CLAYSBURG — According to preliminary figures, the Claysburg-Kimmel School District is facing a roughly $1.4 million deficit for the 2026-27 school year.

Without a tax increase, anticipated expenditures total $17.1 million, and revenue is $15.7 million, according to business manager Dena Burket during her preliminary budget presentation at Wednesday’s school board meeting.

The district’s budget is larger than last year’s, she said, as payroll and health care costs have all increased, plus inflation rates.

If they raise taxes to the Act 1 Index limit of 5.1% and receive the proposed funding from the state government, she said the best case scenario would be a deficit of $686,000.

She mentioned that they have more fine tuning to do, as they are considering more possibilities for the next school year, such as adding another math teacher.

“We’re going to see what we can do,” she said. “The board has to make some decisions here, because that number could go down.”

When looking at the percent of revenue based on local, state and federal sources during the meeting, she said the state makes up 71% while locals contribute to 27%.

The state average of local revenue for school districts is about 53%, Burket said to the board, stating that they’re “way under the state average for local revenue.”

“So we’re at half of that,” board member Joseph Musselman said. “That’s a problem. That’s an eye-opener.”

Board President Jeremy Knott said taxes would double if the board is trying to keep up with the state average number.

Board member Danny Potter said Claysburg doesn’t have the housing that other districts do, as a few people are currently paying a lot of taxes.

There are many factors when it comes to the local revenue breakdown, Superintendent Brian Helsel said when looking at the makeup of the community.

In other news, the board discussed opening the district’s transportation contract for 2027.

The school district currently uses Triple J Transportation LLC in Juniata County.

During the meeting, Knott asked if any board members would be open to exploring different transportation options.

Board member Heidi Kennedy said she wasn’t opposed to considering different transportation companies, believing it would be smart to explore other options.

Looking at the 2026-27 proposed budget, Knott said transportation is one of the largest expenses in any school district.

“I think that we would be irresponsible to not open that up and look at potential other options for savings and whatnot,” he said.

They plan to continue budget discussions into next week’s meeting scheduled for April 15.

The board is required by law to pass a final budget before June 30, despite the state possibly still having not passed its final budget with allotments for districts.

All board members were present at Wednesday night’s meeting.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.