MONROE — With major program and staff cuts largely behind them, School District of Monroe officials reported the district is eyeing a balanced budget for the next fiscal year, and solid academic progress.
“It’s not saying we don’t have any challenges, there are…but at least this fiscal year, you’ll have a balanced budget,” Supt. Joe Monroe told school board members during the district’s annual meeting on October 19.
The annual meeting was framed as a “state of the school district” presentation of sorts by Supt. Monroe. He added that with some of those heavy financial challenges behind, the community can be even prouder of its new high school on Monroe’s far east edge.
The black, gray and red building — surrounded by state-of the-art sports fields and stadium — officially celebrated its grand opening on August 13, 2026. It took several years to build and the bulk of an $88 million tax-payer funded referendum.
Supt. Monroe added that the high school opening represented a “generational investment” for the district in the community — one that was years in the making.
“I truly believe it is a point of pride,” Supt. Monroe said. “If you look back, the most significant accomplishment was this new high school.”
The district also continues to see academic improvement across all grade levels in just five years, with nearly all schools receiving a five- or four-star rating from the state, Supt. Monroe reported.
“We have gone from one of the lowest (rated) districts in the state to one of the highest in 5 years,” he said. The schools “have made incredible strides over the past 5 years and that wasn’t easy to do.”
The performance boost across the district, he said, came from a commitment from teachers and administrators to make measurable improvements; and the introduction of new, academic-focused programs targeting that same goal.
On the financial side, Business Administrator Ron Olson recalled for the board some of the painful financial steps that helped get the district on a much sounder financial footing — most notably the collective elimination of 50 full-time employees, many in student-facing or teaching roles over the past few years. In all, more than $2 million has been cut from the budget over the past 24 months.
Declining state funding is to blame, and most superintendents across the state agree that the drop has forced them to make massive cuts or seek operating referenda from tax-weary voters — just to stay afloat. The state, Olson said, “is not living up to the promises of the past.”
Olson said that the district is estimating about $32.1 million in revenue on $32.07 million in expenditures for the new 2027 budget cycle, leaving a small surplus of about $122,000.
There have been recent challenges, officials report. For example, the district had to spend about $400,000 when the chiller for the HVAC system at the Monroe Middle School failed. In addition, the district is missing out on as much as $720,000 a year in potential revenue due to the net loss of about 60 students over the past three years to open enrollment in other, nearby districts. Declining enrollment, Olson said, “is pulling us backward.”
Olson said the district does not have final numbers to be able to set the annual tax levy until next month. But at this early stage, he is predicting that taxpayers may get a small break in the total levy — to the tune of a few hundred thousand dollars. He anticipates a roughly 2.3 percent increase in the levy, but with assessments rising amid soaring property values across the district.