Board President warns of multimillion‑dollar budget gap, says city hasn’t appropriated promised funds

At its April 28 meeting the New London Board of Education heard a detailed statement from Board President Elaine Maynard‑Adams about the district’s ongoing FY26 budget shortfall and shifting revenue projections.

Maynard‑Adams told the board the budget the BOE approved and sent to the mayor on March 15 "requested an increase in the general fund appropriation of $7,645,604," and that projections have changed since that filing. She said the BOE has factored in an anticipated state grant of $925,000 "that the state intends to award the district," though the board had not received an official award at the time of her statement.

The president said final FY26 health insurance rates came in higher than the assumptions the BOE used when preparing the budget and that there have been small increases in other grants. She also said the FY24 audit may allow additional deposits into the district’s non‑lapsing fund, but emphasized that such outcomes are not definite.

"The budget as submitted to the mayor indicated that the BOE needed $7.6m in additional funds appropriated in the general fund," Maynard‑Adams said, summarizing the board's original request and noting that the amount requested represents an $8.3 million increase over FY25 when measured against the mayor’s proposed funding level. She said updated projections have reduced the board’s stated need in some scenarios to about $4.5 million (or $5.2 million under a different assumption) and that as of the board’s most recent internal update the projected need could be about $5.5 million.

Maynard‑Adams criticized what she described as inconsistent communication about funding: she said the BOE learned from a reporter — not city officials — that the City Board of Finance would consider the BOE appropriation at an upcoming meeting, and she said the mayor’s proposed FY26 budget "ignores" an additional appropriation the BOE expected from the city tied to Extra Cost Sharing (ECS) receipts.

During public comment Sarah Turner of New London told the board she was concerned by "what feels like a lack of transparency," saying that items approved in public at board meetings have at times appeared to change privately and that the discrepancy "makes her question the integrity of the Board."

Maynard‑Adams said the BOE continues to study how various revenue outcomes would affect the budget and reiterated that, even under best‑case assumptions, the board expects it will be necessary to cut services to balance the budget. She said fluctuations in projections are common and that line‑item transfers are the ordinary mechanism for adapting mid‑year.

The statement closed by restating the district position that the BOE "submitted the budget that we need," while acknowledging it had no expectation of full funding from the city and that some reductions to services may be required.

Next steps: the board’s appropriation will be considered by the City Board of Finance; Maynard‑Adams’ statement and the BOE’s budget book remain part of the public record and available from the district.