Brooklyn Board of Education adopts $24.87 million FY 2026–27 budget, trims three teaching positions

The Brooklyn Board of Education adopted a $24,867,583 budget for fiscal year 2026–27, representing a $1,065,738 (4.48%) increase from the prior year while preserving no-cost PreK and core curricular programs. The board approved the budget on Feb. 25, 2026.

The proposal foregrounds three strategic goals—personalized high-quality learning; cultivating belonging and well-being; and safe, efficient operations—and allocates the largest shares to central office functions and special education. The district lists contractual salaries as 42.3% of the budget, high school tuition at 20.8%, special education tuition at 12.8%, benefits at about 12%, and transportation at 6%. The presentation notes that roughly 94% of costs are fixed.

Budget drivers cited by the presenter include contractual salary increases, a medical insurance cost rise (listed at about 9.9%), increased special-education outplacements and higher transportation and high-school tuition costs. The slides show a district Educational Cost Share (ECS) grant of $6,969,690 for FY27 and explain the treatment of CSDE Excess Cost Grant reimbursement: the budget is modeled at a 70% reimbursement rate, while the slide text says the legislatively mandated rate for Brooklyn is 91%.

To close a projected gap, the board approved $650,562 in reductions on Feb. 25, 2026. The listed reductions include cuts to instructional and facilities supplies, technology, contracted services, building repairs and grounds maintenance, elimination of one school bus (estimated savings $80,000), a 10.1% decrease in health insurance costs ($190,084), and elimination of three teaching positions (BES instructional coach, BMS instructional coach, and one Grade 5 teacher) totaling $206,444.

Staffing detail in the presentation shows BMS reducing two positions and BES reducing one; special-education staffing levels were reported unchanged with 12.5 special-education teachers and specified related-service staff (speech pathologists, SLPA, occupational therapist, psychologist, BCBA, social workers). Projected average class sizes for FY27 were provided by grade for BES (PreK–4) and BMS (5–8), with the presentation noting a math interventionist will teach algebra to reduce some class section sizes.

The budget by location table lists central office expenditures and special education as the largest shares; object-level detail shows salaries at $10,530,755 (about 42.3% of the proposed budget) and benefits budgeted at $2,980,822. The presentation lists $0 of requested capital projects.

The district also described facility and technology work underway or completed, including a new greenhouse, exterior wall and roofing repairs, an underground oil tank replacement in progress, updated network infrastructure, emergency phone upgrades, expanded wireless access and ongoing cybersecurity planning.

Presenter materials outline the next steps: continued Board review, presentation to the Board of Finance (meeting listed April 7, 2026), a town budget hearing and a town meeting to approve the budget, and opportunities for public feedback via budgetquestions@brooklynschools.org. The slides note a March 25 workshop was cancelled and that the board will meet until it finalizes the budget to present to the Board of Finance.

The presentation includes multiple program and operational clarifications—how excess-cost reimbursements are calculated using the district basic contribution ($88,701), a sample reimbursement calculation, and line-item increases and reductions—that the board used to justify the proposed allocations and the personnel adjustments.