Auburn schools trim FY26 request to 4.3% increase; superintendent warns $155,367 gap could require staff cuts

Superintendent Dr. Chamberlain told the Auburn School Committee on Feb. 26 that the district’s FY26 budget request has been reduced from an initial 5.7% increase to a 4.3% increase from last year after a series of offsets and negotiations.

The change, Dr. Chamberlain said, reflects a lower transportation bid, a teacher leave that the district will not replace, a retirement adjustment and extra use of grant/revolving funds. “We actually, since we last met, had a teacher who has requested to extend their leave from this year through next year, and we are not going to replace that position. But that was a savings of $98,000,” she said. She also reported an additional $35,500 in offsets from “satellite and galaxy funding.”

Why it matters: the town manager’s budget transmitted to the finance committee, Dr. Chamberlain said, reduced the school request by $155,367 from the 4.3% figure. “They are working very hard to not go over the 2 and a half percent tax, and to not access excess levy,” she said. “Part of this is also because they're not really sure about their state funding yet. So they could be additional funding that can mitigate that $155,000 hole ... We just don't know that right now.”

What district staff told the committee: Finance staff and Business Manager Miss Stanek reported the transportation bid from AA Transportation came in lower than the numbers the district had budgeted (the district had budgeted for a 9–10% increase and the vendor negotiated to 8%), and that those savings were already incorporated into the FY26 draft. Dr. Chamberlain also summarized other line-item adjustments: a retirement-driven salary reduction, a placeholder position at Auburn Middle School retained pending enrollment, and restored positions at Swanson Road and Bryn Mawr that had previously been held as placeholders.

Dr. Chamberlain described the district’s current position as “a little bit of a holding pattern” while town and state funding figures get finalized. She told the select board that if no additional revenue arrives the easiest lever to balance the shortfall is payroll: “The majority of our budget is payroll. ... There’s no big buffer in any of those other categories,” she said.

Committee members pressed for line-item detail on the draft budget during the discussion and asked staff to clarify certain highlighted entries (for example, revolving accounts used for special tuition and a clarification of how classroom supplies are budgeted). Dr. Chamberlain said the district will continue to monitor state and town actions and that finance staff had been scheduled to present to the town’s finance committee with the schools toward the end of the review schedule to allow time for additional changes.

The superintendent and business manager emphasized that several one-time or timing-related adjustments — a teacher leave, a retirement, and the negotiated transportation increase — helped bring positions back into the draft but cautioned those restorations could be reversed if the revenue picture changes.

Dr. Chamberlain closed the discussion by urging committee members and community members to follow scheduled hearings and to ask questions of staff rather than rely on social media for budgeting detail.

Ending: The committee did not take a formal vote on the FY26 request at the Feb. 26 meeting; members asked staff to continue monitoring the town and state processes and to return with any recommended changes once the finance committee and state aid figures are clearer.