South Kingstown school leaders ask town for $2.5M as state aid drop and rising benefits squeeze FY27

Superintendent Pedraza told the council at a joint budget work session that the South Kingstown School District’s fiscal year 2027 request would preserve all current programs but requires a $2.5 million increase in the town appropriation and a $1,000,000 use of fund balance to bridge a structural gap.

“This budget keeps every current program, activity, and extracurricular in place for the 2026–27 school year,” Superintendent Pedraza said, adding the request addresses a roughly $4 million shortfall driven by an unexpected $398,550 reduction in state aid, the lapse of a one-time $600,000 local transfer, rising employee benefits, and higher purchase-service costs.

The district projects total FY27 revenues and expenditures of $68,520,822. Patricia Koster, chief financial officer, told the council the request raises the town appropriation to $58,494,773 — $2.5 million more than FY26 — while the governor’s proposed state aid in the district’s packet fell to $5,359,259, a 6.92% cut.

Nut graf: The presentation framed the ask as a choice between using reserves and protecting capital work, or holding the local appropriation flat and forcing further staffing and service reductions. School leaders emphasized that drawing $1 million from reserves for operations would likely delay or cancel planned capital-improvement projects such as HVAC and roof work.

Pedraza walked council members through four structural pressures: (1) a reduction in state aid under the governor’s FY27 proposal; (2) higher assessed community wealth, which lowers the state’s share under Rhode Island’s formula; (3) school choice, which sends per-pupil formula dollars to charter, CTE and state schools; and (4) unresolved labor and major service contracts that create cost uncertainty. He said the district is projected to serve about 2,175 students this year and expects approximately 2,160 in-district students next year under current estimates.

The district also signaled personnel adjustments already under way. Pedraza said the budget request includes $613,052 of savings from staffing reductions (attrition, breakage and reclassification), while also warning those cuts are “not a painless process” and affect real positions.

On capital and fund balance, presenters showed scenarios in which using $1 million of reserves for operations would leave too little unrestricted balance to fund HVAC and roof projects without additional state reimbursement. The district reported $4,714,993 in fund balance at the start of the year, with $1,100,000 already committed to capital projects; the FY27 proposal would leave a projected remaining balance of $1,900,000 after the $1,000,000 operations draw.

Council members pressed the administration on several technical points: whether the school committee had circulated a resolution to the state delegation advocating funding-formula changes (administration said it had), which CIP projects are eligible for higher reimbursement, and how much of recent spending qualifies for a 35% state reimbursement. The district said $786,754 in completed projects had been submitted for reimbursement and estimated at least $500,000 of a reported $1.145 million in capital work would be reimbursable at 35%.

Public comment reflected the town’s divisions. Jennifer Nurbahn, a resident, told the council she found the increase “unreasonable” and urged the district to seek efficiencies in busing and benefits. “This is not your money to allocate freely; they belong to taxpayers,” she said. By contrast, resident and small-business owner Josh Daley said he supports funding the schools: “Do take my tax dollars, please,” he said, arguing that investing in schools preserves long-term community value.

Several residents pressed questions about special education spending and outcomes. Dorel Beasley, citing state accountability data, asked why South Kingstown — which the speaker noted is among the state’s highest per-pupil spenders on special education — does not show higher outcomes for students with disabilities. Pedraza replied that high-cost special-education reimbursements are complex, often underfunded by the state, and that the district will continue providing services whether or not the state fully reimburses the costs.

What’s next: The council chair said preliminary budget adoption is scheduled for 7 p.m. the following day, with additional public hearings in April and final adoption at the end of April. School leaders and council members described continuing negotiations and outreach to the governor’s delegation about the state aid formula.

The district presentation and ensuing council questions make clear that the FY27 decision will hinge on whether the town increases the local appropriation, accepts a one-year use of reserves (and delays capital work), or asks the district to identify deeper program or personnel reductions.

Ending: The district framed the FY27 request as intended to protect programs and honor contractual obligations while seeking longer-term funding fixes at the state level; the council and community now must weigh that claim against concerns about tax caps, affordability and the town’s capital commitments.