Robbinsville board adopts 2026–27 budget; $2.4M in cuts trim staff, programs and courtesy busing

The Robbinsville Board of Education voted April 20 to adopt the district's 2026–27 budget after a public hearing in which administrators outlined roughly $2.4 million in reductions and the elimination of districtwide courtesy (free) busing. Board President Mr. McCree opened the meeting by noting the April session's purpose: the board must approve the annual budget after the March referendum established funding available to the district.

Superintendent Dr. Pisa described the budget as the product of attempts to protect classroom instruction while matching district resources to statutory requirements and the community's referendum outcome. During a detailed presentation, district officials said the adopted plan includes the equivalent of about 15 staff positions in reductions, a reduction‑in‑force/non‑renewal process for some roles, and program cuts spread across departments to avoid catastrophic impacts to a single program.

Key cut areas listed by administrators included the elimination of three of four contracted mental‑health specialists (affecting roughly 55 students), the termination of the AVID college‑readiness program, reductions to curriculum and IT budgets, increased class sizes and fewer electives, and the elimination of several high‑school athletic programs — notably the varsity golf and swim programs and a reduction in JV teams. Administrators said the personnel changes and program suspensions were necessary to meet the fiscal gap identified in the presentation.

Officials also announced the district will discontinue courtesy busing, a change said to save roughly $550,000 in operating costs. As an alternative, the district is offering subscription (paid) busing for families; presenters cited an initial subscription price of $1,350 per student for 2026–27 and noted that 54 applications had been received by the time of the presentation. The administration cautioned that the final per‑student cost will depend on route fill rates, bidding outcomes, vehicle types and route geometry; staff noted the approximate per‑bus operating cost at about $55,000.

Administrators said athletics reductions were driven by lost coaching positions and safety‑ratio concerns. To preserve some opportunities, the district proposed a pilot allowing sixth‑grade participation in three sports (baseball, softball and field hockey) while restricting most other sports to seventh and eighth graders where coach coverage is sufficient. Officials described the pilot as subject to season‑end evaluation and said they would continue to explore mitigations, including booster fundraising and potential volunteer support. Board members and administrators repeatedly cautioned that volunteers carry contractual and liability considerations.

The budget presentation also included a review of state aid calculations. Presenters said Robbinsville remains below the state's adequacy targets and that changes to the state funding formula are unlikely to produce an immediate fix without a broader increase in statewide school funding.

Public comment stretched across dozens of speakers and became a central element of the meeting. Rising sixth‑ and fifth‑grade students, accompanied by parents and volunteer coaches, made extended appeals to allow sixth graders to try out for middle‑school sports. "Please work with us to find creative solutions," fifth grader Madison Beaver told the board, identifying tryouts as a non‑budgetary issue that affects student opportunity. Coaches and parents echoed the plea, saying volunteer boosters and careful scheduling could reduce supervisory burdens.

Other residents questioned the subscription‑busing price compared with neighboring districts and urged clearer communication about eligibility and route notices; district staff said they would send additional notices before the bid process and aim to align subscription pricing with actual route costs.

During monthly business, the board moved, seconded and approved the resolutions on the agenda, and the chair announced the motions passed after a roll call. After the vote, several board members requested the athletic tryout decision be revisited in light of public feedback and proposed mitigations.

The budget adoption does not immediately finalize personnel actions; administrators said specific reduction‑in‑force and non‑renewal lists will be released in subsequent personnel notices and that the board will continue to evaluate mitigations. The superintendent and board urged community advocacy for state‑level funding changes and said the district will post guidance to help families engage legislators on the funding and busing issues.

What happens next: the administration will finalize personnel notifications and continue outreach about subscription busing, route procurement and safety mitigations; the board asked staff to revisit sixth‑grade tryout parameters and to keep the community informed as plans develop.