Revere school officials say enrollment decline leaves district facing roughly $10 million structural deficit

District staff presented a five-page preliminary budget overview to the Revere School Committee on issues that will shape the fiscal year, saying the district’s foundation enrollment is down about 4% — roughly 320–323 students — and that the reduction will drive a significant budget gap.

The administration provided an initial estimate that the governor’s budget increases net school spending for the district by about $4.1 million, but after fixed costs (health insurance, retiree benefits, charter-school chargebacks and other qualifying city costs) are applied, only about $850,000 of that increase would meaningfully flow to the school department’s appropriation. Using a full continuity (level-of-service) budget assumption, staff said the district is facing a structural shortfall on the order of $10 million.

Why it matters: the committee was presented with the math behind the estimates and a clarification that some state reimbursements such as circuit breaker funding have increased and will help tuition line items, while transportation reimbursement is currently budgeted at roughly 61% and remains a pressure point. Staff also noted qualifying city costs — payroll-adjacent administrative functions, some city-paid nursing and retiree benefits — that are counted toward net school spending but reduce what the district can direct to classroom budgets.

Committee members pressed staff for specifics and next steps. Mr. Kingston, committee member, urged proactive guidance to staff so Ways and Means can prepare a version 1.0 that reflects the committee’s appetite for tapping reserves or making cuts. "I think it's a good discussion point," Mr. Kingston said as he asked members whether they would be willing to use a large portion of the district reserve this year.

Miss Montroso, committee member, said she could not support a large, pre-committed draw from reserves without seeing the first full budget. "I can't in good conscience randomly throw a dart in the dark and pick so much out of the reserves before I even see a preliminary budget," she said, urging that Ways and Means first produce line-by-line figures.

Staff described the district reserve balance at roughly $8.3 million and said that the reserve was intended to manage anticipated fiscal 'cliffs.' Members floated a wide range of possible reserve use — from near zero to a few million dollars — and agreed to wait for the version 1.0 continuity budget after the February break to set a not-to-exceed guidance.

Enrollment and staffing implications: staff showed school-level enrollment examples (for instance, Beachmont second grade: 40 students across three classrooms) and discussed target class-size guidelines (lower elementary under about 20–24 students; upper elementary under 25). They said declining enrollment — which includes fewer new English learners this year — will likely mean excess capacity in some services and could lead to recommendations for reducing particular positions at several schools, including Beachmont, Garfield, Hill and Paul Revere. Staff emphasized they will aim to avoid "ridiculously large" class sizes and will recommend reductions where demand and service rules allow.

Security and other one-time requests: committee members raised a prior security evaluation with an estimated cost of about $350,000 to address prioritized measures. Staff described the $350,000 as a working estimate based on vendor conversations and the higher-end of quotes; it could be lower (staff suggested it might be as low as ~$280,000). Members indicated the security items are intended to be folded into the FY27 budget process rather than voted as a separate immediate draw from reserves.

Next steps: Ways and Means will convene after the February break to present the first full budget package with line-by-line detail, including updated assumptions for health insurance (a working estimate of a 10% premium increase used in current modeling) and transportation. The full committee will be invited to that meeting; staff said version 1.0 will provide the detail needed for members to set clear guidance on reserve use and any targeted reductions.

The committee did not take final votes on spending from reserves at the session; members agreed to reconvene for the Ways and Means budget presentation where staff will return with version 1.0 and supplemental detail.