In a special meeting on June 30, the Lindbergh Schools Board of Education approved the budget for the 2026-2027 school year with a 6-0 vote. The budget may still see some changes in the future, but those changes will be brought before the Board of Education for approval.

During the June 30 meeting, Superintendent of Schools Tony Lake said that “rising medical insurance costs, threats to state funding for public education and declining local revenue due to (the St. Louis County senior property tax freeze)” affected the budget, though he said it was not exclusive to Lindbergh Schools.

“This is a very tight balanced budget, and our situation is not unique,” Lake said. “We will continue to budget conservatively and identify areas where we can save to help offset these funding cuts that are out of our control.”

According to a news release by the district, Lindbergh Schools has been “investigating solutions” to the rising cost of health insurance for the past two years and will make a recommendation to the board later this month.

Under the new budget, Lindbergh is expected to earn $106,758,135 in operating revenues and spend $106,758,135 in operating expenditures — breaking even. The debt service revenues and expenditures are expected to be $18,515,000 and $18,050,614, respectively.

Factored into the revenue budget is $500,000 in Proposition R bond proceeds and interest revenue. This is the last of three planned competitive bond sales that are related to the April 2024 bond election.

Last school year, Lindbergh Schools expected its general fund balance to increase by $59,465, from $20,241,539 in July 2025 to $20,301,004 by June 30.

In reality, by July 1, the general fund had a balance of $20,269,104. By June 30, 2027, the district expects the balance to remain unchanged.

Faculty and staff salaries saw 3% step and base increases in the budget, which are “locked in” by a negotiation every two years. The budget report stated, “All salary schedules and employee categories, along with full-time equivalent additions, increased the 2026-2027 operating budget by slightly over $2,000,000.”

Lindbergh Schools faced $1,344,092.53 in lost revenue from 4,537 parcels in the 2025 senior property tax freeze. These numbers came as a shock to the district when they were released last November. According to Lake, he was told at a meeting with the county in spring 2024 that the district could expect a projected revenue loss of about $500,000, or $5 million over the course of 10 years. The revenue lost from Lindbergh’s $105 million operating budget was more than double the original projection.

The county offered no updated projections until the tax bills were already in, so Lindbergh’s budget had been built around the $500,000 projection. The additional loss of $800,000 or so was a blindside for the district.

In December, Lake told The Call, “The only way to address (revenue) shrinking is through reduction of staff and programs.”