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Milton School Committee says FY25 faces shortfall; asks Select Board to free up $1 million and trims FY26 budget growth
Summary
Milton Public Schools leaders told the School Committee on Wednesday that the district faces a projected FY25 budget shortfall and outlined mitigations; the committee approved motions including a $1 million funding request to the Select Board and procedural steps to boost transparency.
The Milton School Committee on Wednesday received a detailed finance briefing that confirmed a projected fiscal-year 2025 operating deficit and described steps to contain costs while preparing next year’s (FY26) budget.
Peter (Finance staff) and the district’s finance team reported a midyear FY25 projection that showed a significant deficit after recurring costs outpaced recurring revenues. The committee heard that the district and town had used one-time funds in fiscal 2024 to cover prior deficits and that similar offsets were being considered for FY25. "A structural deficit means recurring expenses consistently exceed recurring revenues," Peter said, noting recurring pressure points such as substitute coverage and utilities.
Since the January quarterly report, district staff implemented a purchase freeze, a hiring freeze, and targeted re-allocations such as assigning a portion of custodial time to the food-service revolving account. The presentation listed potential offsets including a possible state increase to circuit-breaker transportation reimbursement (a proposed supplemental) and use of revolving-account revenue; staff estimated the newly projected FY25 shortfall at roughly $883,326 after the initial mitigations, pending confirmation of state action and utility adjustments.
On FY26, the committee and administration described an updated proposed operating request that reduced the district’s initial "level-service" growth from about $6.4 million to about $5.7 million. To preserve classroom operations and avoid significant staff reductions, the district identified smaller adjustments and one-time changes designed to limit harm to students: three positions were removed through enrollment attrition, one bus route would be cut (re-establishing prior capacity/waitlist), a small administrative/clerical reduction, some program redesign (in-house reconfiguration of a third-party program), modest athletic fee increases, and using circuit-breaker reimbursement where eligible.
The committee took several formal actions at the meeting:
- The committee voted to adopt the 2025–26 school-year calendar as edited. The motion specified two holidays to be observed in 2025–26 (Yom Kippur and Good Friday) and noted the district will phase in additional holiday observances in later years. (Mover: School Committee member Anna; second: not specified; outcome: approved.)
- The committee voted to record finance subcommittee meetings going forward, beginning with upcoming hybrid meetings, to improve transparency. (Mover: Chair; second: not specified; outcome: approved.)
- The committee voted to request that the Select Board move a $1,000,000 free-cash allocation (originally proposed for a special-education reserve) into a town-level reserve or another mechanism that would make funds available to the school committee in FY25 to help close the year-end deficit. The committee asked the Select Board to return a specific draw amount at a later date after final FY25 reconciliations. (Mover: Chair; second: not specified; outcome: approved.)
- The committee approved two vendor warrants for payment: Warrant 35 (payable 03/13/2025) for $1,104,202.97 and Warrant 36 (payable 03/20/2025) for $695,530.65. (Outcome: approved.)
Committee members debated specific proposed cuts. Several members objected to a proposed "large-group substitute coverage" plan that would have placed multiple classes together under limited supervision, saying it risks instruction time and student supervision. One member called that proposal a "bridge too far," and the committee removed it from lists of potential reductions to prioritize instructional continuity.
Members discussed next steps with the Select Board and town administrator. The town administrator had signaled that in a non-override scenario, any use of the free-cash allocation would affect the town’s planned FY26 free-cash allocations; the committee asked for clarity and for the Select Board to make the funds available now given the urgent FY25 shortfall. Committee leaders said they will finalize a request number for the Select Board and present the committee’s case to town officials in the days following the meeting.
The meeting adjourned after approving committee minutes for Feb. 26 and March 5 and scheduling continued finance meetings to finalize FY25 closeout and FY26 plans.
