At their December 17 meeting, the North Crawford School Board heard a preliminary mid-year budget report from Superintendent Brandon Munson. Overall, Munson said “things are looking pretty good right now.”
Munson told the board that as of November, the district had brought in just shy of $950,000, and had already spent $2.25 million. He says this is typical for any given year, and the revenue should start to fill in now that property tax bills have gone out.
“If you look at that, you're like, well, where's that money coming from?” Munson said. “That money comes from the fund balance. At certain times of the year, our fund balance is way down to a minimal amount, and then as revenue picks up, we'll be able to replenish that back into the fund balance. This highlights the importance of maintaining that healthy fund balance. Otherwise, if your fund balance is pretty minimal, you're getting yourself into situations where you're short-term borrowing, and in today's economy, that's not the best choice for school districts.”
Munson shared a bit of potentially bad news with the board regarding the percentage at which the district is reimbursed by the state for special education.
“In the biennial budget, the special education reimbursement was increased to 42%,” Munson said. “However, the pot of money appropriated is a fixed amount and is shared with 100 other school districts across the state. We had an unexpected expense in hiring an additional paraprofessional, and things like this happen in other districts as well. What that results in is a reduction for all districts in the reimbursement percentage.”
Munson said that even though the budget said 42%, he had budgeted at 38% because this is what typically happens. He said the projected reimbursement percentage at this time is coming in at 35%.
“That is not much more than where we've been sitting the last two years,” Munson explained. “It’s pretty disappointing news. This could have a bit of an impact on our Fund 27 transfer, which as you know, impacts our Fund 10.”
Fund 10 is the district’s ‘general fund,’ and Fund 27 is the ‘special education fund.’ When state and federal funding don’t cover the full cost of delivering special education services, then the district must make a transfer from Fund 10 to Fund 27 to cover those costs.
Munson said that what would solve this problem in the state budget for school districts is if the language were to be changed from “sum certain” to “sum sufficient.” This change would mean that if the budget says 42%, that means the districts will receive 42%.
Munson told the board that he would have a more comprehensive look at the 2025-2026 budget at the board’s January meeting. He explained that because the 2026-2027 budget will occur in the second year of the state’s biennial budget, it will be a little bit easier to project. He said that work on that budget would begin in January and February.
Reports
Elementary Principal Amanda Killeen highlighted the learning undertaken by students in December about various winter traditions around the world. She said that classrooms and hallways reflected a strong sense of joy, belonging and cultural awareness as students learned about Las Posadas, Christmas, Three Kings Day, Diwali, Hanukkah, Saint Nicholas Day, and the Winter Solstice.
“These experiences emphasized creativity, collaboration, and an understanding of shared themes such as light, hope and community,” Killeen explained. “The resulting displays created a welcoming environment, and supported positive school culture during a busy and exciting season.”
Killeen said that instruction in the past month had focused on strengthening how learning sticks for students. Recent professional development has supported progress in this area. She said the elementary team is also finishing up winter assessments across grade levels. She explained that this will lead to “data digs” that will keep them focused on growth, instructional next steps, and targeted support for students.
Next up was Middle School/High School Principal Dr. Rob Sailer.
“This month’s work has centered on instructional planning, professional development, student support systems, hands-on career learning, safety initiatives, and community-building activities across grades 6–12,” Sailer told the board. “At our December 1 inservice, the middle school team reviewed data from the first full cycle of WIN (What I Need) groupings. Positive results are emerging, and new groups for Cycle 2 have been finalized and will begin immediately following winter break.”
Sailer said that exciting things are happening in Career and Technical Education. He highlighted the successful floral business launched by FFA, and anticipated launch of another student business in the second half of the year as students become proficient in use of the tools in the district’s new Fab Lab.
“Schoolwide safety and well-being also remain central priorities,” Sailer explained. “High school students completed ‘Speak Up, Speak Out’ (SUSO) training this month, and middle school students will receive their presentations before break. Additionally, Sources of Strength programming was delivered to high school students on December 11 and to middle school students on December 12 at the Gays Mills Community Center, focusing on resilience, connectedness, and identifying trusted supports.”
Munson told the board that school meal participation continues to trend positively. He said that in November, breakfast participation increased by 11.9% compared to November 2024, and lunch participation rose by 10%.
“Our cookie fundraiser to support the purchase of locally raised beef has been a great success,” Munson said. “To date, we’ve baked and sold over 70 dozen cookies, raising enough funds to purchase 300 pounds of ground beef for our school meals.”
In other business
In other business, the board:
• took up the second reading of School Board Policy Update 34-2 relating to student support organizations, and passed the update unanimously
• approved seven students taking nine classes through Southwest Tech in the spring semester, and one student taking a course through Madison Area Technical College.
