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School officials cite $400,000 state-aid reduction, project 220 more students over three years
Summary
School officials told the joint Cumberland Town Council and School Committee meeting that a state enrollment accounting error cut the town's expected state education aid by about $400,000, and school administrators outlined budget drivers for FY26 that include union contract step-ups and a locked 4% transportation increase.
Mr. McGrath, a school department official, presented a brief three-year budget projection and told the joint meeting the Cumberland School Department ended FY23 with a $163,000 surplus, which brought the school fund balance to $5.6 million. "The school FY23, we ended the fiscal year with $163,000 surplus, bringing the school fund balance to $5.6 million," he said.
McGrath said the department expects to use between $1.7 million and $2.2 million of that fund balance during the current fiscal year. He listed the main budget drivers for FY25–26 as the second year of the district's union contracts, which the school is budgeting at a 3% increase for each union, and the second year of the district's transportation contract, a locked 4% increase.
"When the governor's budget came out, the increase to Cumberland was listed as $1.9 million. That turned out to be incorrect," McGrath said, adding later that state pre-kindergarten students had been double-counted in the state's enrollment numbers. "We found out late last week that the pre K students were double counted across the state. So everybody's state aid numbers were inflated. So that was a $400,000 hit to Cumberland."
Superintendent Thornton told members state aid is driven by enrollment and said the district projects roughly 220 additional students over the next three years, with an estimated breakdown of about 100 elementary students, about 74 high-school students and roughly 50 middle-school students. "State aids always driven by enrollment," Thornton said.
School leaders said they are monitoring charter-school trends, which McGrath said are moving in Cumberland's favor and should reduce some expenses; he estimated charter-related decreases around $200,000. McGrath emphasized the projection is preliminary, described the three-year scenario as a planning tool and said the department has not formally requested those increases as final budget proposals.
Officials stressed the school fund balance remains a key buffer but reiterated the district will rely on standard budget and revenue processes. Thornton said he may propose one or two additional staff positions in his formal school-budget proposal but that the primary objective is to "maintain what we have." Ending
School leaders asked council members questions about timing, enrollment and contract impacts; members said they would continue to coordinate as the town's municipal budget advances and as state numbers are finalized.
