Missouri lawmakers finalized the state's FY2027 budget Monday with zero increase in basic state aid to public schools, leaving Parkway C-2 and Rockwood R-VI to start the next school year without the state relief both districts have been publicly seeking for months.

The budget, which takes effect July 1, also leaves unfunded the $190 million cost of a 2024 education law that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education had requested. House Budget Committee Chairman Dirk Deaton, R-Seneca, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Rusty Black hammered out the compromise over about six hours in a conference committee. The state's general revenue fund balance has dropped from $5.7 billion to $2.9 billion as of late April, according to KSDK's reporting on the conference proceedings.

Deaton signaled the outcome weeks ago. "It's going to get harder before it gets easier," he told Fox 2 in April, warning that budget pressures would intensify over the next couple of years.

What this means locally

For Parkway families, the freeze confirms what Superintendent Dr. Melissa Schneider has been warning at Community Conversations held at all four high schools this spring. The district is 92% locally funded through property taxes, and officials have said they are already filling gaps with reserves and sweeping cuts. The St. Louis County senior citizen property tax freeze is projected to reduce Parkway revenue by $26 million over the next decade. A 14% jump in healthcare costs last year added $5.3 million in expenses alone.

Schneider has not sugar-coated the outlook, telling families that without a new funding source, the district faces "cuts [with a] large-scale impact."

For Rockwood, the picture is similarly tight. The district is operating at its lowest tax rate in more than 30 years ($3.8816 per $100 of assessed property value) after voters rejected Proposition S last November by just 500 votes. That 45-cent levy increase would have funded teacher raises, expanded health benefits, and two school safety officers. Rockwood hasn't passed an operating levy increase since 1994.

On top of the flat state budget, Rockwood is already absorbing a $3 million shortfall this year because the state overestimated revenue from lottery, gaming, and tobacco taxes.

Joint advocacy efforts

The two boards took the unusual step of holding a joint meeting on March 4 at Junior Achievement of Greater St. Louis in Chesterfield. Rockwood Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain, CFO Cyndee Byous, and other leaders also traveled to Jefferson City on March 10 for Missouri School Boards' Association Advocacy Day.

A follow-up meeting open to parents from both districts was held the week of April 21.

What comes next

Both districts must now finalize their own 2026-27 budgets knowing no new state dollars are coming. Neither board has announced plans to place a levy question before voters. But the groundwork is visible: Rockwood's Prop S lost by just 500 votes, and Parkway's community survey on its financial future closed April 26.