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Brooklyn Board of Education presents revised $25.07M budget and cuts three positions
Summary
Superintendent Michele Raynor presented a revised 2026'1, 2027 proposed budget of $25,074,027, citing salaries, tuition, special education, insurance and transportation as drivers; the Board approved eliminating three FTEs and scheduled further workshops before an April 7 presentation to the Board of Finance.
Michele Raynor, Superintendent of Brooklyn Public Schools, presented a revised Superintendent's Proposed Budget for the 2026'1, 2027 school year totaling $25,074,027, an increase of $1,272,182, or 5.34% over 2025'1, 2026.
Raynor said the district's primary budget drivers are salary increases, high school tuition, special education costs, health insurance and transportation. She told the Board the original draft had shown a $25,346,309 proposal (a 6.49% increase) but several adjustments reduced the total.
Raynor said insurance had initially been budgeted with a 20% increase but is now anticipated to rise about 9.9%, pending final confirmation from the district's insurance broker. She also said the transportation line was revised to remove one bus, decreasing the fleet from 13 to 12 buses.
On high school tuition, Raynor said most receiving high schools are projecting increases of no more than 4%, but Killingly High School is projecting a 7.1% increase; she said she will contact the Killingly superintendent to seek clarification on that rate.
After reviewing enrollment projections and class sizes, the Board discussed ways to reduce costs while limiting negative impacts on students and instruction. The Board agreed to reduce the following positions as a cost-containment measure: 1.0 FTE Grade 5 teacher, 1.0 FTE BES instructional coach and 1.0 FTE BMS instructional coach.
Donna DiBenedetto, Business Manager, said the budget is based on current information and cautioned that any changes occurring after approval would be outside the district's control. Raynor said budget documents and responses to public questions will be posted on the Brooklyn Schools website and invited the public to submit questions at budgetquestions@brooklynschools.org.
Board member Deb Metzger said the Board of Finance has scheduled the Board of Education to present the budget on April 7, 2026. The Board reiterated that it will hold multiple budget workshops as needed; the next workshop is scheduled for February 26, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
The meeting adjourned at 6:12 p.m. on a unanimous vote. Vice-Chair Melissa Perkins-Banas moved to adjourn; Secretary Justin Phaiah seconded, and the vote was 6-0.
