Franklin Township board advances preliminary 2026-27 budget, cites rising health-care and transportation costs
Loading...
Summary
The Franklin Township Board of Education approved an omnibus motion to move the 2026-27 preliminary budget to the county for review after district leaders outlined a $246.6 million operating budget projection, an $11 million health-care adjustment, and program expansions including a Next Tech Academy and cosmetology partnership.
The Franklin Township Board of Education voted to advance the district's preliminary 2026-27 budget to the county superintendent after a presentation by district leaders who said soaring health-care and transportation costs drove the request for an adjustment to the tax levy.
Superintendent Dr. Rivalli opened the budget presentation and framed the process, telling the board that approval of the preliminary budget would send the proposal to the executive county superintendent for review and, if accepted, allow the district to advertise the budget and hold a public hearing next month. "This is not a budget hearing," he said. "The budget hearing is next month." (Dr. Rivalli)
Stephen Fried, the district's school business administrator, summarized the numbers that underpin the levy request. He said the district would request a health-care adjustment of about $11 million to account for a state health-plan increase and projected a 2% levy increase otherwise. Fried presented a projected operating budget of $246,584,005.75 and described the tax levy as making up about 88% of total revenues. "This is one of the few qualified tax levy adjustments," Fried said of the health-care allowance.
Board members and district staff described several cost pressures that shaped the budget. The superintendent and Fried flagged a roughly 30% rise in state health-plan costs and estimated a transportation increase of 5'7% across bussing, extracurricular and field-trip services. The district also expects charter school tuition and out-of-district tuition increases to add to operating costs.
At the same time, presenters said the budget protects many existing programs and funds new initiatives. Dr. Rivalli highlighted continuing mental-health supports, an expansion of bilingual programming at Claremont Elementary School, expanded high-impact tutoring (supported by grants), and plans to open the district's school-based health center on the Hamilton Street campus later this spring. "We're gonna expand the elementary mental health supports," he said.
New program investments described in the presentation include the Warrior Next Tech Academy, a STEM-oriented "school within a school" at the Hamilton Street campus that officials said has about 75 students in the selection process; a cosmetology program at Franklin High School in partnership with Raritan Valley Community College; and an inclusive JROTC option intended to serve students with special needs. The district also plans modest capital spending, including a $125,000 capital reserve withdrawal to outfit the Next Tech Academy classrooms.
Board members asked for clarifications about reserves and the district's funding status relative to state adequacy and fair-share formulas. Fried explained the district intentionally avoided large withdrawals from its unassigned reserves to maintain a fiscal cushion. Dr. Rivalli said the district remains below the state's adequacy target by roughly $4.2 million and below the state's fair-share calculation by about $6 million, but both gaps narrowed since last year.
After the presentation and questions, a board member moved an omnibus motion to advance agenda items including the adoption of the preliminary budget for submission to the county (A1 among A1'A9, B1'B10, C1'C4, P1'P2). The motion was seconded and approved on a roll-call vote; an abstention was recorded by Brian Bonanno on one item. The board will hold a formal budget hearing next month after the county review.
Public comment included a question from Yan To about how the state-imposed 2% cap on spending growth interacts with adjustments; Fried and the superintendent explained automatic adjustments to that cap exist for health-care and qualifying enrollment changes and that the district qualified for the health-care adjustment this year.
What's next: if the county office signs off, the district will advertise the budget, hold its formal public hearing in April, take public comments on the budget and then move to a final vote to adopt the budget for the coming school year.
Sources: presentation and questions at the Board of Education meeting of the Franklin Township Public School District, where Superintendent Dr. Rivalli and School Business Administrator Stephen Fried presented the preliminary 2026-27 budget and answered board questions.
