Trustees Approve School District Final Budget

The Churchill County School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved the district’s fiscal year 2026-27 final budget during a public hearing at its May 19 meeting, after a short discussion focused on food service costs, special program accounting, and how the district reports spending for English learner and at-risk student services.

Comptroller Amanda Hammond presented the final budget to trustees, explaining several changes made since the tentative budget was submitted.

According to the district’s budget overview, the final budget includes estimated expenditures of $61,462,850 across 16 governmental funds, plus $469,400 in estimated expenditures in the district’s proprietary workers' compensation fund. The budget also includes $37,487,825 in State Education Fund revenues.

Hammond told trustees one correction would be made before the final budget was submitted to the Nevada Department of Taxation. The Chartwells meal rate listed in the narrative section on page 63 of the budget showed the current rate of $4.189 but should have reflected the new rate of $4.3988 per lunch meal.

Superintendent Derild Parsons clarified that the correction was in the narrative information only and did not affect the budget numbers. The meal rate increase had already been included in the food service fund expenditure.

The district’s contract renewal memo states the new Chartwells rate represents an increase of 20.98 cents per meal, based on inflation, product availability, and Consumer Price Index data from March 2025 through March 2026. The memo also notes that two breakfasts are charged at the single meal rate of $4.3988.

Hammond also reviewed changes to the district’s accounting treatment for English learner and at-risk funds. She said she had consulted with Amber Reed at the state and determined the district would more accurately show spending on those programs by transferring money from the General Fund into the English Learners Fund and At-Risk Fund, rather than moving excess expenditures out of those funds and into the General Fund.

Under the previous approach, Hammond said, the state’s required Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 387 report made it appear the district was spending only the amount it received for those services. In reality, she said, the salaries and benefits associated with English learner and at-risk services exceeded the money coming into those funding “buckets.” The new approach keeps the program expenses in the appropriate funds and uses General Fund transfers to make the funds whole, similar to how the district handles special education costs.

Parsons said the distinction matters because the NRS 387 report is used after the budget cycle and helps inform state education budget recommendations. If the report understates what districts are actually spending, he said, that can affect future funding discussions.

Trustees also asked about why the district appeared to receive more English learner funding than at-risk funding. Parsons said the state changed how it identifies at-risk students, using multiple factors in Infinite Campus, including attendance and grades. He said Churchill County was one of the districts negatively affected by that change, losing about $260,000 in at-risk funding.

The final budget overview identifies several other changes from the tentative budget. Employee benefit expenditures were adjusted to reflect a finalized 7.7% health insurance increase, rather than the 10% increase originally estimated. General Fund contingency was reduced to about 1% of total expenditures, and the projected ending General Fund balance represents about 9.3% of fiscal year 2027 expenditures and 10.5% of prior year expenditures.

The budget also includes an approximately $20,000 increase in the High School Construction Fund for possible warranty-related work tied to the Discovery Lane property. Additional increases include food service expenditures connected to the Chartwells renewal and cafeteria remodels at Lahontan Elementary School and Numa Elementary School, as well as added capital project costs for a districtwide telephone infrastructure upgrade.

Trustees briefly discussed the Community Eligibility Provision, or CEP, which would allow the district to provide meals at no charge to students. Hammond said the Nevada Department of Agriculture had advised the district not to move to CEP because the district’s percentage was still not high enough and the cost would be too high. Trustees asked that the issue be returned in June, before the June 30 deadline, with information comparing the cost of CEP to the district’s current food service costs and debt.

Before the vote, trustees thanked Hammond and district office staff for the budget work. Board President Gregg Malkovich said the board had been given “a balanced budget that we can trust,” and the budget was approved unanimously.