Le Center School District leaders don’t want to sound like alarmists.

But it’s time to sound the alarm.

With a $6.5 million budget and an enrollment of less than 700 students, there is little wiggle room for yearly increases in expenditures and, now, delayed aid payments from the state.

In order to maintain the recommended unreserved fund balance of 8-12 weeks of expenditures and avoid a six-figure budget shortfall next spring, the district is proposing an operating referendum of $650 per pupil to generate an additional $316,000 in revenue.

“It’s a difficult sell,” said Deb Dwyer, co-superintendent and elementary principal.

But even more difficult, Dwyer said, are the alternatives.

Among the slated budget reductions if the referendum does not pass is all-day kindergarten. A program that Dwyer points to as being one of the most important in the district.

On the most recent batch of MCA-II results from the state, Le Center third-graders were 100 proficient in math — and they were also among the first Le Center student classes to have all-day kindergarten.

And while Dwyer admits that it’s always difficult to draw a direct link from test success to a particular educational program, she said it’s no secret that all-day kindergarten has measurable benefits.

“You can see it in our test results,” Dwyer said. “The gains from December to the end of the year are really good.”

Problem is, kindergarten students are funded by the state at a reduced rate.

The state aid system is weighted for each pupil; the underlying logic is that some students cost more to educate.

But while the average high school student is given extra funding weight, funding for kindergarten students is reduced by nearly half because aid is still based on the half-day model. The balance between state aid and actual kindergarten cost is paid out of a district’s general fund.

“We’re closing the gap with all-day kindergarten,” Dwyer said. “If we go back now, we’d just be increasing that gap between the haves and the have-nots.”

The tax increase to the owner of a $150,000 home would amount to nearly $162 per year if the referendum is passed.