Auburn officials present $67.7 million FY27 operating budget; health care, special education and transportation drive increases

On March 4, 2026, the Auburn School Committee received a presentation of the School Department's proposed fiscal year 2027 operating budget, with Superintendent Sue Doris announcing a total of $67,685,214 — a 4.9% increase over the current year. The committee discussed district-wide revenue assumptions and school-level requests for cost center 1.

Doris said the district identified three primary budget drivers: health insurance (an $885,000 increase, budgeted at about a 12% rise in rates), special education (an increase of roughly $1.4 million, about 9.4%) and transportation (an increase of $553,000, roughly 22%). "The first number that you see there up on the slide is 67,685,214," Doris told the committee as she walked through the packet. She noted health insurance rates had not yet been finalized and the district was hoping the final figures would come in lower than budgeted.

The administration outlined several cost-control…