The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Teachers receive 4.3% raise, but district must “live within its means” moving forward
By Kendra Walker
During their May 19 meeting, the Gunnison Watershed School District board reviewed a proposed draft budget for fiscal year 2025/2026 and approved a ratification of an agreement with Gunnison County Education Association (GCEA) for teacher salary contracts. The board will hold a budget hearing at its June 9 meeting and must adopt the budget by June 30.
School district director of finance Tia Mills explained the proposed budget reflects the district’s attempt to meet its own competing priorities and creatively manage resources in a fiscally sustainable manner. The budget estimates a total of $54,511,705 in revenue to support $123,336,070 in expenses. Mills said the big difference between revenue and expenses is largely due to the passage of the facility improvements bond in November 2022, as revenue from the bond proceeds was collected upfront resulting in a large spend down of fund balance resources.
If the bond project is removed from the figures, the district estimates revenue at $49,528,462 with related expenses of $52,018,540, which still reflects deficit spending across most funds. Mills explained that over the past few years of extra stimulus funds, spending down the fund balance and increased school finance funding have allowed the district to support staff with large salary increases, address technology and maintenance needs and add staff to support program expansions. “However, the district is at a point where it must bring its expenses into line with revenue and live within its means,” said Mills. “The FY25-26 budget pushes the boundaries of the district’s ability to do this now that stimulus funds have ended, the ongoing cumulative impacts of six years of large salary increases are being felt and also because of the impact of the bond project. All of these factors are putting pressure on the district budget, and they must be addressed.”
Mills told the school board that while the district is not currently experiencing financial strain, it is now at a crossroads for moving forward. “We’re not in bad financial trouble. We have really good resources and we just have to use them responsibly,” she said. She used the metaphor of cutting back on eating out for meals. Mills said the administration team will be working hard over the coming year to identify ways to increase revenue and decrease expenses to help bring the budget into line and ensure the district’s financial position remains strong.
Mills noted that the budget is based on the Public School Finance Act that was passed by the State Legislature in May 2025. This bill implemented a new school finance formula which increases per-pupil funding to underserved school districts and at-risk students while also recognizing the challenges facing rural and remote school districts in Colorado. “This was the first change to the formula in over 30 years,” she said. “We benefited very nicely from this new formula.”
Despite the increased resources from the state to K-12 education, a recent adequacy study indicates the state would need to increase funding between $3.5 billion and $4.1 billion to fully fund K-12 education adequately in the state.
The Gunnison Watershed budget includes a 2% step increase and a 2.3% increase to base salaries for every district employee, for a 4.3% total salary raise. “We have demonstrated a proven history of when we have money, we put it into our staff,” said Mills. She and superintendent Leslie Nichols explained that negotiations with the GCEA went well this spring, and the board unanimously ratified the tentative contract agreement between the GCEA and the district. The budget accounts for approximately 303 full-time equivalent positions, which is 82% of all district expenses. “Those are not one-time expenses,” she said, again noting that the district must now assess the impact of salary increases over the last six years and the ability to sustain those increases moving forward.
“This work will continue over the course of the coming year to identify other positions/costs that can be reduced or abolished to help balance the overall budget,” she said. “We have some work to do and some intentions to make.”
