USD 253 Emporia’s budget is officially set for the 2026-27 school year.
During their regular meeting on Wednesday evening, USD 253 Board members unanimously approved the budget, which carries a better than $15 million price tag and a roughly 1.3 percent mill levy increase from the prior year. After the budget was approved for publication last month, interim Assistant Superintendent of Business Operations Josh Swartz explained that the mill rate increase was largely due to increases in the supplemental general and bond and interest budgets.
Separately, yet related, board members also approved the local operating budget not to exceed 33 percent, which Swartz says will ensure the supplemental budget will be able to operate as proposed. Board members also approved exceeding the revenue-neutral rate for the coming year.
All items followed a pair of brief public hearings with no comments from the public. Towards the end of their agenda, board members received the first presentation on 2026 health insurance renewals, with district staff proposing a potential change in plans from previous years.
Specifically, Swartz discussed the possibility of the district moving from a fully funded plan to a self-funded plan, citing significant cost increases as the main reason for said potential move.
According to Swartz, district staff would not notice any real differences on their end if the district were to switch over from a fully funded to self self-funded plan.
The main difference between the two options, according to Swartz, is how the plan is covered financially.
With a fully funded plan, an employer pays a fixed premium to an insurance company, which then assumes the financial risks and coverage for medical claims and healthcare costs. With a self-funded plan, the employer pays medical claims directly from their own revenue, while often hiring a third-party administrator and may buy stop-loss insurance to cap their liability for high-cost claims.
Also, according to Swartz, the self-funded plan would allow for carryover year-to-year.
Swartz did note that moving to a self-funded plan would still see a cost increase for the district; however, it would be significantly less than the potential 26 percent anticipated with the current plan, landing somewhere between 6 to 8 percent.
Additional internal discussions are expected on the matter before another board discussion later this month. A current timeline has the board possibly taking action on a plan by their October 8th meeting.
The USD 253 Board of Education is scheduled to reconvene Wednesday, September 24th at 6 pm inside the Mary Herbert Education Center.
