Belleville board advances tentative 2025-26 budget submission amid public questions over costs and line items

The Belleville Board of Education on Monday approved a tentative budget package to submit to the county for technical review, while residents pressed administrators for clearer line‑item detail and questioned several proposed facility and purchasing expenses.

Board staff presented the tentative budget as required by state law and said it will be revised ahead of a public hearing to adopt the final proposed budget. "This right now is the tentative budget," Mr. Paladino said during his report, adding the district must submit an imbalanced (tentative) budget to the county office by Wednesday for technical review.

The board and administration emphasized the submission is preliminary and subject to change before the April public hearing. "Starting tomorrow...we will do our best to whittle down what is being presented this evening to get to a more amenable budget," Mr. Paladino said, naming himself, Superintendent Nicholas Perapata, Mr. Egan and Dr. DeLeia as the administrative review team.

Why it matters: the tentative plan frames next year’s spending and signals where cuts or reallocation may be needed. Administrators identified several major drivers of increased costs: out‑of‑district transportation estimated at about $4 million to $5 million; in‑district transportation roughly $1.5 million to $2 million; rising substitute costs; negotiated salary increases (roughly $2.8 million in total across contracts); and potential health‑benefit increases the state has estimated could reach 25 to 30 percent if the district remained in the state plan. Paladino also said the district is calculated to be about $12 million underfunded under the state's funding formula.

Members of the public used the meeting's public comment periods to press for more transparency and to challenge specific agenda line items. Michael Sheldon urged the board to publish the revenue and appropriation spreadsheets in Excel at least four days before the April hearing, saying community members need time to review the thousand‑line budget. "Would the board please instruct Mr. Paladino to make sure that both the revenue and appropriations documents in Excel format are made available to the community at least four days prior to that meeting?" Sheldon said.

Other speakers asked for explanations of particular purchases listed under the purchasing and business services agenda, including nearly $6,000 for plumbing and bathroom repairs at 333 Ralph Street (adjacent to School No. 9); roughly $505,500 in nursery purchases from a local vendor; roughly $5,500 to repair stadium water lines; more than $20,000 listed for flagpoles at School No. 5 and School No. 7; $17,000 for a paper cutter; and about $5,000 for a beam detector (a type of smoke detection device). "Every penny here counts," Nelcy Diaz said. "We should really thoroughly look at each item and make sure that we're using our money wisely."

Administrators responded with clarifications during the meeting. Mr. Paladino said the Ralph Street building's existing bathroom is unusable and would need renovation before staff can occupy the space as transportation offices, explaining that the plumbing appropriation was to make the facility functional for roughly 15 bus drivers and bus aides. He also said flagpole costs reflect the size and type of commercial flagpoles the district uses across its campuses rather than low‑cost residential poles.

The board scheduled the public hearing on the final proposed budget for April 28. Trustees and administrators said they will continue review sessions between now and the hearing to reduce the tentative numbers as possible.

Votes at a glance: the board voted to approve the tentative budget submission and related finance resolutions for county review. During roll call, the majority supported the motion; several trustees voiced opposition to aspects of the package and said they expect further reductions before April. The board chair and administration repeatedly described the submission as the first step required by statute, not the final tax levy or final proposed budget.

What’s next: administrators said they and the finance and operations committees will meet to identify cuts and alternatives before the April 28 public hearing, at which the final proposed budget will be published and adopted or revised.

Ending: Trustees and members of the public said they expect more detailed documents and time to review them before the April hearing. "The final one does not get presented and proposed until April," Mr. Paladino reminded the room, noting that the county technical review and the board’s internal revisions occur between the March submission and the April hearing.