By Emma Laura

USD 383 officials on Wednesday adopted the budget for fiscal year 2026, which will raise property taxes by 5%.

The board also voted to exceed the revenue-neutral rate, which is the mill levy rate that would generate the same amount of tax dollars as the previous year. The state requires school boards to have a public hearing when they want a budget that exceeds that rate.

“Our district has had a trajectory of growth, which means the base rate we receive for students increases the amount of aid we receive from the state,” said Andy Hutchinson, director of business operations. “If we were to maintain revenue-neutral rate when the other factors are increasing, then we miss out on state aid that we get as part of our funding formulas and our having to provide more services with less money when maintaining the revenue neutral rate.”

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By Cole Bertelsen

The Manhattan-Ogden school district may be granted free mental health services from a national over-the-phone therapy program. This service would extent to faculty, students and their families.

Assistant superintendent Nathan Downs said during Wednesday’s school board meeting that the district’s health insurance provider approached him with the potential to partner with National Telehealth Solutions.

He said other school districts across the country are also pursuing service from the federally-funded program.

“They volunteered to seek out funds on behalf of the school district to see if we would be able to be awarded potential funds to allow for free mental health services for all of our students, as well as our students’ families, as well as our staff, as well as our staff’s families,” Downs said.

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