Portland superintendent says FY27 budget will be ‘more challenging’; district tightens timeline, requires measurable outcomes

Superintendent Ryan Scallon told the Portland Maine Board of Education Finance, Personnel and Operations Committee on Monday that the district has begun work on the fiscal year 2027 budget and expects “a more challenging year, than last year.”

Scallon said revenue-side risks include property tax anxiety after recent property revaluations, continuing uncertainty about the state essential-programs-and-services (EPS) funding formula and a small enrollment decline this school year that will lower state funding. He said expense pressures include higher personnel costs from collective-bargaining increases plus step movement and a 6.6% carryover increase in teacher benefits. Scallon also noted one piece of relief: the district’s pension bond obligation ends this year, “saving about $2.627 million” for FY27.

To prepare, Scallon outlined several process changes designed to give the board earlier and clearer information: staff will begin gathering initial input from school leaders in November, deliver a December carry-forward (roll-forward) budget showing the cost of maintaining current programs and staffing, and move more of the budget build into the district’s Munis financial system rather than Excel. He said the district can now use actual salary data from its newer payroll system for more accurate projections and will require measurable outcome goals for proposed new investments.

“We are gonna look to more tightly align funding with outcomes,” Scallon said, explaining that identified investments in the budget will need measurable goals so the district and board can assess whether programs produce the intended results.

Scallon gave examples during committee questions: measurable outcomes for hiring high school music teachers might include changes in student participation in music programs; investments in kindergarten EdTech were expected to produce gains in reading assessments such as CKLA, though those gains could appear only after one or more budget cycles.

Timeline and next steps. Scallon described the FY27 schedule: November—school plans and initial staffing counts; December—roll-forward budget and cabinet reviews; January—updates based on board priorities; early February—upload into the financial system and a community forum at the first board meeting to present the budget publicly; March—superintendent’s budget presentation; April—board approval; May—city council review.

Board members praised requiring measurable outcomes and urged staff to include retrospective analysis of past programs when recommending new investments. The committee did not take any formal votes on budget items at Monday’s meeting; Scallon asked the committee to provide priorities at upcoming November and December meetings so staff can incorporate them into the FY27 process.