Brockton Public Schools present FY26 budget emphasizing special education and staffing needs

Brockton Public Schools Superintendent Priya Taheliani presented the district—s FY26 budget to the Finance Committee on June 16, saying the request is more transparent, based on prior actual expenses and intended to meet growing special-education and English-learner needs.

Taheliani said the district built its request using lessons from past deficits and independent outside reviews and that the schedule 19 accounting (municipal costs deducted from net school spending) is now clearer after collaboration with city finance staff. She told the committee, "we believe this budget marks the beginning of a new chapter for our city and for our schools."

Why it matters: The schools are the largest single item in the city budget and FY26 includes a notable increase in state aid and local contribution. The district told the committee the composition of student needs has shifted, driving special-education and bilingual staffing requests.

Numbers and drivers - Taheliani said chapter 70 (state) aid and the local minimum contribution rose; the district reported overall budget growth of roughly 9.6% and said school-side schedule 19 costs rose by about 6%. - Brockton enrollment remains above 15,000; the district reported its special-education population and English-learner population have increased, and the presentation showed more than 84% of students qualify as "high needs" (special education, English learner or low income). - Taheliani listed personnel as the largest budget driver (about 77% of requested spending). She said the district requests additional positions to meet needs and cited about 52 new positions in the request tied mainly to special education, bilingual instruction and CTE equipment updates.

Special education and circuit breaker - The superintendent said the district has been working to bring more students back in-district (for example, by opening the Brockton Therapeutic Day School) and joined a collaborative to reduce out-of-district tuition costs. - The presentation explained the state—s circuit-breaker reimbursement rules and timing; the district reported it had worked to reclassify allowable expenses and expected some transportation costs to be reimbursed through the circuit breaker process.

Transportation and procurement - Taheliani said transportation remains a pressure point. The district has rebid routes to seek savings and had a bid opening scheduled during the week following the hearing. She said collective bargaining with bus drivers is ongoing and that in-year adjustments were made to rebid routes for savings. - The superintendent and councilors discussed the potential to consolidate or share routes with neighboring districts for efficiency; Taheliani said procurement and payment arrangements for shared service models remain complicated but are being explored.

Other improvements - The schools published a community-facing budget book with school-by-school details, demographics and missions, the superintendent said. - Taheliani credited audits and outside reviews for helping the district eliminate an opaque "199" account and improve internal controls, procurement and year-to-year tracking of actuals.

Ending - Taheliani asked councilors and the public for continued partnership through the budget adoption process and said the district is positioned to continue improving budget transparency and service delivery.