MARSHALL — The Marshall Public School District is pursuing a $2 million, 10-year operating levy with an upcoming November election, and Superintendent Jeremy Williams and Director of Finance Sarah Kirchner provided updates on the referendum at Monday’s school board meeting.

“We are looking at some serious financial challenges. We talked about these a couple of years ago, starting in 2022 (when) we went out to the community and asked for an operating referendum (which failed),” Williams said. “We had some (legislative) funding that came through with some COVID funds that have kind of covered us for a while. Those funds are gone, and we still have these financial needs that have existed.”

Marshall is facing a nearly $1.8 million deficit for the 2025-26 school year, coming off a $1.1 million shortfall for the 2024-25 year. The district used reserve funds to cover the $1.1million deficit, and plans to use some for this year, but noted that it is not a permanent solution.

“What we have been doing these last two years while trying to determine what we can do to make up our deficit, is we have been spending down our reserves. Luckily, we have had strong reserve balances in place over the years, and are able to do that for these last two years,” Kirchner said. “But, it’s not something we can continue to do. That’s not what reserves are for. They’re for emergencies when things come up that are not planned.”

“We’ve trimmed budgets. We’ve gone into our reserves … We’ve made cuts where we can to do the least harm to classrooms,” Williams added. “We can’t continue to go forward like this without either additional funding or some cuts.”

The school board directed the district in April to cut $350,000 from operations to help offset the upcoming deficit, which was put in place by reducing software purchasing, high school programming of $5,500, and the elimination of two media aide staffing positions while also reorganizing the custodial and nursing staff.

“There is nothing left to cut that doesn’t directly impact our classrooms, and that’s what’s making this extra hard. We don’t want to cut anything that’s going in our classrooms,” Williams said. “We are very proud of what’s taking place … We know we can’t cut our way to success.”

Williams noted that a failed referendum will result in fewer staff positions, bigger classes and the potential of fewer student opportunities, and they are currently analyzing what specific roles or programs have the possibility of being affected or cut.

The referendum, if passed, will provide $2 million to Marshall Public Schools’ general fund for the next 10 years that approximates to $765 per pupil. It will include annual inflation adjustments, and begin in the next 2026-27 school year.

The referendum website, www.tomorrowstigers.org, details tax impacts and breakdowns. Agricultural land and seasonal properties would not be affected.

“I think we’re doing a great job (in our schools). We’re seeing a lot of progress. We spend a lot of time in our classrooms focusing on that one-to-one need that our kids have,” Williams said. “The academic achievement certainly is huge. We’ve seen gains with behavior, performance … We need to have some serious conversations with this referendum about what can we continue to do, and what can’t we continue to do, if we don’t have additional funding.”

Kirchner noted that they knew district funding was going to come up short and was budgeting a deficit, and had listening sessions with staff to come up with ways to trim the budget without impacting the classroom.

Williams and Kirchner, along with the board, plan to accelerate communication throughout August and will hold a series of community presentations that will carry through the fall.

Election Day will be on Nov. 4 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the middle school. There is an early voting option beginning on Sept. 19 at the district office during business hours, where voters can submit an absentee ballot in person.

Those who wish to vote early by mail can request a ballot application from the district office, beginning on Sept. 19, and can be mailed or returned to the district office.