This month, the Missouri State Board of Education voted to approve a budget that falls $270 million short of what is needed to fully fund schools across the state in fiscal year 2028. Calculations for school spending are done based on a legal calculation called the Foundation Formula that determines state funding based on attendance, costs and local taxes. Instead of increasing the budget, the board decided to request the same amount that was provided in public education funding last year.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released a statement after the vote.

“The department recommended full funding for the foundation formula. The State Board of Education voted instead to request the same amount of formula funding that was appropriated in FY2026 and FY2027. At this level, the formula would be under-funded by approximately $270 million for FY2028.”

According to DESE, under the approved budget, state spending will remain at $6,750 to $6,790 per student, less than the $7,145 per student the Foundation Formula calls for in fiscal year 2028.

Missouri educators have said that the decision will leave public school districts across the state critically underfunded.

Following the Missouri State Board of Education’s decision, the Missouri State Teachers Association said in a statement that “this is an unacceptable decision from a board entrusted with advocating for the needs of Missouri’s public schools and the students they serve. The foundation formula is not a wish list. It is established in state law to determine the resources necessary to educate Missouri’s students. The State Board is being asked to fund obligations lawmakers created through their own policy choices, and the board is now asking the legislature not to fund the very items they placed into law. That sends exactly the wrong message to lawmakers, educators, parents, and communities across Missouri.”

Kerry Casey, a board member from Chesterfield defended the board’s decision by saying that requesting less funding is necessary at a time when both state revenue and budgets across state departments are shrinking.

Casey told the Missouri Independent that “the question gets down to: Do we ask for money that we know we’re not going to get?” adding that “I think we have an obligation to inform the legislature as to what the full funding would look like.”

Educators and school administrators in Crawford County said that their school districts were fortunate to see cuts coming and have been able to make financial preparations that have shielded them from feeling the full effects of last year’s funding shortfalls and further cuts that are coming next year.

Cuba R-2 School District Superintendent Dr. Scott Davidson said that, thanks to Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds provided by the federal government during COVID-19, that Cuba R-2 has been able to maintain a healthy amount of reserve funds.

“We’ve been pretty fiscally responsible as a superintendent and school board the last few years with our ESSER money. We were pretty conservative with that and still have that in our reserves, so we’re in a much better place than it sounds like several school districts are,” Davidson said.

According to Davidson, Cuba R-2 has 62 percent of its annual budget in reserve funds, which is nearly double the 33 percent that school districts of its size generally need.

While the school district has a sizable pool of reserves to spend from, Davidson said that the school district is currently “deficit spending,” meaning that it is spending more money than it is bringing in.

Davidson said that the school district doesn’t expect any major changes for at least a year or two, but that if funding from the state level doesn’t improve, the school district will eventually have to reassess its spending.

“Right now we’re just going to track and monitor what ends up happening. If nothing is changed at the state level, we’ll have to start having some discussions on what kind of direction we go,” Davidson said. “We’re still in a healthy place here, but keen to be aware that the state funding getting cut, that’s less money to us.”

Steelville R-3 School District has also been bracing for budget cuts, according to Superintendent Steven Vetter, who said that his district saw the cuts coming and has already taken steps to decrease spending.

“We started to see this coming a year-and-a-half out, so we’ve tried to get ahead of the last two years to prepare for it, which has hopefully put us in a better position than we would have been if we had waited,” Vetter said.

Part of those preparations came from cutting non-essential positions and cutting costs in other areas. Steelville R-3 School District has limited its budget for some supplies and services.

In the last two years the school district has also cut six non-instructional positions at its schools, such as custodial and administrative positions.

Vetter said that in order to avoid directly firing staff, which the district hasn’t done yet, their strategy has been to freeze hiring for open positions, or cut open positions altogether.

“No one ever wants to reduce staff in the manner of telling someone they don’t have a job. When you’re trying to get out in front of it, that’s the easiest flowing way to go about it,” Vetter said.

According to Vetter, having less staff on payroll means that existing staff have to carry the burden of making up for manpower shortages.

“You know, whether it’s office staff or custodial staff, those folks will have to work a little bit harder,” Vetter said.

Around 80 percent of Cuba R-2 School District’s annual budget is spent on staffing, with the remaining 20 percent going toward operating costs and utilities, according to Davidson.

He said that “districts that need to make some pretty significant cuts or changes start looking at staffing,” adding that his school district has gradually reduced some staff positions over the years. “Just reduce staffing through retiring, or if they take another position, we look at not filling that. That way, we don’t have any reduction in force, so we do it as appropriately as possible.”

One thing that both school districts want to avoid is cutting teaching staff, which would result in larger class sizes and could affect student learning.

Educators and scholastic researchers, such as The Brookings Institution, advocate for smaller class sizes, particularly for younger students. Research has generally found that smaller class sizes can improve student performance by allowing teachers to provide more individual attention to students. Larger class sizes, meanwhile, can make it more difficult for teachers to give students the same level of individual attention.

Vetter said that, while classroom sizes at Steelville R-3 School District may increase due to cost-cutting measures, he hopes to limit classroom size growth as much as possible.

“As classroom sizes may increase, hopefully it’s not a significant increase. I think we’ve been able to keep them relatively low and reasonable. That would be our plan going forward as well,” Vetter said.

Davidson said that Cuba R-2 School District already has class sizes that are slightly smaller than those recommended by DESE, something he wants to maintain.

“Looking at increasing class sizes, we’re not facing that at the moment,” Davidson said. “But if things maintain their course over the next handful of years, those are all up for discussion.”

School management can prevent some of the effects of budget shortfalls by cutting costs. One thing they can’t prevent is the rising cost of operating schools.

According to Vetter, it becomes costlier to run a school every year primarily due to general inflation, but enrollment and costly necessities like fuel costs, products and services all play a role.

“It’s due to inflation and the cost of products and services. The biggest thing is those services and products that we have to purchase and to run the buildings. Those prices go up. In some years, it’s a significant increase,” Vetter said, adding that despite significant budget cuts, he is positive his district will be able to handle what is coming. “Not that it’s always pleasant and fun, reducing staff and having to go down in areas, but I think that everyone’s handled it well, and I’m sure we’ll continue to do that as we navigate the next few years.”

Davidson, like many school administrators, would like to see the foundation formula be fully funded.

He said that he wants to be fair to state legislators who are currently dealing with a $1.7 billion deficit in the state’s FY 2027 budget, adding that he will continue to communicate with lawmakers about how their decisions affect Cuba R-2 School District.

“We have to continue to inform one another, educate each other and have to work together with legislators. Public education is neither a Republican nor Democrat issue. It’s a national issue, and it’s something we need to all work together for the betterment of our state and country, and just having educated citizens,” Davidson said.