South Washington County Schools is weighing roughly $13 million in budget reductions as enrollment keeps falling across the district, with officials saying no schools are planned to close even as staffing could be affected. The district has scheduled a virtual meeting Thursday afternoon to walk parents through the proposal, with a board vote on the plan set for the following Thursday.
District leaders say the budget shortfall stems from declining enrollment across the metro, according to 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. The district has said the cuts are necessary to avoid potential statutory operating debt, a legal designation that uses a 2.5%-of-expenditures threshold and refers to a net negative undesignated fund balance; state law separately calls the net negative unreserved general-fund balance calculated as of June 30 “operating debt.” The remaining funds beyond the school-level targets would be cut from facilities, maintenance, transportation, district departments and student support services, and officials have acknowledged the proposal may affect staff. The station reported it requested an interview with the superintendent Thursday afternoon, but the district declined.
How the Targets Break Down
Elementary schools carry a $4.2 million adjustment target, while middle and high schools together are assigned a combined $4.5 million target, according to the Cottage Grove Journal. District departments and services are assigned $1 million; facilities usage and maintenance, $1.2 million; transportation, ridership and routes, $1.4 million; and student support services, approximately $700,000, per the same report. Nutrition services and community education carry separate targets of $200,000 and $400,000, respectively, but those adjustments won't count toward the $13 million general-fund goal.
The district has said 78% of spending is invested in staff, per its own statement reported by 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS.
Enrollment Keeps Shrinking
The district's financial pressure traces back to declining enrollment and expenses rising faster than revenues, the Cottage Grove Journal reported, citing district figures. Total average daily membership is projected to fall from 19,219 students in 2025-26 to 18,689 in 2026-27 — a drop of 530 students. The district expects enrollment to stay roughly flat this year before declining by more than 300 students next year, and it reported incoming classes of about 1,200 students compared with graduating classes of about 1,500.
Minnesota's basic general education funding formula rose 2.69%, or $202 per pupil, to $7,683 for 2026-27, but the district estimated the cumulative impact of the gap between state funding and inflation at more than $31 million. Statewide, special education costs were underfunded by $503 million in fiscal year 2024, with the shortfall projected at roughly $448 million by fiscal year 2027, according to the Journal's reporting.
Feedback Process Continues Through Fall
The district's staff survey opened in May and remained open through September 11; an initial adjustment package was expected for discussion in November, with approval to be sought at the November business meeting, per the Journal. South Washington County isn't alone in facing this kind of financial strain: more than half of Twin Cities-area districts surveyed expected a combined shortfall exceeding $220 million for the 2026-27 school year, according to MPR News.
Minneapolis Public Schools has floated three options involving program consolidation and attendance-boundary changes, with as many as 16 buildings potentially losing their current academic programming and 12% to 14% of students affected through mergers or boundary shifts, per MPR's reporting. Elsewhere, the fixes have looked different: Robbinsdale voters approved $360 million in bond requests, though the Star Tribune reported two years of budget reductions still lie ahead there to address statutory operating debt, while Duluth voters approved more than $112 million in tax increases intended to hold off both statutory operating debt and cuts to staff and programming.
