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Mountain Home Public Schools would draw about $836,000 from its operating reserves under the 2026-27 budget the school board reviews Thursday, as district enrollment falls to its lowest point in at least five years.
The board meets at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 16, in the Administration Building Board Room. The session is the first public reading of the budget, not a final vote. It gives the board an early look at the district’s spending plan for the coming year.
District rollover figures put enrollment at 3,554 students, down 100 from 3,654 a year ago. The count has fallen every year since 2022, when the district enrolled 3,819 students. That is a loss of 265 students, or about 7 percent, over four years.
The trend matters because, in Arkansas, most state money for public schools follows students. The state sets a foundation funding amount, $8,037 per student for 2026-27, and multiplies it by each district’s average daily membership from the prior school year. Fewer students in the seats one year generally means less state money the next.
The state offers some cushion through declining enrollment funding, which sends extra aid to districts that are losing students. Mountain Home already draws on it. District records show it tapped declining enrollment money this spring to help buy a used route bus.
Across all funds, the proposed 2026-27 budget spends district balances down from about $15.87 million to $14.7 million, a drawdown of roughly $1.17 million. The operating fund, which covers day-to-day costs such as salaries and utilities, accounts for about $836,000 of that. The building fund drops another $300,000.
Salaries and benefits remain by far the district’s largest expense. The teacher salary fund is budgeted at about $17.8 million, and personnel costs made up roughly 80 percent of spending in the current year.
Even with the enrollment decline, the district has been taking in and spending more each year. General fund revenue climbed from about $36.2 million in 2021 to $42.5 million in 2025, while general fund spending rose from $31.1 million to $39.2 million over the same period, according to the district’s most recent audit. Rising per-student funding from the state and growth in local property tax revenue have helped drive those increases.
The enrollment slide is not spread evenly across the district. Kindergarten has shrunk from 267 students in 2022 to 220 this year, and several elementary grades have thinned. High school numbers have held up better, though the incoming senior class of 241 is the smallest in the five years of data the district provided.
The budget review comes as the district’s finances otherwise look steady. A separate item on Thursday’s agenda asks the board to accept the state’s audit of the year that ended June 30, 2025. That audit found no problems and no repeat of any prior-year findings.
The district is also paying down long-term debt, with nearly $30 million in bonds outstanding as of last June, and is carrying a roof replacement project at the Guy Berry building. State law requires districts to adopt an annual budget each year, and Thursday’s first reading is an early step in that process.
The board will also take up several bids and contracts, personnel policy changes, and its annual lists of large purchases and related-party vendors. Superintendent Allyson Dewey and district finance staff are scheduled to present the budget.
The meeting is open to the public and includes a public comment period near the start.
