood's maximum school tax levy was projected at $25,107,675, including $1,157,477 in maximum additional revenue.
A Statewide Squeeze on School Funding
Ringwood's situation echoes a broader strain on Oklahoma school budgets tied to the state's Ad Valorem Reimbursement Fund, which public schools rely on more than any other beneficiary, as Public Radio Tulsa has reported. Reduced reimbursements from that fund could force affected districts to cut spending from their general, building, and sinking funds. The outlet notes the state paid roughly $88.6 million in ad valorem reimbursements last fiscal year, including $64 million in supplemental legislative appropriations.
Other Oklahoma districts illustrate how much some schools lean on that fund. Pryor Public Schools received $24 million from the state reimbursement fund for the 2025-26 fiscal year, while Wynnewood Public Schools relied on the fund for 16% of its general fund in fiscal year 2026, according to the same public radio report. Ringwood has not disclosed its own reimbursement figures from that fund.
For now, Ringwood families are left watching whether land sales and voluntary departures will be enough to stabilize the budget, or whether the reduction in force Detrick described as inevitable will eventually reach the classroom.
