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Rochester City School District presents draft 2025–26 budget; administrators warn of future funding gaps
Summary
Interim Superintendent Demario Strickland and finance staff presented the district’s draft 2025–26 budget during the April 8 board meeting, showing higher appropriations and general‑fund revenue this year but warning of multi‑year funding risk tied to declining enrollment, legacy costs and uncertain federal support.
Interim Superintendent Demario Strickland opened the board’s scheduled budget deliberations during the April 8 special meeting, presenting an initial draft of the 2025–26 Rochester City School District budget and turning the presentation to finance staff for detailed figures.
Acting Chief Financial Officer Derek Blair summarized the draft’s headline numbers: "The budget total appropriations, our anticipated spend has increased by 34,600,000.0 compared to last year. Our special aid budget was reduced by $3,700,000 and our general fund revenue increased by 38,300,000.0," he said. The presentation noted grant reductions (about $2.8 million) and described shifts in fund accounting tied to the district’s migration from PeopleSoft to Oracle and realignment to the New York State Comptroller’s chart of accounts.
Administrators said the draft maintains investments in graduation pathways, curriculum alignment (elementary math, high‑school ELA), literacy and numeracy supports,…
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