Framingham schools present preliminary FY26 budget seeking 10.3% increase, flagging federal grant and transportation risks

Framingham Public Schools officials told a joint meeting of the City Council finance subcommittee and the School Committee finance and operations subcommittee on March 11 that their preliminary FY26 operating request is $17.8 million higher than FY25, a 10.31% increase driven mainly by salaries and new positions.

The district's executive director of finance and operations, Lincoln Lynch, said the presentation began with a "0-based budget mindset" and that 23 departments and 15 schools submitted detailed workbooks with justifications for every request. Lynch said the district is projecting $92,499,182 in preliminary Chapter 70 state aid for FY26 and noted federal funding of about $9,236,000 in entitlement grants such as Title I, Title II, Title III and IDEA.

"This process started back on October 11. There were 23 departments and 15 schools each received a budget workbook and it had historical data," Lynch said. He told members the operating request does not include tens of millions in school-related city expenses such as health insurance, crossing guards and school resource officers that are paid from the city side.

Lynch said the FY26 ask includes roughly $14.6 million in additional salary costs (including additional-salary lines) and about $3.1 million in requested new positions. The budget assumes $5.75 million in "turnover savings" to temper the top-line ask.

Key proposals and drivers cited in the presentation:

- In-house busing: the proposal includes transitioning to a mix of leased buses and 72 district-employed drivers and 15 monitors; the district estimated in-house busing expenses of about $7.2 million and said transportation costs (including McKinney-Vento and out-of-district runs) have exceeded $1.5 million this fiscal year.

- Special education: the district reported special-ed tuition and related transportation above $30 million; Lynch said the district expects circuit breaker reimbursement at 75% for FY26 and that a reduction in federal grants would significantly affect operations.

- In-house program for transition-age students: the district proposed opening an in-house program at the Farley Building for students age 18'022, starting with up to seven students, which Lynch said would save an estimated $324,000 in year one and about $1.1 million over three years by reducing out-of-district placements.

- Virtual Success Academy and preschool expansion: the proposal includes replacing the evening academy with a Virtual Success Academy staffed by five full-time employees (offset by stipend savings) and expanding preschool seats across four sites with nearly $1 million of investment for four-year-old seats.

City finance staff warned the revenue outlook is unsettled. "We are still analyzing what we think are gonna be our revenues from the state and the federal government, and it's gonna be a very difficult year," a city finance official said, noting the governor's Chapter 70 recommendation must still be vetted by the Legislature.

Committee members pressed staff for more detailed, comparable figures (for example an Excel file showing year-over-year changes and the budget delta for contractual salary steps and lanes). Several members said the FY26 request will need substantial reductions before a final school budget is submitted to the mayor and later approved by the council.

The joint session was preliminary; Lynch and superintendent Dr. Tremblay said reductions will be applied once the city provides a target and additional revenue estimates are finalized. The school committee will continue review and public hearings before submitting a formal request to the mayor.