Brookline School Committee News
April 7, 2025
FY2026 Budget
Over the course of meetings every Thursday in March, the School Committee worked to address a projected FY26 budget deficit of just over $8 million. Throughout this process, the School Committee heard from you - they received hundreds of emails, and 89 members of the PSB community spoke during the public comment period at their meetings. The School Committee will continue their work to close the budget gap at this week’s meeting: Thursday, April 10, 6:00pm (click here for the agenda). Meeting agendas will always include the time, location, method of remote access, and details for public comment.
Please see below for a meeting-by-meeting summary of the actions taken to date. The FY26 budget gap started at $8,057,584.
March 6, 2025 School Committee Meeting: budget gap reduced to $5,011,631
Rejected the proposal to raise the Materials Fee Program tuition to $8,000
Rejected the proposal to pause intra/extra murals for middle school
Rejected the proposal to reduce, by half, the number of Grade 1 paraprofessionals
Rejected the proposal to pause non-mandatory summer programs (including Project Discovery and Star Academy)
Rejected the proposal to restructure the elementary performing arts program (Conservatory)
Reduced the new position request from the Office of Student Services and the Office of Teaching and Learning
Removed the .5 FTE Information Technology position request
Reduced the Reserve Fund optimization by 1.0 FTE
Cut the general supplies and services budget line
Cut the Senior Director of Civil Rights/Bullying Prevention position
Cut one (1) Vice Principal position in the district
Cut an additional 2.5 FTEs from the FTE Reserve Fund
Cut a Teaching & Learning Senior Director position
Cut the Director of Data and Information Systems position
Increased the fee for BHS Athletics to $400 per student/per season
Scaled back trainings and conferences across all departments and schools
March 13, 2025 School Committee Meeting: budget gap reduced to $4,306,586
Rejected the proposal to eliminate three (3) math specialist positions
Rejected the proposal to transition food service staffing to a hybrid model
Voted to use food service revolving funds to cover food service staff benefits
Eliminated the two positions in the Office of Educational Equity, and related materials and supplies
March 20, 2025 School Committee Meeting: budget gap reduced to $3,675,223
Rejected the proposal to transition to a hybrid custodial services model
Reinstated a third teaching position in the Adaptive Learning Center
Reduced the allocation to the Town of Brookline for building repair and maintenance
Accepted modifications to district transportation services
March 27, 2025 School Committee Meeting: budget gap reduced to $2,905,481
Accepted the proposal to consolidate one BEEP classroom
Reduced educational technology subscriptions
Accepted the proposal to revise the out-of-district tuition budget line that includes special education reserve funds
Rejected the proposal to reduce K-8 Learning Center teacher positions
The School Committee will continue to discuss, consider and take action on possible budget reduction options at their next meeting on Thursday, April 10 at 6:00pm. The School Committee continues to welcome your comments and suggestions - please write to them at school_committee@psbma.org
The School Committee’s next meeting is:
The schedule of all School Committee meetings is available on the Town's agenda center. As each meeting approaches, the agenda and supporting documents are uploaded. Meeting agendas will always include the time, location, method of remote access, and details for public comment.
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