Finance committee forwards FY25-26 budget request to full board as $23.3M shortfall remains

The Bridgeport School District finance committee voted on March 3 to send the proposed FY25-26 budget request to the full Board of Education for approval and transmission to the City of Bridgeport, following a detailed financial briefing that left a projected budget gap of $23.3 million even after proposed savings.

The committee's presentation framed the district's "monetary need" at roughly $348 million. The presenter said the adopted budget for the current fiscal year included use of about $26 million from internal service funds; withdrawing that one-time use would raise recurring needs. After accounting for planned savings, programmatic actions and assumed state allocations, the presenter said a residual gap of approximately $23.3 million remains.

Why it matters: Committee members were warned the remaining shortfall would require difficult decisions, including further personnel reductions and potential facilities changes. The committee chair and finance staff emphasized compressed timelines: certified staff must be notified about employment status within statutory deadlines and the board has roughly 56 days to complete facility-study decisions and related personnel notices if closures or consolidations are considered.

Committee discussion touched on three finance drivers: contractually required wage and benefit increases, special education excess-cost spending and transportation/utility inflation. The presenter gave an example of state special-education reimbursement rules: "If the district spends $100,000 on an out-of-district placement, the state reimburses only a portion (about 21% under the reimbursement formula discussed)," a dynamic the presenter said contributes substantially to the district's excess-cost burden.

Members also discussed recent legislative action on special-education funding. The presenter described a $40 million special-education appropriation that had been advanced by the legislature but said the governor had signaled or enacted a line-item veto that put the local share (about $1.9 million for Bridgeport, as shown in the presenter's spreadsheets) in doubt. "That $1.9 million...for now does not exist," the presenter said, noting the district could not safely rely on that revenue while veto or override action remained unresolved.

The facilities master plan and potential school consolidations were discussed as sources of larger, recurring savings, but presenters and members warned that closure-related savings are complex: staff bumping rights, transportation changes, outplacement and one-time severance or contractual costs reduce immediate net savings. Committee members asked staff to prepare multiple scenarios and "if-then" options (10 percent, 15 percent, 20 percent shortfall scenarios) and to show the net savings after closure-related costs.

The committee voted to refer the proposed FY25-26 budget request to the full board for approval and transmission to the city. A procedural vote at the start of the meeting approved minutes from Feb. 6, 2025.

Next steps and timing: Committee members asked staff to produce scenario-based options for cuts and to coordinate closely with the facilities committee so cost and staffing impacts would be ready before statutory notification dates. The chair said the committee would meet again to model cuts in multiple tiers so the full board would have choices rather than a single final option.

Votes at a glance: - Approve minutes dated 02/06/2025 — Motion carried (motion and second made on the record; committee voice vote: "Aye"). - Refer FY25-26 proposed budget request to full board for approval and presentation to the City of Bridgeport — Motion carried (motion moved and seconded; committee voice vote: "Aye").