Board hears FY27 budget shortfall estimate; staff recommend steps, pay increases and behavior supports

At an April 13 board meeting, Dorchester District 2 budget staff outlined preliminary FY27 projections that include a proposed $13.7 million net increase in expenditures and a total projected revenue estimate of $37,131,664. The district said multiple priorities — mandated teacher step increases, recruitment and retention, expanded student behavior supports, and proposals for an elementary alternative program — would require additional local revenue if adopted as proposed.

Budget presenters told trustees the district would need roughly 14.74 mills to fund all requested increases, and that the auditor-calculated value of one mill is approximately $450,353. The presenters noted state revenue uncertainty as a complicating factor — the Senate and House budget proposals differ and a conference committee must reconcile them — and said the district cannot rely on predictable state increases.

The proposed budget items include a mandated step increase for teachers (cost the district estimated at $2.2 million), a required 2% minimum increase for bus driver salaries, and a projected $500,000 rise in SRO and contracted safety costs. District priorities also included a proposed $1,000 across-the-board increase on all steps of the teacher salary scale (without millage increase the district proposed $525 for the scale), a 1% increase for classified and certified staff not on the teacher scale, and expanded student behavior supports such as additional social workers, board-certified behavior analysts, registered behavior technicians, a school counseling coordinator and a multilingual instructional coach.

Budget staff presented possible offsets and noted some items could be funded from restricted sources (IDEA, Title I/II/IV, referendum capital 8% allocations) but said, ‘‘to achieve all of those requests of the $13 million, we would need $6.6 million more’’ than current base projections, according to the presentation. Trustees discussed hard choices ahead and were told the packet’s next step is a presentation to Dorchester County Council on May 11.

What the board approved and what remains to be decided

At the meeting the board approved the 2026–27 staff days calendar (see separate action) and several contracts; it did not approve a millage increase or specific FY27 operational budget adjustments. Budget staff said they will return to the board with prioritization recommendations if projected revenues are insufficient to fund all requests.

Key numbers and dates from the presentation

- Total projected revenue (presented): $37,131,664

- Net expenditure requests presented: $13,730,691

- Estimated mills required to fund presented priorities: 14.74 mills (value per mill cited at $450,353)

- Next public presentation to county council: May 11

Speakers on the budget included district budget staff, Mr. Dhy, and Mr. Lee; trustees asked for additional detail about how proposed personnel and program changes would affect school-level staffing and instructional services.