ROCORI Schools Face Potential Cuts As Budget Planning Begins

COLD SPRING (WJON News) -- With the school year about halfway over, many area school districts are starting to look at their budgets for 2026 - 2027. ROCORI Area Schools have started the process and are looking at the district's five-year outlook. Superintendent Kevin Enerson says early numbers have ROCORI looking at $300,000 to $1 million in reductions.

75% - 80% of ROCORI's budget is for teachers and staff.

He says they will be looking at the numbers more closely over the next few months:

"Of course, inflation and the costs of other things is going up so we're just trying to keep up with where we're at and what our resources and revenues are, and making sure that they balance out and be good financial managers of the taxpayer's dollars."

Enerson says 75% or more of their budget is for teachers and staff, but sometimes retirements and people moving on can help manage those costs. He says the district will look at all areas when it comes to reductions, and their goal is to always minimize the impact on students:

"That's our first and foremost priority is what type of education are we offering, and then what has the strongest impact, and some we can say well, you know, maintenance, yeah, we gotta maintain our roofs, we have to have people to clean our buildings, but are we doing that effciently and is there ways we can save."

Enerson says as superintendent, he has to look at the big picture, while administrators have to focus on their buildings. He says enrollment has stabilized after several years of increases, so that factors into what they do as well.

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