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Superintendent: preliminary 2026–27 budget must absorb 35% jump in health benefits; one teaching FTE cut proposed
Summary
The superintendent told the Cedar Grove Board the preliminary 2026–27 budget must absorb a 35% increase in health benefits, prompting a conservative 4.5% tax-cap request, one FTE reduction, co-curricular cuts and a plan to create three part-time paraprofessional job descriptions; final numbers will be presented in April.
The superintendent presented the Cedar Grove Board with a preliminary budget for the 2026–27 school year that must absorb a 35% increase in health benefits, calling the rise the central challenge for next year’s spending plan.
The superintendent said the district built a revenue plan around the 2% automatic cap increase, a conservative use of a 4.5% cap request and an expectation that state aid would be effectively flat. “This budget had to absorb a 35% increase in health benefits,” the superintendent said, and noted the district received a roughly $20 per-student state-aid bump (about $36,000) that did not materially change planning assumptions.
Board context: why it matters
Board members were told the benefits increase forced a focus on right-sizing rather than across-the-board cuts. To limit the tax burden and preserve future cap bank, the superintendent said the administration did not take the full health-benefits waiver and pursued conservative revenue assumptions. The superintendent emphasized investments the district will try to protect, including elementary curriculum purchases and professional development for teachers.
What would change under the preliminary plan
The presented preliminary budget includes: a proposed reduction of one full-time teaching position (one FTE); backfilling at least one retirement rather than creating net new full-time positions; reductions in some co-curricular offerings at the middle and high school levels; and planned overtime reductions. The administration also proposed introducing three part-time paraprofessional job descriptions—academic paraprofessional, special-education paraprofessional and an ABA paraprofessional role—with the intent of shifting some positions toward part-time through attrition; the superintendent said no final decisions have been made about how those transitions will be implemented.
On state aid, the superintendent said the district assumed flat aid during planning but ultimately received an increase of about $20 per student (roughly $36,000 total), which was not large enough to alter the district’s conservative planning approach.
Board questions and next steps
When a board member asked what the 4.5% increase would mean per household, the superintendent replied that per-household impact and three-to-five-year comparisons will be provided at the April budget presentation when the budget is finalized. The superintendent said the next procedural step is county-office approval of the preliminary budget and an April meeting that will include a fuller budget presentation and more detailed impacts and trade-offs.
The board received the presentation and was told staff will meet with faculty and stakeholders to explain any planned changes before implementation.
Provenance: The account is based on the superintendent’s presentation to the board and subsequent exchange with board members during the meeting (presentation began SEG 256 and concluded SEG 438).
