The Jamesville-DeWitt Board of Education adopted the district’s $74.9 million budget proposal for the 2026-27 school year during its regular meeting on Monday, April 20. It calls for a $365,208, or 0.48%, reduction in spending over the current year’s budget. This is due to efforts to decrease spending and better align expenses with revenues.
The plan addresses a budget gap of approximately $5 million, driven largely by a rise in essential operating costs like utilities and health insurance premiums. The district navigated these increases while anticipating an estimated 1-2% increase in Foundation Aid from the state for the 2026-27 school year.
In the past, the district has used fund balance, essentially the district’s savings account, to help fill gaps, but it’s not a sustainable or fiscally responsible option to balance the budget. The district plans to use about $2.5 million in fund balance and reserves to help fill the budget gap, which is $1.5 million less than last year.
Administrators, along with input from the board’s Finance Committee, followed three guiding goals while making budgetary decisions: maintain student programming, reduce staff through attrition as much as possible, and adhere to the tax cap limit.
“Our team worked hard to find more efficient ways to operate without changing the student experience,” said Superintendent Darcy Woodcock. “From sports and clubs to school safety, this budget keeps our students as the top priority.”
District leaders used enrollment data to make staffing adjustments through retirements, resignations, and rethinking staffing models in all buildings to minimize the impact on students and programming.
The proposal includes a reduction of 35 positions across the district. 24 positions were reduced through retirements and resignations while 11 positions were reduced through layoffs.
The proposal stays within the district’s calculated tax levy limit of 2.63%, requiring a simple majority of voters to approve the budget for it to pass. The decision reflects voter feedback and awareness of the financial pressures impacting the community.
The 2026-27 proposed budget would be funded through four areas: state aid ($22.9 million), the tax levy ($47.5 million), fund balance and reserves ($2.5 million), and other revenues ($2 million) from such items as county sales tax and interest income.
Propositions
In addition to the school budget, district residents will vote on two propositions.
Student Transportation: The bus proposition would allow the district to stay on schedule with its replacement plan, which aims to keep maintenance costs low and provide safe transportation for students. The plan includes the purchase of four new 65-passenger gasoline buses and one Micro Bird wheelchair (WC) bus for $837,993.
Community Library: Another proposition would allow the district to levy and collect a tax in the amount of $1,688,580 for the Community Library of DeWitt & Jamesville.
Board Election
On May 19, district residents will elect three members to the district’s Board of Education. The board is the official policy making body of the district. It establishes operational policies, sets educational goals and standards, evaluates program effectiveness, develops the annual school budget and balances educational needs with community resources. The board is made up of nine school district residents whose terms are staggered. Board members are not financially compensated for their service.
Three candidates filed nominating petitions for three available seats. Their names will appear in this order on the ballot:
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- Andrew Nolan
- Dominic D’Imperio
- David Babikian
Candidate profiles are available on the district website.
The candidates with the highest number of votes will fill the available seats. Each term will run from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2029.
Next Steps
A newsletter and postcard notice detailing the proposal will be mailed to the Jamesville-DeWitt community.
The district will hold a public hearing on Monday, May 11, at 7 p.m. at J-D High School in the Large Group Room. The budget vote is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, at the J-D High School gymnasium from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.