The Perry School Board recently approved the 2026 fiscal year budget and the superintendent highlights some areas of interest.

Superintendent Clark Wicks outlines that next year’s school budget includes an $0.86 increase bringing the district tax levy rate to $18.70 per $1,000 of property valuation. He shares that the board is doing their best, given the loss of 109 students due to the Tyson Foods closure last year, as well as a special education and English as a Second Language deficits, the tax levy rate needed to have a slight increase. Wicks reveals more about the budget summary.

“(We) want to make sure that people are aware that (at) Perry Schools, we have a financial challenge. So we need to be prepared for the future and we have to stay within our budget. In the past couple years and then going into next year, we will have reduced our budget close to $2 million, and that’s all through attrition, no cuts. So all of that, along with early retirement savings, we’re on the road to financial security as we look to the future.”

Wicks acknowledges that the $18.70 tax levy rate is amongst the lowest that the district has had in the past eight years. He is hopeful the enrollment will remain steady, but understands that if it doesn’t the board is ready to make the necessary adjustments.