Budget deficit, staffing, enrollment decline confront Park City School District

The Park City School District building on Kearns Blvd. Photo: TownLift // Bailey Edelstein

PARK CITY, Utah — The Park City School District is working to address budget challenges while maintaining educational quality during its ongoing grade realignment process, according to discussions at a Feb. 19 board retreat and a subsequent district statement.

District Business Administrator Randy Upton presented “very preliminary” budget projections to the board showing a potential $4.1 million deficit, though the district now characterizes such figures as “purely speculative and part of routine financial forecasting.”

“We’re in the initial stages of developing the FY26 budget,” wrote Colton Elliott, Park City School District PIO, in a recent statement announced late Thursday evening. “The numbers presented during the February 19th retreat were preliminary, providing the board with a snapshot of the progress made so far.”

During the retreat, Upton outlined factors contributing to financial pressures, including the third year of contractual salary increases and potential legislative changes affecting district funding.

“The single largest budgetary increase for 2025-26 is the fulfillment of the salary increases included in the 3rd year of employee contracts, which continues to be prioritized by the Board of Education and the community,” Elliott explained.

At the retreat, district officials discussed staffing adjustments related to the decommissioning of Treasure Mountain Junior High and ongoing grade realignment. Preliminary discussions mentioned evaluating approximately 27 full-time positions.

“We’re kind of playing catch up here as well. You can see the support staff, which is not necessarily kid-facing. Some of them are, some of them aren’t. And then the ESPs as well,” Upton said during budget deliberations, noting that positions would be reduced through attrition, retirements, and non-renewal of one-year contracts.

However, the district now emphasizes: “Regarding staffing, there have been no widespread reductions, and none are planned at this time. Our approach to realignment is unique in that it shifts positions to better meet the evolving needs of our student population.”

The district has experienced declining enrollment, with approximately 300 fewer students in recent years. During the retreat, officials referenced projections suggesting Park City could lose 1,000 additional students over the next decade without new affordable housing development.

“If we stay on the trend now without housing, we’re going to lose 1000 students over the next 10 years,” a board member noted, citing information from Jeffrey Jones, Summit County’s Economic Development and Housing Director.

To address enrollment concerns, the board discussed potentially opening enrollment to out-of-district students to increase state funding through the Weighted Pupil Unit formula.

“From a financial standpoint, economy of scale standpoint, I agree with you 100%,” Upton responded when board members suggested exploring open enrollment.

The district’s preschool program currently enrolls 198-199 students despite capacity for 280. Officials discussed strategies including earlier registration timelines to compete with private preschools that require commitments by December.

“We’re in year two of our preschool expansion, our full build out will be around 280,” a district representative explained. “So we’re two thirds of the way there in year two of an expansion.”

The district plans to continue refining its budget, enrollment and staffing approach over the coming months before final decisions are made. Elliott emphasized that the budgeting process remains fluid: “As we move forward, with the legislative session wrapping up this week and ongoing adjustments by district leadership, we’re confident that this number will decrease significantly as we work to minimize or eliminate the need for a tax increase, in alignment with the board’s stated objective.”