The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The school district is facing a certain 3 percent reduction in state aid and an uncertain amount of federal aid in the run-up to creating the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
Figures released by the state Department of Education on February 27 show Franklin’s total state aid will be reduced by $633,575, from $21,119,162 in FY 2025 to $20,485,587.
Schools Superintendent John Ravally said at the February 27 Board of Education meeting that that figure includes a nearly $450,000 loss in Special Education Medicaid Initiative funds, which are used to reimburse districts who care for students who qualify for Medicaid services.
“In addition to the expense side, we’ll experience an increase in state tuitions for state facilities of nearly $400,000, which also comes out of your monthly state aid payment,” he said.
“So those variables, coupled with other challenges that are connected to inflation, salary, benefits, and the increases there, are going to make for a very challenging budget year, as you can imagine,” Ravally said. “We’re going to continue to work with our budget managers and the Board’s finance committee to find the expense efficiencies and identify the sources of revenue that will allow us to balance the 2025-26 school year budget.”
Ravally said the District will unveil its preliminary budget on March 18, “which is when you’ll hear about how we were able to make that call.”
The uncertainty over the amount of federal aid the district may receive revolves around moves by Pres. Donald Trump to abolish the federal Department of Education and transfer its responsibilities to the states.
Ravally said the District typically builds its budget anticipating a 15 percent reduction in federal grants year-over-year.
“And all indications have been the same this year.” he said. “There’s no indication that that will happen, but that’s always been a responsible practice within our industry anyway.”
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