Twin Cities Schools Face $280M Hole: See Your District's Shortfall

ST. PAUL, MN — Twin Cities school districts are staring down a $280 million collective budget hole, and local education leaders say rising costs and newly enacted unfunded state mandates are pushing them to the brink.

The shortfall estimates come from a survey of schools in the Association of Metropolitan School Districts (AMSD), which represents 47 K–12 districts and six intermediate or cooperative districts across the metro area.

Together, AMSD member districts serve more than half of Minnesota’s public school students.

See each district's budget shortfall below. The two numbers represent the shortfall under the current law compared with Gov. Tim Walz's budget proposal this session:

Projected FY26 Budget Shortfalls

• Anoka-Hennepin: -$19,455,993 (Gov: -$15,911,828)
• Bloomington Public Schools: -$12,000,000 (Gov: -$14,500,000)
• Brooklyn Center: -$1,000,000 (Gov: -$500,000)
• Buffalo-Hanover-Montrose: -$2,427,778 (Gov: -$2,655,116)
• Burnsville-Eagan-Savage: -$11,200,000 (Gov: -$7,000,000)
• Centennial: -$2,400,000 (Gov: -$3,100,000)
• Columbia Heights: -$2,100,000 (Gov: $0)
• Duluth: TBD
• Eastern Carver County: -$7,466,000 (Gov: -$7,635,000)
• Eden Prairie: -$1,508,032 (Gov: -$1,933,027)
• Edina: $0 (Gov: $0)
• Elk River (ISD 728): -$7,300,000 (Gov: -$7,419,165)
• Farmington: -$4,400,000 (Gov: -$4,655,000)
• Fridley: -$3,500,000 (Gov: -$4,833,279)
• Hastings: -$2,310,822 (Gov: -$2,551,259)
• Hopkins: -$6,500,000 (Gov: -$6,222,000)
• Intermediate District 287: -$101,200 (Gov: -$436,900)
• Intermediate District 917: TBD
• Inver Grove Heights: -$1,761,457 (Gov: -$899,529)
• Lakeville: -$3,287,670 (Gov: -$4,406,670)
• Mahtomedi: -$2,240,000 (Gov: -$2,320,000)
• Mankato: -$1,100,000 (Gov: -$1,035,000)
• Minneapolis: -$75,000,000 (Gov: -$76,160,000)
• Minnetonka: -$4,936,070 (Gov: -$6,436,070)
• Mounds View: $0 (Gov: $0)
• North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale: -$14,500,000 (Gov: -$10,000,000)
• Northeast Metro 916: TBD
• Orono: $0 (Gov: $0)
• Osseo: -$16,829,111 (Gov: -$11,329,111)
• Prior Lake-Savage: -$4,100,000 (Gov: -$4,000,000)
• Richfield: -$3,000,000 (Gov: -$1,500,000)
• Robbinsdale: TBD
• Rochester: $0 (Gov: -$639,547)
• Rockford: -$950,000 (Gov: -$1,000,000)
• Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan: -$4,800,000 (Gov: -$3,600,000)
• Roseville: -$4,000,000 (Gov: -$3,600,000)
• Saint Paul: -$51,090,000 (Gov: -$49,220,000)
• Shakopee: TBD
• South St. Paul: -$2,250,000 (Gov: -$600,000)
• South Washington County: -$300,000 (Gov: -$1,300,000)
• SouthWest Metro 288: -$147,400 (Gov: -$305,005)
• Spring Lake Park: $0 (Gov: $0)
• St. Anthony-New Brighton: $0 (Gov: -$110,000)
• St. Cloud (ISD 742): -$500,000 (Gov: -$860,000)
• St. Louis Park: -$2,000,000 (Gov: -$2,250,000)
• St. Michael-Albertville: -$3,320,000 (Gov: -$3,258,000)
• Stillwater: TBD
• Wayzata: TBD
• West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan: -$650,000 (Gov: -$300,000)
• Westonka: $0 (Gov: -$87,230)
• White Bear Lake: $0 (Gov: -$406,000)

Total: -$280,431,533 (Gov: -$264,974,736)

Even more alarming: the survey, taken at the beginning of March, doesn’t account for the impact of ongoing federal funding cuts tied to the Trump administration’s push to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education.

About 12.1 percent of public school funding in Minnesota comes from the federal government.

"The reality is we are facing critical funding challenges and we have already made extensive administrative cuts, program cuts, and staff layoffs," said Anoka-Hennepin Superintendent Cory McIntyre in a statement last month.

"One of the state’s constitutional obligations and responsibilities is to fund public education. Now, more than ever, we need the state to live up to that promise."

The shortfalls are expected to force school districts to make deep cuts to programs, staffing, and services.

"We understand the state is also facing budget challenges, yet our school districts need assistance to address rising operational costs and to implement the new programs and requirements that were enacted during the last biennium," said AMSD Chair Laura Oksnevad.

The good news: state education funding is set to rise by 2.74 percent next year under the inflation-linked formula. But school leaders say that bump falls far short of what’s needed to keep up with soaring costs, and are asking Gov. Tim Walz for more funding in his budget proposal.

With possible federal cuts on the horizon, metro school leaders are sounding the alarm and urging lawmakers to fund costly new mandates, like summer unemployment and paid leave, before districts are forced to slash programs and lay off staff.

Districts are also urging lawmakers to pump the brakes on new mandates in 2025 — and to protect schools from losing critical funding tied to changes in how the state calculates support for disadvantaged students.