Open Communication Is Important to Us – Our Work to Address the 2026-27 Budget Shortfall

Since our Nov. 17, 2025, update on the 2026-27 budget shortfall, our staff have worked daily to address it while maintaining our united focus on improvement for the students and families we serve.

Background

If you missed that original message, you can find it here. In short, a state aid miscalculation by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) means our district faces a significant budget shortfall next school year.

As members of our district community, as taxpayers and leaders, we are disappointed and frustrated. At the error, the situation and the shortfall.

We are committed to a proactive and thoughtful approach. We have already taken steps to save money in how we operate, and by giving especially careful consideration to plans for the upcoming years, mindful of the challenge we face.

Several elements make up our budget:

• Property taxes, with valuations set by county assessors and a levy (tax rate) set by the Board of Education
• State aid, calculated and set by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE)
• Grants and other funding

The Latest Information and Our Public Presentation

This month, NDE announced state aid totals for school districts in the next school year (2026-27). It is an important step in our planning process. Our district will receive $50.6 million less than we did this school year.

When we communicated in November, the amount of our anticipated budget shortfall for 2026-27 was an estimate. This gives us more certainty to move forward.

As counties finalize property valuations through the spring and summer, staff can further finalize our proposed budget to the dollar for calculation of the levy, public presentation and approval this fall.

Open communication is important to us. Though we do not yet know all the budget details, we are committed to keeping you informed.

On Feb. 19, 2026, staff will present this information and our five-year budget forecast to the Board of Education. Community members can attend in-person or watch Board of Education meetings streamed live online.

Our Next Steps

Now that we have next year’s state aid total from NDE, staff can plan in more detail.

We anticipate that county assessors will release estimated property valuations in the spring and early summer, then finalize them in August.

Budget staff will continue their daily work to find immediate and longer-term opportunities for savings.

This will be a significant challenge. It will impact the taxpayers we serve. It will require tapping into district reserve funds, and our budget will be strained through the next several school years.

We will meet the challenge together.

Protecting teaching and learning in our classrooms and prioritizing the dedicated staff who make it all possible.

We will maintain our focus on literacy and collective work to improve.

The latest information will always be posted to www.ops.org/budget, with updates delivered by email as we have them.