Springfield School Committee approves $670 million budget
SPRINGFIELD — The School Committee approved a $670.9 million budget that focuses on boosting services for students with disabilities, increasing school-based funding and working on district-based priorities such as improving early literacy.
The budget, which will cover fiscal year 2026 that begins in July, calls for an about $43.6 million increase over this year's spending, which is an about 7% increase, said Patrick Roach, chief financial officer for the school.
But overall, when grants which are mostly from the federal government, are included, the budget will actually decrease by about 7%. That reduction is mainly because federal pandemic relief money known as ESSER funds, has run out this year.
'We spent our ESSER funds on one-time (expenses) so there are no cuts,' he said.
That money was spent on a wide variety of different things including playgrounds, high school fields, an amphitheater and improving ventilation and adding air condition in schools.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who serves as chairman of the School Committee, said he continues to be concerned about possible cuts to federal grants the schools do rely on, adding the information changes daily. If that funding is eliminated, the city could lose about $25 million in money that provides free lunch to all children and another $9 million that goes to classroom services.
While the schools may be at risk of losing federal grants, a lot of the increase in general spending has come from the state's Student Opportunity Act legislation passed in 2020 that hiked education spending annually by about $1.5 billion. Most of the funds are earmarked for the state's poorest school districts which includes Springfield, Roach said.
'We have pushed the majority of that money out to the schools,' he said. 'We also use it to make sure we have money to fund the teacher raises and the other collective bargaining agreements,' he said.
Teachers, who are working on an expired contract, and the School Committee are in negotiations. While the city has offered 3% raises to educators, there have been sticking points about sick time benefits, Roach said.
The School Committee passed the budget in a unanimous vote Wednesday with no members proposing changes. It will now go to the City Council to be approved with the rest of the budget.
Prior to the vote the spending has been reviewed item-by-item in subcommittee, said Christopher Collins, a School Committee member and chairman of its finance subcommittee.
Committee Vice Chairwoman LaTonia Monroe Naylor said she appreciated the work that went into ensuring disabled students are getting the help they need in the budget, especially with the numbers increasing to 27% of the school population.
'There is a really big concern and a lot of really important dollars are focused on that,' she said. 'The (education) chiefs are really taking a really hard look at how do we address the needs of our most vulnerable students.'
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