After months of building a budget, a failed vote and looming deadlines, the Gardner Edgerton School District moves forward with a reduced budget for next year with a shortfall of $3 million.
District staff has worked since January to prepare and present its 2026-27 budget for adoption by the Gardner Edgerton school board earlier this month. However, the Gardner Edgerton Board of Education failed to pass a measure Sept. 14 that would have allowed the district to collect more in taxes than the last budget.
The board was then unable to consider the budget as presented, because it presumed the approval of that vote. This then forced district staff to quickly pivot and present an alternative two days later.
Ultimately, the school board met in a special meeting on Sept. 16 to approve a reduced budget — just in time for the state’s Sept. 20 deadline — with $1.9 million in cuts, although district staff still have no idea where they’ll have to make cuts to stay within budget.
“Existing employee contracts and agreed-upon pay will not be affected this school year by the budget decision,” district leadership said in an email to the community late last week. “The administration’s and Board of Education committees’ next steps will include reviewing spending, identifying further efficiencies, and explaining the effects of available options.”
With the adjusted budget, the district will need to cut $1.9 million from its operating costs. Also as a result of needing to remain revenue neutral, the district will not collect an additional $1.1 million in its bond and interest fund, meant to pay for long-term debts like the $100 million bond approved in 2025.
Watch the Sept. 14 meeting here.
The process
A 2021 state statute requires taxing bodies like the Gardner Edgerton School District to remain revenue neutral, collecting the same amount of money in property taxes each year, regardless of new growth or inflation. If they exceed that amount, they are required to hold hearings and follow additional steps.
After the public hearing Sept. 14, during which no one spoke, the school board voted on exceeding their revenue neutral rate with no discussion. The measure required at least four yes votes to pass. It only received three.
Gardner Edgerton is also currently operating as a six-person board, with an open seat, after deciding last month to leave the seventh seat open until the next election.
How they voted:
- Tom Reddin, president: Absent
- Heath Freeman, vice president: Yes
- Julie Aldridge: Yes
- Jeff Miller: No
- Lana Sutton: No
- Katie Williams: Yes
With the failed vote, the board could not vote on the presented budget that same night. District staff needed to make adjustments to be revenue neutral. The board came back 48 hours later on Sept. 16 for a special meeting to approve a new budget, which requires the district to cut $1.9 million.
The school board unanimously approved the budget that night, with just days until the Sept. 20 deadline to submit the budget to the state.
From the board
Board Member Heath Freeman said during the Sept. 16 meeting that district staff had already been directed to keep costs down as much as possible while building this budget.
“Bringing costs down, managing every single dollar in a way that was most effective and most important to everyone in the district; we pass them (budgets) with (the goal of) maintaining and growing the fund balance — that budget was going to allow us to do so,” said board member Heath Freeman. “That isn’t the case any longer.”
While Board Members Jeff Miller and Lana Sutton did not comment on the budget during either the Sept. 14 or 16 meetings, both emailed statements to the Post regarding their vote.
The two shared similar sentiments — the initial budget wasn’t saving taxpayers enough.
“Every household in our community has to live within a budget,” Miller said in a Monday email. “Families have to make difficult decisions every day about what they can afford, what they need, and what they can do without. Government entities and school districts should be held to that same standard.”
“Property taxes are the number one concern in our community, especially for families already struggling financially,” Sutton said in a Sunday email. “Thirty-nine percent of students in USD 231 qualify for free or reduced-price meals, underscoring the financial challenges many families face. Remaining revenue neutral saves taxpayers just over 4 mills, while the amount available for the district’s budget still increases. Some may choose to laugh at the amount of savings, but every dollar matters to these families.”
However, Freeman said he believes the reduced budget will create issues down the line.
It’s inevitable, he added, that the district will have to dip into fund balances to help cover costs, expressing frustration for the situation the district’s now been put in.
“[The budget] was a reflection of months of effort,” Freeman said. “This did not happen overnight. This didn’t happen in a single meeting. This was dozens of opportunities for individuals — the board, taxpayers, staff, anyone in the community — to bring forth either their revisions, their concerns, their proposed changes or what we should do differently.”
While Board President Tom Reddin wasn’t at the Sept. 14 meeting, he posted on Facebook about the vote.
“First and foremost, this budget has been worked on for months through committees and a thorough process,” Reddin said. “Contracts and other commitments had already been discussed and agreed upon. Had I been able to attend Monday’s board meeting, my vote would have been in support of the budget as presented. I had no indication beforehand that the budget would not pass.”
Teacher concerns
Several Gardner Edgerton teachers were in attendance Wednesday night, including Angela Hansen and Leslie Rahn.
“They said it in the meeting that this is maybe something we’re going to be feeling for a while, in ways that we’re not entirely sure of,” Rahn said after the meeting. “I think it’s a little bit of a weird edge to be sitting on.”
“That hard part for me,” Hansen added after Rahn, “is that we were in the process of making multiple decisions starting last January. Oh, even further back than that. Curriculum adoptions, additions of things that we need to do, we’re building a new elementary school, we’re actually going to renovate one of our elementary schools into a preschool — these are all things that as a board, they decided and agreed upon that they wanted to do and support.”
Funding, Hansen continued, is a part of helping support those plans.
Going forward, both Hansen and Rahn agreed that they’d like to see the board being as transparent as possible in the next few months as district leaders consider where to make cuts.
