Frenchman board approves 2026-27 budget amid community feedback
More than 20 people crowded the Fleming Community Library as the Frenchman board unanimously approved next year’s budget and heard worries about the schools’ direction.
The Frenchman Board of Education unanimously approved the district’s 2026-27 budget and appropriations on June 16, a vote taken in front of more than 20 audience members at the Fleming Community Library. Three members of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office were also in attendance as board President Kamie Lambrecht called the meeting to order with all five board members present: Lambrecht, Jeff Harms, Jeff Brekel, Dave Etl and Sue Workman.
The budget action was the meeting’s most consequential decision because it sets the financial framework for Fleming schools heading into the next year, shaping what the district can do in classrooms, staffing, transportation, maintenance and student programs. After moving through regular business, the board turned to community input and heard from numerous residents who offered both concerns and encouragement about the direction of Fleming Schools.
That public turnout mattered in a district where the school board meets on the third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the Fleming Community Library, a familiar local space that doubles as a civic gathering point for families, staff and taxpayers. The district’s own financial transparency materials say Frenchman School District RE-3 provided services for 189 K-12 students in the 2019-2020 school year and employed 40 full-time and part-time teachers, education support professionals and administrators. Ballotpedia lists 221 students in the district during the 2023-2024 school year and identifies two schools and five board members.
The June 16 vote followed another budget discussion at the board’s May 18 meeting, when members approved preliminary budget items and also heard positive reports on student achievement. During that meeting, Randy Stahley said four students graduated from Northeastern Junior College before receiving high school diplomas, and 14 students completed college courses while still in high school.
Taken together, the two meetings show a district trying to balance fiscal planning with academic momentum, while residents keep a close watch on where Fleming schools are headed. The approval now moves the district into the implementation phase for 2026-27, when administrators will have to turn the budget into schedules, assignments and services that reach students across Logan County.
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